Like Mother, Like Daughter (or "At least she wasn't in Mexico")

A long time ago, almost in the dark ages, I was a kid.  And way back when I was a kid, about 15 years old, I got to go on a missions trip to Mexico.

(The people I met there were wonderful and I still remember the names of the two girls I hung out with... Donya and Cynthia.)

It was an awesome trip and on our last day we had clothing distribution planned.  A friend and I got thirsty and decided to walk down the street to a little cart to buy a bottle of coke.  We had to stay there to drink it so we could return the bottle and it was a nice day so we weren't in a rush.

When we were done, we wandered back to where the semi truck, tables, clothing, bus, and our entire group of people had been... You know, before they PACKED UP AND LEFT US.

Yes, it's true.  And I was worried for about 15 seconds (okay, maybe a little longer than 15 seconds... after all, we had a tight schedule.  We were finishing our clothing distribution then piling into the bus to head home... like, back to the states) but pretty quickly after we realized that the huge semi truck carrying all of the clothing we were giving away that day was gone and we didn't know where we were or what to do, well, at about that time some girls we had seen playing outside earlier invited us to their house for sodas and a meal.

Oh, and to braid hair.

And since we didn't want to sit out on the street waiting... waiting for someone to realize we weren't there, get back in the bus, come back to the little town we were in, and find us hungry, thirsty, and with un-coiffed hair, we decided sodas, food, and hair braiding was a pretty good idea.

We were having a great time sitting and talking (luckily the girl I was with knew some Spanish so we weren't totally out of it) when we saw a man running past the window at full speed.  It was our youth pastor.  He was in a big hurry.  He was pretty worried about finding us.  And while he was happy to to see us safe and sound...

He wasn't impressed with our braids.

But we reunited with our group and made it home.  Whew, right?

Well, Grandpa picked Katie up from school today and learned that "a kid" (Katie's words) got time-out for not telling the teacher that "a kid" was leaving the classroom with a friend.

After a little discussion with Katie's teacher, Grandpa found out that my daughter was the "a kid" who had gotten time-out and she got to share her time out with her partner-in-crime friend.

Because apparently, the girls decided to take a walk.  Without telling the teacher.  Which caused just a little panic.

Katie said they went out to the lockers in the hallway.  I asked her why she didn't ask her teacher if she could go outside and Katie said, "Because teacher could have said no... or yes."

So we had a little talk about the dangers of wandering off.  Our talk *might* have included a tiny comment about strangers stealing her away.

But she went to sleep just fine.

And she woke up about20 minutes later (10 minutes into my 20 minute workout video) because she had a bad dream.  A dream that two strangers were holding her hands and the were going to take her to their planet.  Poor kid.  Daddy got her water and sat with her while I finished gasping for air the last 10 minutes of my 30 Day Shred workout.

I got her calmed down by singing Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and Oh How I Love Jesus.  (I've sung these to her since her baby days and it's really calming but when I try to sing to Jake, he get's mad.  Unless I sing "Fall Into Me" by Sugarland.  That song he likes.  Sometimes.)

Katie has always been inquisitive (Ugh.  Google has come to the rescue more times with her questions than at any other time in my life).  She asked me "Mommy, do dreams ever come true?"  And I didn't know how to respond so I told her that if she has a dream about being a wonderful person, or learning how to read, or learning to draw well, that those dreams can come true by practicing to read, write, and be kind.

Then she asked me, "Mommy?  If I have a dream about being a princess?  Will that dream come true?"

And I told her that there were real princesses so I guess it could.  (Yes.  Total diversionary tactic.)  And her eyes got big and she said, "There are real princesses?"  And now we're going to Google "princess" tomorrow after school.

Maybe I should pre-Google, just in case something... unwanted... comes up.

Okay.  Google to the rescue again.  I think we're safe.  It was harder than I thought to get to real princesses (till I googled "princesses real." duh).  I think this will be our "go to" link.

And now I'm off to bed.  Grandma is getting Katie to school tomorrow because I'm starting work early so hopefully she'll remember the drop off routine...