Mending a Broken Heart

One of the difficult things about having two daughters that are close in age is that they pretty much do everything together. Yes, Ella goes to school all day and Celia doesn't, but when it comes to friends, toys, and fun adventures, they pretty much share it all. It's always hard when someone calls and asks if Ella can come over for a playdate because I know that Celia will feel left out. It's usually just easier for us to host the playdates so that they can all play together.

Today...that all ended. Ella was invited by her friend Elly to go to Wenatchee, have dinner, and go and see the musical, "CATS". I knew that she would love to go and that she deserves to not always have her little sister tagging along. Even though I've known about the "date" for over a week, I asked Ella to keep it to herself and not tell Celia. Strategically, I planned for both girls to go over to a friend's house today so that I could come and swoop Ella away while Celia was too busy having fun to notice.

This little plan of mine worked really well until Celia got home. Similar to a sad puppy dog, she went from room to room looking for her sister. She finally came into the living room and asked where Ella was. At that point I told her the truth and it was at that moment that both of our hearts broke just a little bit. She tried so hard not to cry. Her lip started quivering, and her eyes started to tear up. And then it was all over. She sobbed for a good ten minutes while I held her. It was truly heartbreaking to see my baby girl missing her sister so much and not understanding why she couldn't go too.

As soon as she stopped crying, I put on my party planner hat and told her that we could do whatever she wanted that night...just the three of us. Since she was the second child, I really don't think we've spent a day with just Celia. This could be fun!

What I soon realized, is that similar to a grown man, the way to a 4-year-olds heart is through her stomach. Everything she planned had something to do with food.

We went to Lakeview Drive-In and had burgers...

We made chocolate cupcakes and licked the beaters...

We ate forbidden candy filled with High Fructose Corn Syrup...

Then Celia and Coron cuddled in our bed together, watched a little TV, and then fell fast asleep (at least Coron fell asleep anyway)...


Judging from the big smile on her face all night, I think Celia feels like she got a pretty good deal!

~J