Wednesday, May 31, 2017

The Sink With The Googly Eyes

"Hi! Mommy!" Natalie waved at me with both hands, a wide smile on her face.



I relished in it because I don't know how much longer she'll be excited to see me when I show up at her school. Will I arrive one day and see her eyes roll?

"Hello," I answered, reaching my arms out for a hug. She ran right into them. Her friend stood beside her, smiling slightly. "Hi Natalie's Mom," she said meekly. I'm glad Natalie isn't embarrassed to show me affection in front of her friends. Maybe that'll change one day. I thought about this and gave her an extra squeeze.

"So," Natalie said, pulling away. "Do you want to see what I did?" She said this primly, like she was a tour guide. Her wrist flicked towards her posters like she was Vanna White showing everyone the board. Parents were allowed to come and view the "gallery" and Natalie had been anxious to show me what she came up with.

"I do," I replied. School is nearly over and I imagine teachers are scrambling what to do with their students. I mean, what can you do with only one week left? Attention spans aren't exactly there when summer break is within reach. Natalie's teacher decided to have the kids research an endangered animal and a famous Texan.




"Do you like how I drew my polar bear?" Natalie asked. "It took me ages. Ages and ages. I am not a good drawer."

"I love it," I assured her.

Her teacher came over. "Natalie did a great job," she said. "I love how she wrote 'fun facts' on her poster."

"I was trying to make it more interesting," Natalie explained. "No one wants to just see a poster board with a list of facts."

Her friend cleared her throat. This is because her poster just had a list of facts.

"I mean," Natalie quickly amended. "It's okay if OTHER people do it like that. But I wanted mine to stand out."





I told Natalie that I was impressed with what she came up with.

"I think next week we can take our posters home. You can hang them in the living room!" Natalie said.

"Er. Well. Hmm. Maybe," I said noncommittally.

It's always wonderful to see Natalie in a good mood. Now that she's a tween, she's not always happy. Her mood swings have become terribly unpleasant. One minute she'll be laughing, the next she'll be asking why I'm looking at her funny.

"I'm not," I'll insist, startled.

"You are! And it's MEAN," Natalie will snap before running from the room.

I'll be left wondering what in the world just happened.

Sometimes she'll get upset because her friends are being mean. She plays with a bunch of girls in the neighborhood and they'll turn on each other so quickly. Imagine a bunch of tween mood swings in one cluster. It's frightening. Natalie will burst into the house wailing, claiming that everyone told her to go home.

"You don't have to listen to them," I'll tell her. "They aren't the boss of you. I'm the boss of you."

Sometimes I'll just want to see her smile again. I hate to see her upset. So the other day, I put googly eyes on the kitchen sink.

"How about you check out the sink," I suggested as Natalie wiped her eyes. She had come inside because one of her friends had "shooed" her away.

"Like I was a BUG! I'm so offended!" Natalie huffed.

"Why should I check out the sink?" Natalie grumbled. But she did it. And then...





She laughed. Loud belly laughs. My girl was my girl again.

Maybe she won't always light up when she sees me at her school. Yes there will be plenty of tears at home as she grows.

But for now?

There was a sink with googly eyes and giggles filling up the house.




55 comments:

  1. Awwww, that is so sweet. It's hard when they grow up and change from the babies who once depended on us for everything.

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  2. I love the simple googly eye fun! I'm definitely not looking forward to when my kids are teens, but it's a good reminder to enjoy them now!

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  3. I really love this. It's so hard to see our kids grow up. I love the moments where they stay "little" a while longer. I hope you won't be offended if I take your google eye sink idea. I think my kids will get a huge kick out of that.

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  4. I love this. I got a kick out of the googly eye sink as well, too cute!

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  5. I love how proud she is of her poster. You can tell she worked hard on it. :)
    It's funny how something as simple as two googly eyes can bring such joy to someone who is feeling so down (I mean, it DOES look hilarious).

    Christie's Take on Life. xx

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  6. Aw! She's all girl. The hormones have kicked in!! I can't believe she's grown up so much since I've "known" you. It's crazy!!

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  7. People say that the cheapest way to freshen up a room is a new coat of paint, but you and I both know it's really a set of Googly eyes.

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  8. Awwww I love this so much!!!! :)

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  9. This is so sweet! It is tough as they get older. My son has remained sweet and happy to see me. I hope my daughter follows.

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  10. I smiled the entire time reading this. Nothing like mother/daughter time (while she still enjoys it yes lol) where you're both laughing and smiling!

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  11. How sweet, thus was a good read. She's adorable. Thst googly eyes brought in the sunshine.lol

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  12. the post is great, I mean the girl is really cute. The way it is written is amazing, I can't get enough of the photos.

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  13. Aww love this ... you two seem to have the sweetest relationship..its an age to cherish...not looking forward to my 1 year old getting too old on me lol

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  14. AWww, loved this post! She's so lucky to have an amazing mom like you!!!!!

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  15. Ha ha , not just Natalie, even I had giggles looking the sink with googly eyes.. That was so cute of you to make her smile back! God bless mom-daughter:)

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  16. I love that she wanted to hang her poster at home. I've got to add some googly eyes around here because that sink is just too cute.

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  17. Aww awesome is this and I love that she wanted to hang the poster at home haha!

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  18. Hahahaha those googly eyes! She sounds like quite the character :) I feel you on the poster being hung in the family room, my guys are the same way!

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  19. I have a tween right now and the emotional roller coaster is hard. It's so nice when we can find little things that bring our kids back. I love the googly eyes.

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  20. I love the school project they had to do, endangered animal plus a Texan how cool and I had to chuckle at those googley eyes

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  21. Such a sweet hard working little girl. Btw, the sink looks awesome!

    Jill
    http://www.jilldap.com

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  22. Aww i love reading your post !! your kids are amazing !! And the sink looks cool

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  23. This is so funny - the sink with the googly eyes! I can't wait to tell my kids about this. I'm sure they'll enjoy the story too!

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  24. That's so sweet! A googly eyed sink is such a fun way to cheer her up :)

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  25. It's great that your daughter still loves school and learning and is proud of her work. I mentor young ladies, so I am all to used to the dreaded mood swing. I'm glad that your you were still able to make your daughter laugh with the googly eyed sink :)

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  26. Bless her. As you tween you go through many hormonal changes but it is nice to know that it is the littlest things that can make her feel herself again x

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  27. I am definitely not ready to be a parent yet, especially to a much older child. I love the googly eyes!

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  28. This is just a cute story. I know that kids will just have their mood swings. It’s great you handled it properly.

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  29. I have the same type of faucet in my kitchen. I will have to add googly eyes to ours to surprise my Son.

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  30. I recall the transition from carefree youth to teen all too well. I have to agree, kids sure can be mean, boys as well as girls.

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  31. Haha, that's cute! She seems so spunky, I love her projects!

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  32. Aw this makes me happy and sad at the same time. I am already crying that my baby is turning 1 in less than a month - This makes me happy that they still love mommy and not ashamed to publicly show affection, but sad that they are old enough to have to handle getting hurt by friends.

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  33. Your daughter is so adorable. I love reading your post and it brightens my day. Thanks for sharing.

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  34. I love the creativity your daughter has and she isn't afraid to do things different than others. The google eyes on the sink is really a cute idea. I will have to share this with my niece. Thanks for sharing your idea and your experience with your daughter.

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  35. I am smiling while reading this post. I guess you have to enjoy and cherish the times with her while she is young and I hope it will still be the same even if she grow older. - ANOSA

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  36. I think it's awesome that she's showing you around and that she's very proud of her work. She's so charming!

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  37. That's awesome. And very creative of you. There is something special about when we hear our children laugh. It is just so amazing. I cannot tell you.

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  38. Such a lovely story. Kids grow so fast and one day there are monsters and the other day your little girl or boy again. So hard to see them grow and change! xx corinne

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  39. AWw.. I love this story. May she always love at sinks with eyes!
    I'm so terrified of having a tween or teen.

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  40. What a sweet story. It seems you and your daughter have a special bond. I have a similar one to my girls. Enjoy the time it goes by all too fast.

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  41. This is so sweet! It is hard to see kids grow up, I miss them as babies. But, my kids now at 9,7 and 6 are so fun to spend time with. Having the relationship evolve is amazing and I cherish it so much!

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  42. I love the relationship that you have with your daughter. My mother and I are very close and I do not know what I would do without her! Keep up the good work! The relationship may change as she grows but she will always appreciate you when push comes to shove!

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  43. What a cute story! I have a 4 year old so I'm still pretty far from the tween stage!

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  44. Natalie is an adorable child and I love how smart and quick witted she is. Love her idea to put goggly eyes on the sink. I think I am going to put them on mine, too :)

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  45. Love reading about the interaction between you and your daughter. She is beautiful and very witty.

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  46. It's so ironic that I should read this today as my granddaughter is going thru the emotion overload at ten and we were discussing how to channel her feelings. I think it's so great that you support her expressing herself.

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  47. That is so sweet of you to cheer her up. Even if she grows out of hugs, I'm sure she'll always realize what a great Mother you are. Hope the friends stop being mean!

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  48. I love that it was something so simple to make her smile again. I am NOT looking forward to the tween/teen phase!

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  49. LOL i had no idea what to expect when I first read your blog title. I laughed reading through and then finally seeing the little eyes! haha so cute!

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  50. This is such a cute story! And I think my parents have the same faucet. I might need some googly eyes now.

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  51. Your daughter is growing up to be more adorable. Us here online are becoming witness of her progress and we wish her to be the kindest lady. Kudos to you!

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  52. How adorable. I can't imagine how difficult the tween years must be, but it sounds like you're handling it well. The googly eye sink? Genius.

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  53. She looks so adorable and is very pretty :) The teen years won't be easy for anyone I guess.. we probably weren't any better to our own parents haha

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  54. Omg what a cutie she is!!!! And I'm loving the eyes on the sink. Cuteness Overload

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  55. she is so cute. It's difficult to deal with teens but he is so adorable. I have one.

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