The Silly Hat

My daughter is moving out. This may seem like the natural course that life takes except that Elizabeth is 4 years old. It is not the first time she has informed me of her desire to part ways, but perhaps it is the most endearing. It started innocently enough with a preschool assignment, requesting that she wear a silly hat to school tomorrow. This assignment quickly became an afternoon experiment in creative expression complete with beads, feathers, stickers, pom poms and the like. She even managed to burn herself slightly when grabbing the hot glue gun from me because I was not clumping the glue to her satisfaction.

The hat itself turned out to be a beautiful creation, one I hope she will wear with pride. As with all things, the creation did not come without cost. There was much cleaning up to do...which is where the high drama began. First there was the need for a nap. Fine I tell her. I will wake you up at 3 so you can clean up. This turns in to another realization. "Mom, what I really need right now is a time out. I am going to sit in my chair. Call me when 4 minutes is up". This seems agreeable I tell her but remind her she still needs to clean up. She returns from time out, eyes up her mess and with a clever gleam in her eye tells me, "Mom I have made a decision (her exact words), I have decided what I really need is to move out and go live somewhere else." Our eyes lock, battle lines drawn. I know that in her sweet little mind I am supposed to crumble, tell her I will clean up her mess if only she promises to never leave. Instead I tell her I will miss her. Her eyes fill with tears and I hug her as she climbs onto my lap.

As I help her clean up, I realize that one day she really will move out and decide I had better save the hat.