As Ladybug and I were sitting on the stage in the Barnes & Noble children’s section, she asked if we could buy the book we were looking at together. The cheap side of me was all, “Let’s just read the good parts here and we won’t have to buy it”.
We did a few of the fun ideas like sit back to back with your mom and each of you describe what the other is wearing. Mama won that round!
But Ladybug still wanted to bring it home with us to “do more things!”. I finally recognized it for the compliment it was and shelled out the $10.95 for the American Girl book called “Just Mom and Me: The tear-out, punch-out, fill-out book of fun for girls and their moms”.
In a few years she might not care take a quiz about my favorite pizza toppings or come up with “secret signs” that only the two of us know. And the section about “Music we agree on”? Ha!
So, yes, I bought the book.
After we got the book home, the first activity we tried was “at-home spa”. We mixed up some “sugar scrub” (3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons baby oil) then stuck our feet in warm water. After they had soaked for a bit, we scrubbed each others’ feet. She’s a pretty good foot masseuse.
To put it into language she could understand, I told her I’d rather have a foot rub than a chocolate ice cream cone. She was aghast, but rubbed harder. Then we stuck our tootsies in the bathtub and rinsed. (FYI: Hours later, my hands and feet are still baby soft.)
We giggled, we enjoyed each others’ company, we bonded. Buying that book was pure genius. As we pondered together which mom and me activity to do next, I admit to feeling pretty good about the motherin’ thang.
And then we got into a fight about whether or not she could have a Swiss Roll right before dinner. The End.
I love your post. The end made me chuckle. It sounds just like me and my daughter. One minute they are your best friend, the next you are the meanest person in the world. I am going to have to get that book.
Thanks, Melissa! It really is true, isn’t it? Happens many times a day around here!