Be careful what you say ...

In the van on the way home from Ash Wednesday service, Gracie started talking about what she was going to give up for Lent. We had talked a little about it the night before and she had announced that she was going to give up a "toy" for Lent and decided it would be her sewing/beading kit. But on the way home from church, Gracie wasn't sure if she should maybe give up a different toy.

"I'm having a hard time deciding what I want to give up." Then this led to her asking Clara, "What do you want to give up?"

Oh my - that was not the right thing to ask Clara. She said "I've already given some things away and I'm not giving anything else away" (we had pried a few toys away from the girls back in October and over the past week, Clara has taken to asking for various things back).

So Gracie kept trying to explain to Clara that she would get the toy back at Easter. But this didn't help. Clara started going on and on about a favorite toy and describing what it did (I actually had no idea what she was talking about). Finally, I realized I should maybe act like a parent and intervene before Clara got too hysterical (it's amazing how you can listen to all of the discussion, but not really be tuned in).

First, I assured Clara that she did not have to give anything up for Lent. That of course, got Gracie all upset. Then I reminded Gracie that she was 5 and Clara was only 3. And I went on to try and explain how hard it is for Clara to understand the concept of giving something up for a little while and getting it back later because she was younger than Gracie and that she was still little.

So that mostly resolved the problem in the van.

About an hour later we were finishing up lunch. Clara announced that she was done and was going outside. I had already asked her several times to clear her lunch plate from the table, but she hadn't done it. So I told her that she had to clear her plate before going outside. This is the response I got: "But I'm little, that's too hard for me to do."

Such a Clara moment! I already warned Mike that he might be prey to this ploy over the next few days...