Emma's Double Life

Many of you have the privilege of knowing Emma personally. She is a bright, vivacious, clever, witty and extremely outspoken 5 year old. While all these are positive characteristics, they can cause trembling and fear in her parents. For these reasons, I was fearful about attending Emma's first conference at school. I had all the kids with me. Abby and Emma sat in the hallway outside the classroom and colored, drew, etc. while Ian went into the classroom with me (on a side note, whoever invented gummie snacks should be praised---they work brilliantly in keeping a 16 mth old completely occupied while a parent is involved in a conference). As I sit across the table from her teacher I prepare myself to hear any number of revelations. "Emma borders on disrespectful. Emma is very bright but we must learn to harness her energy for good and not evil." and so on. Here is the conversation:

Mrs. C: Can I just tell you how much I love Emma? She is the sweetest, kindest, most polite child I have. I wish all my kids were like her. I wish I could clone her.


Me: SERIOUSLY??? (and yes I did actually say this out loud)

Mrs. C: (looking surprised and a bit confused) Really? Does this surprise you?

Me: Actually , yes. Very much. We are talking about Emma Bentley, right?

Please know I am in no way bragging or trying to claim pride in the good work that Emma is doing in her classroom. This is a clear example of God's grace at work and has absolutely nothing to do with me and/or my parenting skills. I tell the story just to share my surprise and utter shock with you.

Anyway, back to the story. I found out that Emma is doing great, has many friends, works independently and has never shown any sign of disrespect. I relay several Emma stories to Mrs. C to explain my shock at her report and she insures me that no such behavior has reared its ugly head. Even the Emma stories from her class have not caused concern.

Conference ends. I tell Emma about all the praise she has received. She is beaming!

We arrive home. Derreck comes home shortly after us. I tell him the news. He too, responds with , "Are you kidding me?" Please know it is not that we don't have faith in our child; we just know what we see at home.

A discussion with my Mom, who is a fourth grade teacher, sheds a little light on the subject. "Oh, she is one of those kids..perfect angel at school and holy terror at home. I have seen many of those and the shocked parents when I tell them how well behaved their child is at school" Now I wouldn't go that far in describing Emma as a holy terror at home....just a challenge, strong willed. So my child is basically living a double life-- good school girl by day......outspoken political crazy girl at night. That takes a lot of work! You gotta respect her for that!

Wait till she starts dating or is even interested in boys at school....which Emma will she be? Oh that poor boy!

School

(Abby typing)
At school we are learning about habitats. My teacher thought that we needed to know it a little better so she ordered frogs,crabs,and millipedes. There are African dwarf frogs,fiddler crabs,and regular millipedes.We have to take care of them for a couple weeks. After that we get to take them home if your parents let you.I asked them and they said yes!So I am getting a fiddler crab!I might name it Crabby or Chopper.I can't wait!

Musical Talents???

I am attaching videos of some recent musical talent that has appeared in our family. Abby told me that she and three other girls at her school have formed a band. They just sing (no one knows how to play an instrument). Abby and her friend Ashlyn are the lead singers and Lillian and Kelsey are the back up singers. They call themselves....The Weirdos! They wear matching outfits on certain days. I was unaware of this until Abby told me last Wed that she had to wear a green shirt and jeans(at least the girls are working with clothes they have)! They write their own songs. Three to be exact....called Kansas, Hot Salsa and Piggy Went to Town. You heard it here first....Kansas. ENJOY!

Of course, Emma could not be outdone. She shared a song they are learning in her Kindergarten class. She is not a member of a band as of today but I am sure this will change since Abby is doing it!

Emma's Big Decision

Before I began the story I have to give you a little background. Emma and I have had numerous discussions about asking Jesus into your heart and becoming a Christian. The last one we had was about a month ago. Emma asked about how you get to heaven. I told her you have to have Jesus in your heart. She then asked what heaven was like. I told her that I didn't know but from what the Bible says it is a wonderful place. Emma immediately asks if there will be free ice cream there. I said I didn't know but it sounds good. Emma ends the conversation with, "If there is free ice cream there then I want to go!"

Fast forward to last night at dinner. The kids and I are around the table eating (Derreck was working late) and I notice that Emma has her head down and her eyes closed. This is the conversation:

Me: Emma, are you okay?

Emma: Yes. Guess what Mom? I just asked Jesus into my heart.

Me: Really? Emma, that is awesome!

Abby: Well, now that means you have to be a good girl you know?

Me: Well, Emma, God knows you can't do that alone so that is why having Jesus in your heart will help you want to do good things.

Abby: Wait a minute. Emma, why did you ask Jesus into your heart?

Emma: Because I love Him!

Abby: Ok, then. I thought you were going to say it was because you wanted the free ice cream!

People, I can't make this up!!

Oh, the Mind of a 5 Yr Old

If you have noticed lately Emma has given me tons of good material to blog. And today is no exception. After arriving home from school, I took Emma's lunch box out of her backpack, unzipped it to find everything I had packed this morning. And I mean everything...completely untouched.

Me: Emma, why didn't you eat your lunch today?

Emma: What? I did eat lunch.

Me: Then how come everything is still in your lunchbox?

Emma: I had a lunchbox today? I just bought my lunch.

Me: How did you buy it if you didn't have any lunch money?

Emma: I just went through the lunch line, picked what I wanted and sat down and ate.

Me: And nobody said anything to you about it?

Emma: Nope.

Oh my. Don't worry folks... I am not going to let Emma think this is okay. For those of you who remember, we had this same problem with Abby. At the end of her Kindergarten year, I receive a bill from the cafeteria for about $8. Abby just kept going up to the ice cream cooler and picking out ice cream whenever she wanted it( at that time ice cream was $.50). So we explained the cafeteria is not a place where you just take what you want; you have to pay first. Looks like I will be having this discussion again. And Emma will bring the money for today in to school tomorrow.

More Emma Sayings

Back by popular demand these are the latest musings by Emma

Emma was telling me about one of her new best friends, Teah. Emma tells me that Teah rides the same bus that Emma and Abby ride. Here is the conversation:

Emma: Did you know that Teah has two brothers that ride the bus with us?

Me: No I didn't know that.

Emma: Well, their names are Ian and Duckling.

Me: Wait, she has a brother named Duckling?

Emma: Yeah.

Me: Are you sure? That is a weird name for a kid---that is a name for a baby duck.

Emma: I AM SURE MOM--STOP ASKING!


I go into Emma's room this morning because I know her alarm has gone off and she hasn't gotten out of bed. I walk in and here is the conversation:

Me: Emma, it's almost 7:30. You have got to get up!

Emma: No, I don't.

Me: Didn't your alarm go off?

Emma: Yes, but it is my 2 day break so I went back to sleep.

Me: What are you talking about? You have to go to school today.

Emma: No, you and Abby told me I get a 2 day break every week.

Me: Emma, that is on Saturday and Sunday. Today is Tuesday. You don't just get to pick the days you want to take a break from school.

Emma: Oh....well you guys lied!