Magic, mayhem and Scrabble!

Have you ever noticed that in most families at least one child is the designated mischief maker?

I bet you can guess who that child is in our house.

I'll give you a hint. She likes the smell of her own farts and spent ten minutes last night running around the house, completely naked except for one of my bras while singing, "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world! My boobs are plastic! It's fantastic!"

Rebecca would never behave like that. Last year in school the teacher sent a note home to let us know that Rebecca had been too chatty in class that day. David and I had a hard time getting angry, because it was the first time she had ever gotten into even the littlest bit of trouble. We were even a little proud. Our little girl was letting loose!

Like me, Rebecca was born 35. She will spend her childhood and adolescence worrying, planning and considering. She will be gentle with the feelings of her friends. Adults will love her for her enthusiasm and good judgement. Becoming an adult will be a relief- finally she will be old enough to be in the role for which she was born. I understand that sweet girl perfectly.

Lily, as you have probably figured out, is trouble. She's not mean or purposefully disobedient. She just lives in her own crazy little world where everything is funny and she's the star.

Today while Rebecca was busy making sure that all of her webkinz were fed and cared for and reading classics of literature, Lily was in the attic/playroom with her friend A.

I heard giggles and happy sounds so I ignored them.

Yes, I ignored them, which is why when Lily announced at dinner that she and A had put glitter glue in the hair of her American Girl doll I was not entirely surprised.



Luckily it was not actual glue, but glitter makeup so it will come out without too much trouble. Lily kept saying how great it looked and Reader? She had a point.

Meanwhile, Rebecca has been playing a little game called. "Messing with Lily's mind". It goes like this: Lily leaves her beloved Teddy Bear somewhere. Rebecca then moves Teddy to another location and will even set a scene wherein Teddy is engaged in some activity. Rebecca then breathlessly announces to Lily that Teddy is magic.

Lily has fallen for this completely and Rebecca is delighting in creating magic for Lily.


Notice the attention to detail? Teddy is both eating fake food and using glue. On the carpet.

David and I have been ignoring the children the past few evenings because we have become addicted to challenging each other to Scrabble games on our iphones. It's how we are coping with a rather gigantic heap of stress right now.

Some couples fight, some drink- we play Scrabble. Oddly enough, neither of us are particularly competitive about it. We play and focus on something small and concrete, allowing the anxiety of life to disappear.

We have each other, we have our kids and we have 100 letters to arrange and rearrange.

Sometimes it's enough.