You know I’m one of the biggest anti-gadgets people out there, right? You know I roll my eyes when Brian looks at our television that was old twenty years ago and talks about getting a new one, and I say, “But this one works just fine!” You know that, right?

Ok, good. Because I’m about to tell you about an electronics website and I don’t want you to think I’m that kind of girl.

Every afternoon, Maddie and Mommy and Cora pile into Maddie’s bed and read books together as part of our naptime routine. After a few books and some prayers, Cora and I leave Maddie to go to sleep and proceed to Cora’s room to finish her own nap routine. Usually, Cora’s sleepy enough by that time that she wants me to carry her to her own room.

Yesterday, though, Cora wanted to walk so she could shut Maddie’s door, and as she and I crept out of Maddie’s room Cora turned around to a drowsy Maddie and said, “Wuv you, Maddie!”

Now, this is part of Maddie’s sleep routine – whoever’s leaving the room calls out, “I love you!” and Maddie says “I love you!” back. But Cora’s never said it before, and you could tell it delighted Maddie, who sang out, “I love you too, my little sister!”

Maddie’s got a responsibility chart that she fills in at the end of the day: for everything she accomplishes she gets to put a magnet in the space. Her responsibilities include a few concrete things like clearing the table, but are mostly intangibles like no hitting, no whining, being obedient, and no teasing. Most days she loses one or two magnets, but a few days out of the week she’ll have a perfect day.

Saturday was one such day, and she came running into Cora’s room where I was reading to Cora for bedtime. “Mommy!” she shrieked, coming to the chair, “I had a perfect day!”

“That’s fantastic!” I cried, “Give me a big hug!” And I leaned down to hug Maddie.

Right as Maddie jumped up to hug me, thereby driving her skull into my nose.

Summer’s here again, and we’re back to hot-weather pursuits, namely, swimming. And with the return of chlorine and pool toys comes Maddie’s good friend, Fear of Putting the Face in the Water.

If you’ve been with me for a year or more, you know that last year we ended up putting Maddie in private swim lessons most of the summer; the group thing didn’t work out when Maddie’s grave concerns with the water took up most of the instructor’s time. By the end of the season Maddie was happily jumping into the pool – as long as Daddy was there to catch her and make sure her face didn’t go under water.