Special Time with Mommy

To create a stronger bond with my daughters, I have created "Special Time with Mommy". Every Tuesday evening, one of the girls and I leave Daddy with the other two children and go shopping. Then, the following week, roles reverse. We have dinner together and then get groceries. It's usually fast food, but we always go in and sit down to eat and talk about things. I've discovered that without the influence of their sister, the girls' individual personalities just shine. It just makes grocery shopping a lot more fun and a lot less of a chore!

Tonight's adventure is most certainly worth sharing.

Madelynn and I headed out with our reusable shopping bags and grocery money in hand. We stopped at Aldi's first, where Madelynn was in charge of driving the shopping cart. It was entertaining watching her steer and drive a metal cart that was 6" taller than her!
"But, what if I crash into something, Mom?" she asked.
"Well, you'll be done pushing the cart." I told her.
The next aisle over, there were two college girls debating over shells and cheese or macaroni and cheese. Really? They were right in Madelynn's path.
"Mom, what if I crash into that lady?"
"You will apologize and definitely be done pushing the cart."
She very slowly, and very carefully manoeuvred around the girls. I was kind of hoping she'd nick one of 'em.

After Aldi's, we loaded up (Madelynn got to keep the quarter!) and headed to McDonald's. We went in and ordered, with Madelynn bravely telling the cashier which toy she wanted. When we sat down to eat, I asked Madelynn if she wanted to pray. She serenely folded her hands and sang (to the tune of Frerre Jacques):
"God our Father, God our Father
Once again, once again
We shall ask your blessing
We shall ask your blessing
Amen Amen"
Now, if you've never heard Madelynn's "beautiful voice", this won't seem like a big deal. Oh, but it is. She gets very serious and has this old-person-operatic-vibrato to her voice. It's so darn hard not to laugh. And there in McDonald's (interesting side note: every time I go to type McDonald's, my fingers default to McKenna and I have to delete and retype. Thought you'd like to know) I was indeed trying my hardest not to laugh out loud.
After dinner, which included an introduction to the deliciousness that is french fries and a vanilla milkshake, a lady from a couple tables down came over to talk to Madelynn. She complemented her on her beautiful voice and asked her if she sang in church. Madelynn looked at me like "Doesn't everyone sing in church?". This lady went on to say that one day, when Madelynn was a famous singer that she would remember she heard her sing her prayers when she was a little girl.
To finish out our evening, we went to Walmart to pick up a few more things. As we were leaving, Madelynn spied the arcade-ish room and wanted to spend her Aldi's quarter. We chose the Claw machine (Play til you win!) and guided that little claw til a prize bubble popped out. What was inside? A fake mustache. Yep. She wore it with pride!

Love,
A