Emma Grace

My daughter seriously is a hoot. A few weeks ago, I was looking for EJ's lunchbox to pack his lunch in the morning. I found it inside his backpack and got a little steamed. He knows he's supposed to empty his backpack, put the ice pack in the freezer and the lunchbox on the counter in the kitchen. So, I pull the lunchbox out only to discover that it's got stuff in it. I take it to the kitchen, unzip it, and what do I find? Two zipper sealed baggies. One had a piece of cheese and cluster of grapes (both wooden play foods), and the other had chicken legs and an orange slice (plastic and wood, respectively). Come to find out, my daughter had decided to "help", so she packed his lunch for him! I think he'd have been mighty hungry at lunchtime that day!

So today, we're outside playing. Emma Grace is walking around our very large backyard with her wagon. She brings the wagon up to me and says, "Look, Mommy, I have sticks." Which, sure enough, she did. She pulls about 6 sticks out of the wagon and tosses them on the ground. A few minutes later, she tells me she needs to go inside to get "something". I let her in, thinking she's getting a toy or going potty. Noooooo, not my child. She comes back out a minute later with a lighter in her hand. That's right, a L-I-G-H-T-E-R! I asked her what in the world she was doing. She told me, "I'm gonna put a fire on those sticks." Yep, my little redneck child was going to light a bonfire. After a very serious discussion on how the lighter is something only Mommy or Daddy is allowed to use...it can hurt you...etc., I put the lighter up on the counter, all the way back against the wall. I called my husband to let him know about the drs appointment I had scheduled for this afternoon and to tell him about his pyromaniac daughter. As I'm telling him about Emma Grace, I notice that the lighter is missing. Looking around, I see that my daughter has now moved the pile of sticks out into the yard, under the tree, and is trying to light them on fire! Guess Daddy putting his extra lighter (he uses them to burn the threads off his uniforms...we don't smoke, so we're not sure how she got the idea of using the lighter) in the drawer for me to use to light my candles wasn't his best idea...