Five is a Very Big Deal
After last week’s ranting about how Belle, my four-year-old, ruined our trip to Legoland, I am back with a cautionary tale. The moral of which is, don’t get too comfortable assuming your almost-Kindergartner will destroy the rest of your year with her tantrums and princessy drama, because at the exact moment you do, she’ll turn into the world’s sweetest and most enjoyable little person.
Not a cautionary tale so much as a story of hope, I guess.
Because no sooner was I ready to write off Belle as ungrateful and impossible, when we had a most wonderful afternoon together last week.
She turns five in a month and is, as almost-five-year-old-girls are wont to be, over the moon about her upcoming birthday. Her party is a non-stop topic of conversation, branching off into such crucial realms as what she’ll wear, what treats she’ll take for her preschool celebration and how many Zhu-Zhu pets she hopes to receive.
Rather than finding her narcissistic birthday talk obnoxious, I think it’s delightful. I clearly remember being that age and imagining my birthday on par with the second coming. It’s part of being a kid. Your birthday is the biggest and best event ever. Period.
In the spirit of egocentric merriment, I decided to take Belle to a massive party store here in Seattle so we could choose plates, cups, napkins and favors together. Despite that we ended up with a mish-mashed princess/Tinkerbell motif, Belle was reasonable in her expectations and we picked up everything without incident.
Afterward we went home and I watched her excitedly open every package, assemble every goodie bag and babble happily about how big and old she is now.
Coincidentally, one memory of mine that stands out as a child of the same age is sitting at the kitchen table, sipping hot chocolate and talking to my own mom about turning five. I can’t remember what I said, exactly (or at all) about how it felt, but the scene of my mother and I in our yellow kitchen came back to me as Belle and I had a similar discussion.
And I knew, I know, how lucky I am to be part of the continuum of Five.
