Bel asked today if we could make more rolls (I made cinnamon rolls for everyone yesterday).
I said sure, I have some crescent rolls in the refrigerator, we can put cinnamon sugar on them.
Green light given, she headed to the fridge, opened the door, and started pulling stuff out. "We need strawberries," she pulled them off the shelf, "and butter, and milk." I got out the roll of crescent rolls and a baking sheet while she set up on the kitchen counter.
"What are we doing with the strawberries?" I asked.
"We squeeze them to make juice!" she said, and appropriated the cinnamon/sugar shaker I keep next to the toaster oven.
I assisted, separating the triangles and putting the finished rolls on the baking sheet, watching while she spread butter, shook out cinnamon sugar, and rolled (big end first, I reminded her). We also made a couple with peanut butter and a couple with M&Ms (those were Otto's).
My baker waited impatiently for her rolls to come out, and had 2 for her morning snack.
The strawberries made it back into the fridge without squishing and were sliced up later for lunch.
And I was forcibly reminded that sometimes, as a parent, your job is to facilitate and get the heck out of the way.
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In the past month or so, Annabel and Otto have enjoyed talking about aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. They're putting together the concept of the family tree. This leads to some pretty funny misconceptions.
Tonight Otto said, "someday I'm going to be a parent, and I'll cook my kids whatever they want!"
Jon and I looked at each other and snickered.
Then, as I tucked him into bed, he said "someday you'll be grandparents."
"Not too soon, I hope," I said.
"Yeah," he said, "and Annabel will be my first kid!"
I had to laugh out loud, and said "good luck with that. I had a little brother, and he wasn't terribly compliant."
From her perch by the desk, Annabel said "you had a little brother?" with a disbelieving squint.
"Yeah! You know this, it's your Uncle Matthew, he just visited us remember?" While they thought that over (I love it when you can almost see the gears turning) I said "I was 4 when your Uncle Matthew was born. So I was a big sister to him like Otto is a big brother to you."
"How old was I when Annabel was born?" asked Otto.
"Three and a half," I said.
"Huh," Otto said.
Like all siblings, they often rub each other the wrong way. But they just as often enjoy playing together and hanging out.
Otto has this week off (mid-winter break), and I'm taking a couple of days off. We need to pick up a few Scout items, get Bel new shoes, check out the indoor soccer place and register for late-winter classes, that kind of stuff. The weather will be nice, so we'll have to hit up the park, too. Should be fun.
