What's the Excuse TONIGHT ?!

Brooklyn, my almost-8-year-old, is THE best dawdle-er I have ever known.

And that is with no disrespect to some of my immediate family members,

extended family members, and co-workers,

who can be    s u p e r  -  s l o w     in their own right.

Brooklyn with her  "curls"

EVERY night, Brooklyn is the QUEEN of finding a reason to come back upstairs after prayers ... or just never really make her way downstairs in the first place.
I finally got smart and began tracking these reasons, so you could have a clearer understanding of their ridiculousness as well as their variety and creativity.


Herewith are those from within just the past month or so:

.

 - For school tomorrow, should I take an invitation to my birthday party to Brook ?  (This is her friend in class and from church)
 - Can I heat up my heating pad ?  (This on a summer night with a forecasted low of 65 degrees!)
 - I have homework.  (Which ended up being "reading for 20 minutes" ... which she easily could have done in her bed!)
 - I need medicine.  (This one has had several varieties, including: foot cream, band-aids for cuts, headaches, earaches, sniffly noses, presumed spider or bug bites, sunburns, and preventive dental care, like fluoride rinses).
 - I'm so thirsty I think I'll just DIE without a drink of water !!!  (Complete with facial expressions and intonations that only Anne Shirley from Green Gables could have pulled off as well!)
 - I didn't get a hug, or a special hug, or princess kisses, or to give you a kiss, or a kiss from you, etc.
 - Did you decide if I can do cheerleading or not ?  (This after we had already filled out the paperwork and had her put it in her backpack that afternoon.  When I pointed that out she said (very slowly) "Oh yeah!")
 - I can't seem to fall asleep (this after maybe 15 minutes of trying to fall asleep ... at the most !)
 - But I'm scared to go downstairs alone (which is applicable for all of 3 to 5 seconds when her brothers rumble down the stairs loooooong ahead of her finishing this very sentence)
 - Do you think I could have maybe a piece of bread so I don't starve?  (After she didn't finish her dinner and therefore had to go without snack).
 - My legs huuuuurt so baaaaad.  Can you carry me?  PLEASE ?!?!
 - Um ... there's a spider in my room.  (I ask "Where?" and she replies "Well it's in the window on the outside and I can't really see it but I know it's there!")
 - Did you guys hear that noise?  It was kinda loud but soft.
 - My radio and/or light isn't working.
 - Did you notice it's raining?  Cool huh?!  I love to just watch the rain ... (and then she just stares out the window as though we forget she was there).

And this one occurred while I was finishing this blog !

A full 30 minutes after she had gone to bed!

 - Do you have Myra with you?  'Cause ... I thought I heard her.  I'll go look for her.

And my response is always the same ...

"Sweetheart, I love you.  Now ... GO TO BED !!!"

...