Bonfire!

On Friday night of last week, Anne and David decided to head to a concert in Takoma Park. I went to the morning fitness class that is killing me these days (Barre; it's like ballet on steroids) and picked up Rachel from a school a little early (much to my shock, I discovered that it was too hot to wear jeans, so I changed into shorts and a short-sleeved shirt) to head to a bonfire at Lacey Woods Park, near her friend Libby's house, that the Girl Scouts were organizing. I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether parents were welcome, so I went with the idea of dropping Rachel off -- but she begged me to stay and so I sort of cornered Jill and Kelly, the troop leaders, into letting me hang around.

The girls made a craft of pipe cleaner and wood, and then they all gathered around a big fire and, much to Rachel's dismay, were bossed around by the bigger Cadets and Juniors, who acted as buddies while the girls went to the fire and roasted marshmallows (the idea was for everyone to make s'mores). I told her that she couldn't get too mad -- just like she was earning her patch, the big girls needed to guide the little girls so THEY could get their patches -- but she was still annoyed. She also got mad at one of the parents of a girl from another troop who scolded her for drifting away toward a nearby pavilion. (I should explain that it was very dark, no one had thought to bring flashlights, including me, so it was quite a challenge trying to get around.)

At the end of the evening, Sydney asked if they could have a sleepover, and I said no, but that we were heading to Silver Diner for dinner and she and Nicole were welcome to join us (Nicole was a bit put out at finding parents there when she had been told not to attend, and Kelly tried to smooth things over). Kelly's daughter, Libby, ended up joining us, so it was Drew, me, Nicole and Syd, Libby and Rachel.

Things were going fine until Syd's order came (her mom said she could order waffles and eggs, which surprised Drew and me to begin with), and she pitched a FIT. She started whining and crying that the waffles didn't taste good, that there were eggs in them, that they were touching the scrambled eggs on the plate, etc. etc. and her mom tried to calm her down. Whereupon she started acting up, followed by Rachel, and then Drew told them not to run around, that it was a restaurant and not a play place, and then Syd started whining some more that she was bored, and there was nothing to do, and she started sassing Nicole, and all I wanted to do was lean over and smack her, but of course I couldn't. Anyway...the unpleasantness kept on until I urged Drew to ASK FOR THE CHECK, which he did, and we had been charged for two things that we had ordered but hadn't come, and so it took longer, etc. When we finally left, Rachel went home with me and said in the car, "You're the only one who understands me, Mommy," which warmed my heart.

We got home, put her to bed, and then Drew and I deconstructed the dinner and agreed that if Rachel had acted up, we would have said firmly, "That's it, we're out of here," left, and gone home, and if Rachel had continued fussing, we would have started removing privileges. That is because we have always set firm boundaries with Rachel from a very early age, and I think that kids really appreciate that because it helps them navigate the world.