round and round the mulberry bush

I shouldn't have gone bragging about our heat. Yesterday I broke the auger on the corn stove. Big (chilly) mistake. Smoke, swearing, the whole futile nine yards. Sandi was at work and I told Ella I was going to try to fix it once Maya went down for a nap.

"Maybe Mommy should fix it when she gets home."

"Well, Mommy is at work and we might like some heat so I'm going to try to fix it now."

"Yes, but Mommy is really good at fixing things."

"Momma can fix some things, too."

"But Mommy is the best worker."

Me, a bit perturbed now: "Momma's a good worker too."

"Okay, how about if when Mommy comes home she helps you fix it?"

Am I a useless housewife???

Ella and I were (trying to) clean the house the other day and I asked her to throw something away for me. Big mistake. I had recently thrown a toy in the trash that no longer worked (but was very new- sometimes I just can't take the mess!) She came around the corner holding it in her hands.

"What is this doing in the trash?" she accused.

I explained. She looked at me very sternly and then said slowly, like a parent speaking to a child, "This. Should. Never. Go. In. The. Trash. Again."

At breakfast the other day she asked me, "How does the food get to your belly if your heart is in the way?"

Yesterday we went to the library, Ella toting around a fluffy pink Sherpa bag with a pregnant kitty (stuffed and fictionally knocked up) and her beloved yellow blankie. She was set on lugging this with her. We ran in to two of her pre-school classmates at the library which excited her greatly. When we were at the circulation desk, almost out the door, one of the little boys came running up, pink bag flying, heroically returning the gestating cat to its mother.

I was just relieved we hadn't left yellow blankie. The world has perhaps not seen a disaster of those proportions before.

As we left, Ella talked on and on about what a wonderful thing Hendrik had done for her. Her gratitude, propelled by the fresh fear of her near-loss, was immense. She was very excited about my idea to make a thank you note for him. It read "Hendrik saves the day!"

Then that afternoon we went over to hang with the Manharts. As we were leaving, Skyler who was about to partake in a chewy fruit snack bonanza, hurriedly thrust a packet into Ella's hands. All the way home I heard her say over and over again, "Two nice things happened to me. Hendrik saved the day and Skyler gave me fruit snacks!"

I'm telling you, people, we've got a lot to learn...