Sunday playdate

After a lovely Skype conversation with Grandma and Grandpa today, Rachel and I headed to Playdate PDX, a great indoor playplace, with her little friend Giada. Giada's mom, Sharon, and I were able to talk now and again, before Rachel insisted I go down the slides with her. The slides are pretty fast and fun, and I'm sure Rachel was surprised when insisted on going down "again! C'mon, let's go down AGAIN!"

We were all having a really nice time until Giada decided she wanted a "tag" on her shirt -- a tag meant that she was attending a party at Playdate PDX, and her mom tried to explain that she couldn't have one because she wasn't attending a party and it wasn't her birthday. Giada proceeded to throw a hissy fit, the likes of which made me uncomfortable and exasperated enough so that I wanted to say, "ENOUGH. If you keep doing this, we are OUT of here." Which her mom eventually did, but not as firmly as I would have done.

Rachel's eyes got very wide during this exchange and she said, "I would NEVER do that!" and "A 4 1/2 year old doesn't DO that!" (Giada will turn 5 in January). I had to tell her to lower her a voice a bit. I don't think Sharon heard; she was so preoccupied with getting Giada home. I offered to clear up the dishes, since they'd had lunch, and they left. Rachel, of course, couldn't wait to share with Drew what had happened. I think Giada was just having a bad day; Sharon said she'd been having temper tantrums all weekend after months of calm.

Drew got a haircut and ran some errands, then came to Playdate PDX to pick Rachel up while I went home and did some work. Before he came, she said to me, apropos of nothing:

"And always remember this, Mom. Be happy with what you have and don't be jealous of other people."
"Who told you that?" I said, astonished.
"Daddy," she replied.