Notes on 5

Sometimes I find myself thinking J is older than she is. I will chastise her for throwing toys into the middle of the room in the basement rather than putting them in their proper drawers, or for leaving blobs of dried spit mixed with toothpaste in her sink. These are things we have talked about numerous times, but before I assess a proper punishment, I have to remind myself. She is five.

There are delightful things about five as well - she still loves to run around outside after dinner sans shoes. And now, like last night, she also likes to direct the play.

"Daddy, you chase me and Mommy! Mommy! Daddy's car is base! No, now this tree is base! You chase me and Daddy!" (Yes, everything is said in exclamation-point voice.)

She may try to look cool for her friends at school, choosing just the right headband or belt to go with her uniform and ignoring me when I suggest she might want to brush her hair. But she still realizes she has to use the bathroom at the last minute, hopping out of her stool at the kitchen island and streaking down the hall to the powder room, one hand firmly clutching her...uh...peepee area, hair billowing wildly.

She still denies being the least bit tired mere moments before she falls sound asleep at 7:30pm. She still wakes up electrified with energy, bounding out of bed and chattering with excitement about the day to come.

She may try to mimic the older-kid speech, using the word 'like' entirely too often when describing something she and her friends did on the bus. But she still wears a lot of the food she most enjoys like makeup drunkenly applied around her mouth, most notably cream cheese, peanut butter, and any type of batter licked off of beaters.

Books, shows and movies with suspense and/or monsters still frighten her terribly. She won't even let me read a permutation of the three little pigs in one of her favorite books of shorts stories.

She still speaks for her Bunny with a funny voice out of the side of her mouth, "Good morning Mr. Jon. Good morning, Miss Lisa."

Best of all, she still LOVES her Momma, and will take any opportunity to climb, crawl and lay on me whenever we're together. Ah, 5, where is your 'pause button'?