Girls' Night Out

Clara and I had a GNO tonight. With the boys away, we figured that a glamorous dinner at Baja Fresh was in order, followed by shopping. On a Thursday night! We are livin' large!
In the car on the way to dinner, Clara informed me, with a giggle, that she had taken my cell phone out of my purse, and had put it in her own (little leopard print purse that she takes everywhere). She has been petitioning for a cell phone for some time now, but no one around here is signing the petition. So, she likes to hold my phone and pretend that it is hers. I don't like cell phones, to be honest, because I don't really need one in my line of work. The only calls I ever get are from Chad, when we are on opposite ends of some giant store and he can't find me. As I was driving, Clara was amusing herself with the phone, making it ring, making it beep, etc. Then, she said, "Mommy, you really should download some new ringtones. These ones aren't that cool." A minute later, she was chuckling about something, so I asked, "What's so funny". She said, "Oh, I just took a funny picture of myself and I made it your wallpaper." I asked her how she knew about wallpaper, and, more specifically, about how to change the wallpaper. Her reply was, "Mommy, it is sooooooo easy. I mean, you just go to the menu and select 'display options', then go to 'wallpaper', then hit, 'my photos', then pick a photo, then hit 'select', then hit, 'save'. Your wallpaper was so boring before." My wallpaper was boring.

As we ate our burritos, I couldn't help marveling at my little girl, and at how much she's changed over the past year. It has been more than just a chronological thing lately....more like a caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis. Midway through dinner, she decided she wanted some water, so she walked up to the counter and (politely) asked the cashier for a cup. It doesn't sound that earth-shattering, I know, but she would NEVER have done that a year ago. Oh, maybe if I held her hand and walked up to the counter with her and I did all the talking. But now, there is no fear in her. She trusts herself and trusts that she can get the job done. This, the girl who used to cry and cling at Birthday parties if she didn't know every single party guest. Amazing.
Throughout dinner, I let Clara keep the phone in her purse. She even got a call....Chad in Oregon, saying goodnight...and the way she sipped her drink and twirled her hair while chatting gave me glimpses into a future that seems to be sneaking up on me. Later, at the store, she took the phone out of her purse (even though I had told her not to), and accidentally dropped it. It was no big deal, really, and I managed to snap everything back together, then reclaim possession of the thing, tossing out a calmly spoken, yet snarky "I told you so" type comment about how she really is too young to have a cell phone. (Ya, I didn't need to rub it in...wish I could take that back). When we finally got home, I checked to see if the phone still worked, and was relieved to find that it did (or how would we ever survive a trip to Home Depot this weekend???) Clara, a bit shaken by the experience of almost breaking something expensive, got a bit teary-eyed and sniffly. She said, "Mommy, I am so, so, sorry. I would never want to break your phone. I just wanted to look like a big kid carrying it around the store." It makes me smile just thinking about it. I mean, her motivation was clear to me from the beginning, but I am completely shocked that she actually expressed it to me. She gave me a clear, honest, rational explanation for her behavior. This was a watershed moment. It made me so happy that I let her read for 20 extra minutes tonight, and I promised her that we could make smoothies on Saturday. My little girl can be rational! Hmmmm...I wonder where she gets it from?