A little bit of Meagan

Yesterday morning, Meagan woke me up at 7:00am, and said that she was hungry. She went away, and I fell asleep again. About an hour and a half later, she came back and crawled into bed with me. Her hands were sticky. I asked her what she'd been doing, and she said she ate some ketchup. I went to the kitchen, and sure enough, there was the bottle of ketchup on the table. Yum, yum.

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Meagan has been going around for a while saying that when she gets a little bit bigger, then she can go to school. Ever since we told her and Bethany about just Mommy and Daddy and Sean going to the airport to go look for a new house, she's amended her statement. Now it's when she gets a little bit bigger, she can go to work and then she can go to school and then she can go to the airport and get on an airplane. I have no idea where the work part came from, but she's sure excited to get bigger.

Apparently today, though, she decided she's big enough. Just as Bethany's bus pulled up, she came running up the stairs (barefoot) and announced that she was going to school with Bethany. She was so sad when I wouldn't let her go; she sat in my lap for probably ten minutes crying. I'm definitely going to have to send her to preschool next year.

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We're having serious trouble getting the kids to listen to us lately, so I've decided to start some obedience charts. They get a sticker for doing what I ask the first time I ask. If I have to ask repeatedly, no sticker. When they fill up a row, they get a small treat. When all their rows are filled, they get a toy. I had some errands to run this afternoon, so Meagan was with me when I went to the store and got the bribes for the charts. I got a couple of My Little Pony Ponyville sets. They have a couple of these sets already, and love them. They have lots of little pieces to them, so I was hesitant at first to get any, but they've been fairly good about not scattering them all over the house. Anyway, Meagan thought I was getting them for her birthday, and she was very sad when I wouldn't let her open them.

While we were at the store though, I called her "punkin". She said, "I'm not punkin. Punkins are those orange things." So I said, "I know you're not a pumpkin, but sometimes I call you that, just like I sometimes call you 'dear' or 'honey' even though you aren't made of honey." She replied, "I'm not made of honey, I'm made of Meagan." It made me laugh, even if she didn't get what I was saying.

Tonight just before bedtime, I introduced the obedience charts. Bethany was so excited to start, she wanted to run off and put her pajamas on before I was even done explaining. (They sat and looked at the ponies for a few minutes before I started explaining the charts). Then when I was done, she ran off and got her pajamas on without me even telling them to. They came and brushed their teeth the first time I asked, they actually sat still and paid attention during scriptures and got right in their beds when I asked them to. It was a wonderful bedtime, the best we've had in ages. All told, they each got four stickers. I promised them each another one in the morning if they would go right to sleep and not talk. Lately, they've been up talking for an hour or more before going to sleep, which is part of what is making Meagan so cranky. Tonight, though, it's been blissfully quiet. It's wonderful. I know the novelty will probably wear off soon, but hopefully they will stay with it for several days at least. If not, then they can just keep looking at the ponies I bought without being able to play with them.