Erin's manger scene arrangements (comments by mom)

"Wait"

Ella just threw a full-fledged tantrum, mouth wide open, screaming, red faced, spit dripping...and, somehow, I managed to remain composed (even though I felt like spitting, too, somewhere deep inside). After I sent her to her room, I asked Erin, who was peacefully eating her dinner, "What do I do with her?"

Erin's answer? "Wait."

Ah, the wisdom of a 3-yr-old.

stereotypes

Mommy used the word "stereotype" in a sentence.
..then felt the need to explain to Ella what "stereotype" means. (herein lies the dilemma)
So Mommy says, "Well...stereotype means to assume something about someone based on something that's not related."
Ella replies, "Well, I am related to Dana."
Okay. Moving on...

Girl Fight

Ella and Erin are playing in their bedroom while I cook dinner. At the very same instant, two shrill cries ring out, and two little girls find their way to the kitchen with tears streaming. Ella explains between sobs, "SHE started it!"

"Oh?" I say.

"SHE started it," Ella repeats. "First, she hit me, then I hit her, then she pushed me, then I kicked her, then she kicked me, then I hit her! SHE started it!"

Then, two shrill cries ring out again at the same instant, tears flowed again, and Momma tried not to chuckle out loud.

Sudoku

Daddy & the girls are doing Sudoku on the back of the breakfast cereal box this morning.

Kotex

Received a beautiful little blue box in the mail today. Let the girls open it because they were excited that the little blue box looked just like a present! As they peeled back the paper covering, out popped a pile of samples...feminine hygiene samples. Tall ones, square ones, paper-wrapped, plastic-wrapped, everything you'd ever want. They both stared. "That's it?"
I said, "Yup."
"Who sent you that?"
"Uh, Kotex."
"Who's Kotex?"
"It's a company. And sometimes companies send free things for us to try out so we might buy more."
"Oh." Then their attention shifted to the next goodie in the mail pile.
No more questions. Whew. That was awkward.

Modern Ella this morning

Looking at a box of Kix, "Hey, those are gluten-free!"

Talking to Erin, "If you want to buy a table, go to table.com!"

(later addition) "Mom, when do you think I'll be old enough to make my own podcast?"