Kate-dates

Kate's best friend from school, Maya, came over last President's Day for a rainy-afternoon playdate. After a few seconds of squealing and jumping up and down, they went straight upstairs to Kate's room to play. Chris was working in his office next door and could hear them quietly playing with Kate's toys for a while. When it got too quiet, he peeked inside and found them lying side-by-side in Kate's bed with the covers pulled up, reading. Like an old married couple. Of course, the honeymoon never lasts for too long on a playdate. Kate and Maya eventually came downstairs and decided to color. Everything was going swimmingly until Kate veered from the page she was coloring and and started "helping" Maya color her pink picture with her dark marker. Apparently, Maya told Kate to stop, but she didn't. When Maya complained to her Mom and we sauntered over to investigate, Kate burst into big, wailing sobs. Oh, the guilt! The injustice! This lasted a good ten minutes. The pendulum swung back, and everything was fine and dandy once more. "Mom, I'm happy again!" Later on, Maya's mother announced it was time to leave and it was Maya's turn to burst into tears. Kate and I waved goodbye as Maya cried all the way to the car. "Poor Maya. I should've given her one of my stuffed animals!" The following afternoon, Kate's friend, Isa, came by to play. Isa is six months younger, and they mostly played side-by-side, rather than together, except when they decided to build a tower towards the end of the playdate. Things were going well until Kate was suddenly overcome with playdate-fatigue and became loopy. As Isa was getting ready to leave, the dams finally broke and Kate lost it, throwing a huge tantrum that went on and on, long after Isa was gone, until she finally exhausted everyone, including herself. Good times.

Oh, the dramatic life of a 3.5 year old. "Let's do it again, Momma!"