Date Night

You know the song Hot n Cold by Katy Perry (not to be confused with her other big hit that no one in my house is allowed to listen to)? That is the perfect song for Allie. In fact, if you listen closely, you will hear her name. She sings, "You change your mind, like Allie changes clothes." What? That's not what it says? Oh, well, it should. Because she does change her mind as often as she changes clothes. She is either the most pleasant, happy girl or she is a monster in a dress. Or skirt with leggings. Or pjs. Or just her undies...

Honestly, Allie is "cold" a lot more than she is "hot." Don't get me wrong, I love her. Usually, though, I love her just as much as is required by law. Jeff commented the other day, "she makes our other kids seem like a breeze," and it's true. She constantly reminds us that she is going to do what she wants to do.

Wednesday we had scheduled "Mom and Allie Date Night" in an attempt to get back to our goal of spending one night a month with one of the kids. We hadn't planned anything specific, but she knew the night was going to be just for her and me and was looking forward to it. Wednesday morning she had made a big mess, by dumping out her drawer full of dishes/food and a bucket of wooden "gingerbread men," neither of which she played with for more than a few minutes. I told her that she needed to have them all put away before she could have lunch, to which I was greeted with the usual whines and complaints. "It's too hard," "I need help," and "I'm not doing it" were the excuses I heard most. I gently told her that she would not be able to eat until they were cleaned up, and I didn't think it was asking too much for her to clean up a small portion of the mess she had made.

Well, I knew she was stubborn, but I had no idea just how stubborn she could be. She informed me that she wasn't hungry and would clean up while I made dinner. This after she had claimed to be STARVING at 10:00 am when she asked if it was lunchtime. I told her that was fine, but that she wouldn't be getting anything to eat, not a bite, until dinner if the toys weren't cleaned up by 2:25(two and a half hours later), when we needed to go pick up Damon. Guess what? They weren't. So, she didn't eat.

Three hours later, I was making dinner, and I told her that if she didn't get the toys cleaned up, she wouldn't be eating dinner. "That's fine, I don't want dinner," she said. "Oh, and we won't be able to go on our date night, either." I had her. She was willing to give up food for the day, but she couldn't give up date night. Secretly, I was hoping she wouldn't clean them up, because I was in no mood to go anywhere with her. But, she had a sudden change of heart, and in 15 minutes, all the toys (which were now scattered throughout the house, not just in the spots she had dumped them out) were cleaned up. And she did it ALL BY HERSELF. She did try to coerce both Damon and KyKy into helping, but they weren't having any of it, and she had to do it alone.

So, I put on my happy face and asked her where she wanted to go for our date night. She chose to go to the mall and try on lip gloss. By the time we got there, she was her fun, happy self that I wish we saw a lot more often. We had a great time. She managed to come away from the arcade with a teddy bear from the machine with the claw that you position over the prizes and pretend not to be disappointed when it comes out empty. I was amazed. She got a new pair of shoes and six pair of socks for $3 at Famous Footwear (LOVE their $10 off $10 purchase rewards!). We tried on lipgloss, lotion and makeup at Bath and Bodyworks and Victoria's Secret. And then we ended the night by taking our photo in the photo booth. Mostly because I wanted to remember the uni-brow she had given herself with the eye shadow. Sorry, not a great quality scan, but you get the idea.



(I wish you could see the uni-brow better. Imagine the scene from A League of Their Own. "The eyebrows--thin and separate." Oh, and go ahead and recall the next part, with Marla Hooch--what a hitter. "What do you recommend?" "A lot of night games.")

When we walked in the door, I said, "Allie, thanks for a fun night."

She looked at me, and said, amazed, "It was a fun night!"

I hung our photos on the fridge, to remind myself that I do actually love her more than is required by law. A lot more. I just sometimes forget.