I Forget She's Not Yet Four

This conversation is indicative of things...

Me: "Yeah, so she knocked the cup over. I managed to reach into the backseat at a stoplight and right the cup, but most of the milk had already spilled. And then she knocked it over again."

Lori: "Wait. You gave her the cup back after she already knocked it over?"

Or, the other conversation...

"I need you to come to Home Depot so I can load the stuff into the Santa Fe because our trunk is full of the hospital bags. I'd load it into the car, but I can't until I clean up the rest of the milk. Which I can't do until I can get the passenger door open. Which I can't do until I move the car because some idiot with an Obama bumper sticker parked too close to me. Which I can't do until I put Rachel's car seat back in. Which I can't do until I've cleaned up the milk."

Or...

Me: "Yeah, so I refilled her Starbuck's cup with water and we're in Home Depot and she tells me it tipped over. I see a large puddle under the cart and a trail leading most of the way down the aisle we just came."

Lori: "Maybe she's not ready for one of those cups."

Silence as I think it over. In my mind I argue "But she did so well when we were sitting in chairs at Starbucks last time." But realize a moving car is a different story, as is a shopping cart.

So Lori had to truck over to Home Depot. By the time she got there, the cars on either side of me had left and strategically placed shopping carts kept the parking spaces open. Loaded the stuff into her car, then she hung out while I cleaned up as much of the milk as I could from the car. The leather seats are great on top, but underneath, just thick, porus foam. And in their brilliance, Chrysler made the seatbelt attachments at the lowest point in the steel form of the backseat and made the seatbelts out of cloth that absorbes liquids. So Lori helped me clean
Rachel's brand new seat (the reason I took my car -- she graduated to the last chair she'll have to sit in before she can just sit on the seat... in another 6 years) and the base for Ben's seat using the cloths and disinfectant I bought at Home Depot.

And I just remembered that all that stuff is still in Lori's truck and that I'll need to get it out before church tomorrow.

But really, what I meant to post about in the first place is her age. After Home Depot, we went to another store where she picked out a project she wanted to make for Lori for Mother's Day. I'm quite impressed by her choice. It's not exactly surprising, but I think Lori will like it and it fit Lori's requirements that it not be big/pricey, and my requirements that it not be something that ends up in a box or collecting dust on a counter. And Rachel has the opportunity to really customize it. And then at the register, she was saying she wanted to get Lori's something else. And I was reminding her that mommy couldn't appreciate that right now and she replied "No, for after Ben comes out." The other people in line were just marveling at her.

So we get home, bring the stuff inside, tell Lori not to come down and we get to work. She works for a little while and then she's done. It had been a long day and she just couldn't work anymore. No amount of logic could encourage her to keep going, she was just done.

Which makes me think I should have planned better and started sooner, but also reminds me that she is still just a little girl. I think I give her a lot of credit and possibly expect a lot from her, but I need to remember that while she usually does live up to my expectations, that she is still just a little girl. I don't need to be hurrying her through life but just need to enjoy her and love her as she is. (I'm not intentionally trying to, I just forget.)