The Surprise Fairy

My kids have a Surprise Fairy. She comes at night and leaves surprises under their pillows if they have been good that day and go to bed nicely. I made her up "found out about her" about 2 months ago and she is the best threat ever! Because really, most threats I make to my kids are empty. 'Stop hitting your brother/sister or I'll... I'll... I'll what? Hit you? No, not acceptable. Especially when CFS is already on my ass. I won't let you go to Baba's house. Who is that really punishing? Me. Not them. You can't watch tv. Same thing - punishing me, not them.

BUT - if I can say that the surprise fairy won't come... that is the best threat and is so easily followed through. The surprise fairy leaves things like a marshmallow, three smarties, a coloured pencil, a hair elastic, a penny, a little thing of bubbles, a keychain... under the kids' pillows (any food products are put in little baggies). They don't care what they get, they just care that something is there. And it's easy for me to do. Bedtime has never been easier. But it's not just about bedtime. It's about the whole day. If they have been really hard on me during the day I will tell them to ease off or the surprise fairy (heretoforthwith SF <that's my legalese coming through!>) won't come. On those days SF leaves a note. The one they got this morning says:

Dear A and Z,
I am sorry but I could not bring you any surprises. You yelled at your mommy for no reason and you were mean to her. You also hurt her feelings. You have to be nice kids if you want me to come back. It is signed The Surprise Fairy.

They hate when there's a note under the pillow instead of a surprise. In fact, today A didn't even want me to read the note to her. She knows it's going to tell her to be nice to me and she just doesn't want to hear it.

I'll tell you though - since SF has been on the scene, bedtime and daytime issues have been so much more easily resolved. Just a note to parents: the surprise fairy ROCKS!

The mean girls issue at school seems to be resolved. Those yucky girls told A that she could be 'in their group' again. So she's happy. But it sure bothered me because what about when they change their mind again? And what about the next little girl they boot out of 'their group'? Girls suck. There's no way around it. But speaking of the kids, there are some funny things I've been wanting to post.

A speaks very well and she always has. When she was just over two she dissed me for the first time. It went like this: We were eating pizza for dinner and she asked me if she could have a piece off my plate. I said sure and gave her one. She took one tiny bite and didn't eat the rest of it. The conversation then went like this:
Me: Are you going to eat that?
A: No.
Can I have it back please?
No.
When it was mine I shared it with you (stress on the word share because I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to teach her)
So go find another piece and you can share it with yourself.

Seriously?! She was just over two. So I did the only thing I knew how to do: I laughed. Because really, it was funny.

When she wasn't quite three she out-logic'ed me.
A: Can I have some chocolate?
Me: No, not right now.
But when I eat chocolate it makes me happy. And you tell me that when I'm happy you're happy. So if you give me chocolate then you'll be happy.
So I gave her chocolate. How could I have possibly not given it to her. Her reasoning was sound and logical.

Because she is so articulate and is a perfectionist, she never had many baby-words or malapropisms. These are the ones she has now:
Lost and Fountain = lost and found
Zucchini = bikini
That song that the frog made famous: hello my baby, hello my darlin', hello my ragtime gal becomes gagging gal. Which I think is hilarious.

Z doesn't speak clearly enough to say funny things yet, but he simply is funny. And the more tired he gets the funnier and sillier he gets. Last weekend the kids slept at their Baba's and A told Baba that when Z gets tired he gets sillier and sillier. And Baba asked what happens when A gets tired? A replied: I just get miserable. To which Baba, trying very hard to keep a straight face, said: That's honest.

But the two kids have always been like this. A's first word was No. Z's was Tickle Tickle. Unfortunately, now that he's two I get a lot more No from him than anything else, but as I've learned through the good and the bad, it's just a phase and this too shall pass.