Goodnight

Ariel was being so cute tonight at the end of our bedtime ritual. When all the drawings, games, books, songs and prayers are done, she likes to recap on the day's events. Well, tonight she decided to discuss the idea of hamsters with me. Yup, pet hamsters. Dustan vaguely mentioned it the other day, and apparently she liked the idea. I, on the other hand, do not. My best friend growing up had a hamster, and that was close enough to owning one for me.

But the seriousness on her face when approaching the subject was adorable. She told me, using her auntie's antics, "Um, mommy, we can just get a hamster, and call it Sweetie." Lips pressed together, forefinger flicked up and immediately back down for forcefulness on the decision she just made. (Can anyone say, "Aunt Becca!"?) Of course, I smirk and casually say, "Oh really. What a great idea" while in my head, I say "ewww". So, then I come up with a temporary solution to the idea. We have, of late, been randomly creating a nonexistant list in the form of a spoken ideal timeline to achieve different goals for Ariel's life. For example, she would like to be as old as I currently am today. So, I tell her all the things she has to learn to do before she can be as old as me, and then she's happy to just be almost 5.

Other things to achieve on this nonexistant list:

1. When to ride a bike with no training wheels: age 6.

2. When we can go to Pennsylvania: age 6.

3. When she can learn to play her first instrument: age 7.

4. When we can get a cat and a dog: at least age 7 & live in the States.

5. When to play on a soccer team: age 7.

6. When to go to summer camp: age 9.

^ HAMSTER^ age 10

7. When to get ears pierced: age 12.

8. When to drive a car: age 16.
9. When to go out with a boy: age 17.
10. When to get married: age 21.

See how that hamster stands out at me???? Yikes. And we are counting down the days. For several reasons. Hopefully the excitement for it will wear off before the magic number 10 arrives. To all the worries, begging, excuses, anticipations and hasty suggestions, I say, "Goodnight!"