Day 186 or “The Day Stormy Channels Her Inner Lawyer”

Stormy as I discuss the fastest ways that we can get to the bus-stop. I suggest a catapult from our front window. Stormy disagrees, not because it’s unsafe, but because “I’d be scared”. She does agree that a jet-pack, “like in Miles from Tomorrowland”, would be fun. I tell her that she’ll need to invent it. She seems to take this at face value.

As we have less than 7 weeks remaining before we leave Singapore, I am trying to organise play-dates with all of her little friends. I return home to one of these play-dates in progress. It’s either that or a small bomb has gone off in our living room. There are literally toys everywhere. Stormy and her friend seem to have a competition going — who can be the loudest and faster person in the house. Our cat, Han, who normally likes being played with, is currently hiding in the bathroom.

Eventually her friend leaves and we settle down for dinner. Afterwards I get Stormy to help me clean up the mess. I may have threatened to throw out any toys on the floor if she doesn’t help. It works. Although she spends the time channeling her inner lawyer. “What if I don’t see a small piece of Lego — will that go in the bin?”, “What if I miss a toy?”, “Can I stop now?” — I answer each question directly and honestly. I also don’t throw her out the window. It’s win-win.

The play-date has left her overly excited. Today I have learned that I need to be a little stricter on bedtime. We’ve always allowed her quiet time (time to play alone instead of going straight to bed), but she’s stretching the boundaries too far these days. By 10pm I put the foot down and make her go to bed. She is asleep within 5 minutes.

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