Ok, it's been a little while, but I have to share this...

Lucy is at the point where once a day, she needs to express that she is upset that she's not in charge.  It's usually a meltdown over some inconsequential thing.  When we're at home, it's easy enough to deal with.  Leave her alone to calm down, or put her in her room if she's wound up.  However, when we're out and about that's not always an option.  If she has a fit of the screaming meanies when I'm buckling her into her car seat, I still need to buckle her in.

Anyway, the day before yesterday we were visiting with my sister's family who were visiting from Britain.  My brother hosted brunch down in Westboro.  It was time to leave, and Lucy decided she didn't want to go.  My sister Fiona was with me, and helped me get the girls loaded in the car.  Lucy lost it when I was putting her in the car, yelling "I want to get out" over and over again.  Rebecca often gets a little upset when Lucy is screaming herself hoarse, and had her hands over her ears.  As we rolled away, Rebecca decided to try to placate Lucy by giving her little sister her blanket and Cabbage Patch doll.

"I don't want my blankie.  It's not my blankie, it's YOUR blankie now Rebecca!"  (Understand that this blankie is what Lucy uses to get to sleep every night, drags along with her throughout the day and is probably her best friend)

I chuckled at this.  Then I heard:

"I don't want the baby anymore.  No more baby.  It's your baby Rebecca.  Get the baby off of me."  At which point in the passenger side rear view mirror I see a doll in a fuzzy pink snowsuit get chucked out the window of the car.

I laugh.  Rebecca is bawling.  My sister Fiona is puzzled, looks in the mirror and sees something bouncing off the road and has a moment of terror thinking that Lucy somehow slipped her seatbelts and got out of the car.

Anyway, we went back and picked up the baby, and as normal, after another 5 or so minutes, Lucy was tuckered out and was reduced to sobbing gently.  After that, she always wants big cuddles and apologizes for yelling.

That girl, she's 98% absolutely adorable.  2% rage.

Sugar bush visit and 3rd birthday!

Couple little updates.  We decided this spring that we had to go to a sugar bush and see some maple syrup production.  We went for breakfast, some playing around in the park, a little walking through the bush and a hay ride.

Rebecca got her face painted, which was probably the biggest deal about the whole thing:

Next up:  Lucy's third birthday.  Man, time flies...  Had some grandparents cousins and aunts and uncles there.  Much merriment to be had by all:

What to say and how

I had a grand total of two history classes during the course of my education. The first was in junior high and began with australopithecus and ended with the Second World War. The second was in high school - the history of Québec and Canada which did venture into the modern age but was decidedly narrow in its scope. Anything else I know about history (and Canadian history in particular), is a result of personal study or exposure to things like Heritage minutes. I suppose this is a consequence of pursuing a degree in life sciences. If only our fields of study stayed broader longer... At any rate, when it comes to the Famous Five, I'll admit to knowing next to nothing (beyond those Heritage minutes which I'm told have some inherent problems). My daughters have been exposed to the concept of suffrage via Mary Poppins, which is to say, only at the most basic level. The question is - what do you say about the Famous Five to your five-year old? Obviously, you say the good stuff in simplified terms but do you qualify the statements? Do you launch into a discussion of whether the ends justify the means? Until my sister illuminated me, I was completely unaware of the controversy surrounding some of the members of the Famous Five. I had accepted information presented to me at face value, with none of the rigour or analysis I would have employed when receiving data in a "scientific" context. Bad on me. Still, I feel ill-equipped to determine what I should do with my mixed feelings on this issue. Advancing the feminist cause - definitely laudable. Doing so in a potentially racist way... yikes. I don't think I want to have this conversation with my daughter and yet - I don't want to give her sanitized information either.
As a parent, there are many times when I have to navigate a tricky conversation with my daughter. Sometimes I do a good job, and sometimes I do not. Certainly, this issue has not proven as fraught with opportunities to truly mess up as in conversations on mortality, however, like most parents, I want to do right by my children and impart a certain set of values along the way - no matter the topic.
I think in the end, I will tell her that it's not just what you say and do that's important, but also how (a concept that should already be familiar). Maybe that's enough detail for now. After all, it's that very idea that has made me struggle over this issue in the first place.