The "Bigger Kid"!

“Mama, since I'm a bigger kid now, I can put myself to bed. I will read books to my hippoy.”

Tonight when I was bathing Jun Jun, Fei Fei (Sophia) came in to the bathroom and gave the big announcement. I was a bit surprised about this, since bedtime reading has always been our ritual since her babyhood. She brought three books into the warm bathroom, sat down on a little chair and began to practice reading to her baby hippo and Jun Jun. Her ability to just create stories seeing pictures from the pages are amazing to me. Many times she would choose to make a different story from the ones she has heard over and over.

Somewhere in Sophia's mind she has decided that growing bigger and becoming 4 would mean her becoming more like a grown up. That explains the daily morning discussion about how she would like her hair done,how she would like to get dresses, what to eat, letting her zip up her coats, etc. When I do let her have her way, for example, doing her hair, she would tell me, “Mama, thank you for letting me make my own decisions.”

Sophia, in her funky hairdo, was making her own peanut butter jelly bagel sandwiches with tangerine slices...

Her mannerism also seems to change just like overnight. When referring to younger kids, she would say, "they are still toddlers, but I'm already 4". Ages seem to be making a much bigger distinction to her now. Since she's very interested in princesses these days, she would proudly declare, "when I was toddler, I was Belle. When I was 3, I was Snow White. But now I am 4, so I am Cinderella."

While I have been fascinated by this Big Kid phenomenon, I have been thinking of ways to reap some benefits of it. I would suggest to Sophia that since she's 4 now, she can be more responsible to her toys, her clothes, her "babies"--stuffed animals in her bedroom that she has affectionately given names to. I told her that since she is a mom to them, she can't be forgetting to take them home after bringing them out for a ride, a walk, or take them back to her room if they are downstairs or in the mudroom.

But once in while, when she feels the Big Kid thing isn't quite as fun and she wants to be lazy, she would tell me,"my babies are getting bigger. They can take care of themselves sitting in the mudroom."

So, after I finished Jun Jun's bath and we were about to get upstairs, I asked my Big Girl, “ tonight you are going to put yourself to bed, right?” She thought for a second, then smiled to me, “Mama, I still want you to put me to bed.” Somewhere else in her mind, she still knows that she is my little girl.