Travelingjenny

Yesterday when I picked Grace up from school, she very proudly showed me a twig she had collected from a white pine. She explained to me that we were going to make tea with the "sprigs," and when we got home, she showed me how. She poured the water and separated the needles and got the honey. She poured a mug for Adam and set it aside for when he got home. The tea was… interesting. But what struck me about all of this was how very grown up Grace seemed. She was interested and helpful, and insightful and funny. She was lovely.

Later we met friends for dinner, and Grace was polite and friendly, and very conversational. My friend turned to me and said, "When did Grace turn 12?"

When we got home from dinner and saw Adam, Grace gave him his tea and talked about her "girlfriends" at school. Afterwards, he turned to me and said, "When did she become a teenager?"

Obviously she's not a teenager yet, and we certainly don't wish her to become one anytime soon. But she is almost 6. And I think I'm going to like 6 quite a bit.

Last year on election day, Grace's school voted on a mascot. The red fox won, and now Grace's classroom has its own resident (stuffed) fox, named Foxy. Each weekend, a kindergartner gets to take Foxy home for special one-on-one time. Foxy comes with a journal, and each child (with help) takes a page to chronicle his/her adventures with Foxy. Last weekend, it was Grace's turn — this was especially exciting since it was Halloween weekend. Grace drew and cut out a red nose and taped it over his black nose, and he wore a frilly headband around his neck so that he could be a clown for trick-or-treating. I'm pretty sure Foxy can't wait to come back to our house — just as soon as he wakes up from his nap.

When Grace arrived home home from school today, I gave her a tiara. She accidentally broke her original tiara a couple of weeks ago, so when I saw them for half price at the store today, I bought her one. That may have been the best three dollars I have ever spent.