Tea Party Interrupted

In an attempt to stop the bickering over the baby from Emma's Barbie nursery set or the Tinkerbell cell phone, we took the kids downstairs for a change of scenary this afternoon. Thankfully, it worked. They played on the beanbag and played on the slide. They took turns and had a much better time.

At one point, Allison dumped out the pieces of one of Emma's puzzles. After a few minutes, she went and got out the tea set. I said, "Ally, you have to pick up the puzzle before you can have a tea party." Without skipping a beat, she went over to the puzzle to start cleaning it up. The only indication of how she felt about my request was the exclamation of "Shoot!" on her way across the room. Isn't it nice when the hardest thing about parenting at the moment is to not laugh yourself silly?

As soon as the puzzle was cleaned up and she made sure that I acknowledged her effort, Ally set off to having a tea party. Emma didn't want to attend. She perferred to sit on her Sit 'n Spin and pretend not to eat/put in her mouth the green playdoh in her hands. Allison didn't let that bother her at all. She methodically passed out dishes, cups and spoons to Danny and me. She takes her tea parties very seriously. Our cups and bowls were kept full to overflowing at all times. I would eat and drink as quickly as I could. I just love the way she comes over with the tea pot and pours it haphazardly with such earnest. The best part is the sound effects. Every time she pours, she makes a "shhh" sound. She's a great little hostess.

Southern hospitality begins at home.