The middle child

Somehow Mae and I - amidst the craziness of having three girls, in spite of the fact that daddy has been traveling on and off for weeks - have managed to spend some good time together lately.

She's such a funny girl, a good conversationalist when given the chance to speak, which is rare.

The girls and I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone several weeks ago. They love it - Bela so much so that she checked the book out from the school library and blew us out of the water in terms of speed. She's on book two now, and has little interest in sitting down with me and Mae at night to read book one. So Mae and I have been plugging along together, and got up early this morning to finish what I just could not possibly read last night. (The chapters are a wee bit long). We have 2 pages left in the book, and have a post-school date to finish.

I've enjoyed the time with her, and it somehow seems to connect us more during the day as well. She has been helping more in the kitchen, cooking with me at dinner time while Gillian "washes the dishes."

This time together has produced some funny exchanges I want to record for future Mae. And here are but a few:

In a conversation about Grandma Paula attending a baby shower, Mae asked me to explain what a baby shower was. I said something about the expectant parents and a party and gifts to welcome the new baby into the world.

"You mean like Jesus?" (and the three wise men).

Yes. Like Jesus.

When noticing that my good friend Karen had purchased for me some beautiful scissors to wear on a chain around my neck while I work on projects she smiled with a wise old smile and said:

"Oh, you two are just so connected."

And the other night, after suffering through a dramatic display at the dinner table because she was displeased with my offerings (a crustless broccoli quiche, salad, roasted potatoes) she wrote me this:

Dear Beautiful Mommy, I love you. I'm sorry for complaining about the box tops and the dinner. you are the best mom ever. Thank you for making dinner. It was very good. Mostly the salad. I bet when you were a kid you were sooooo healthy! Can you write back please on the other piece of paper? You don't have to write back. Besides, Marine came and gave me my blankey back. Love you

Oh Mae. My sweet little Mae. My middle child.