1 Mother 2 Another

Maddie woke up yesterday morning, came
sleepily into my room, crept into my bed and said, “Yeah!
Today’s the day we’re going to Colorado for
vacation!”


Startled, I replied, “No, hon, we’re not leaving until
next Saturday.”


At which point she promptly burst into tears.


I found out later that Maddie had just finished a wonderful dream
about going to Colorado, and so felt deeply letdown at the news
that reality was a bit different. But even if she hadn’t been
hard on the heels of a lovely dream, Maddie would have been
desperate to get to Colorado. Both girls, in fact, have started a
countdown until vacation time, and can’t wait to reach
blast-off.


What’s behind all this? Partly a desire to have undivided
adult attention, I’m sure. Partly that we’ve been
talking up Colorado and all the fun things we’ll do there.
When I asked Maddie what she is most looking forward to about
Colorado, she said, “Going horseback riding, going fishing
with Daddy, and eating colored Cheerios for breakfast.” Yes,
we had Fruit Loops for breakfast when on vacation visiting my
grandfather last fall, and now they’re irrevocably linked.
And apparently the highlight of any vacation.


So yes, they’re excited about exploring a whole new world.
But they’re also over the moon at the thought of (in their
minds) unlimited access to cane sugar and artificial dyes.


Both girls have now asked several times a day, “How much
longer until we get to Colorado?” until I want to have an LED
countdown clock to hold up for them.


And I thought I’d escape that question until we actually got
in the car.