Franny Out and About

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My schedule it is still scrambled and I have had a cold for about two weeks now. I think I’m out of that middle-of-the-night hack hack barf stage, so that’s good. Work is slow, so hours are short, which I’m glad about in a way because it’s giving me time to recover. If you haven’t heard from me, don’t take it personally, please!

Since I have been fairly out of commission lately, I rallied yesterday and dragged my tired old body to Franny’s school at three. I had told her about the wonder that is Sephora and she was very interested in seeing it for herself. We jumped on the downtown bus, had a snack, and hit the counters. She ended up with bright red lips and teal glitter eyeliner, which is funny on an eight-year-old. She got compliments wherever she went–“Ooh, she’s going to be a model!”

Her mood started to slide in the store and completely crashed once we left.

“I don’t want to be a model,” Franny said, as we crossed the street in the rain.

“That’s fine,” I said. “Make yourself happy.”

We walked for a while in silence. She had her head down and her hood was getting all covered in mist.

“Hey,” I said. “We’re right by your grandpa’s house. Want to give him a ring and see if he’s home? We can say ‘hi.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. Franny sort of followed me around the market after that, as I bought halibut and a demi-baguette and some little Chinese buns with red bean paste in them for dessert.

Later, as I was making dinner, Strudel picked up Franny’s elaborate Lego house and smashed it on the ground, where it shattered into a bunch of pieces. Franny wailed and ran to her room, slamming the door. “This has been the WORST day EVER!”

She went to bed shortly after that, since she was obviously so tired and at loose ends. The next morning she was in much better spirits.

“Feeling better?” I said.

“Yes, I am.” she said. “When I said I was having a bad day, I didn’t mean the part downtown. I just had a really bad day at school.”

“Well, life is hard sometimes,” I said. “The important thing is to try to keep the hard parts seperate from the sweet parts. I try not to let my bad days ruin the good things.”

“Okay,” she said.

I really hope she gets it.

19 thoughts on “Franny Out and About”

  1. P&Ls at the upcoming teen years. This coming from someone with a mere 2 yrs left on that particular parental sentence from hell, woot! On the other hand, I really can’t imagine anyone better suited to handle them with grace and aplomb. Lucky girls they are. Have fun with them then.

  2. So hard. My son is having a tough time with some bullshit at his school and I just don’t know what to say sometimes…probably because there isn’t a lot you can say besides the obvious. I like your honesty with Franny, and I also like how she feels safe to tell you hard things. It shows she trusts you.

  3. Oh SJ… I get all sniffly reading about you and Franny. You just say and do such wonderful things with her, bloody amazing mum you are. Lucky lucky girl :) Hope you are on the mend soon.

    (love the tag too, hehe)

  4. You are so lucky that she would think to tell you that her bad day was separate from her time downtown. I wonder what set her off that had her mad the whole rest of the day.

  5. You are probably the most insightful person towards people’s feelings I have ever witnessed. If my mom had half your brain….pshhhaw therapy, who needs it? I think it is truly wonderful how you interact with your girls, and how you treat them especially. I have a hard time connecting with my 6 yr old, but I think that’s mostly because he’s a boy : / Thanks for giving hope to us parental failures to be!

  6. Man, thank you. I needed to hear that bit of wisdom today. I’m going to try not to let the bullshit outweigh the fun stuff.

  7. “little Chinese buns with red bean paste in them for dessert.”

    ZOMG ANPAN! *droolface*

    A little girl who doesn’t want to be a model??! There’s hope for the future after all!!!

    You are the best mom ever. I want to be just like you if I grow up! Well, except the working in retail part, cause, damn, I don’t know how you do it! ;)

    That’s good advice you give the Fran, tho. Me, I’m like a duck. I just let the bad stuff roll off so we can get on with the good times.

    BE THE DUCK, FRANNY! kwak.

  9. You’re such a good mom. Seriously. I hope I can be just as good when my spawn hatches in three months. I’ll keep reading this here blog and hope for the best. :)

  10. Awww. Franny’s gonna be an awesome teenager and you are a great trip-captain! I love what you said to her about bad days.

    I have a smiths t-shirt and a couple CURE cd’s if you want…. Sounds like she might need them in about two years. ;) I can also give her lessons on applying liquid eyeliner in an *alternative* style, so’s not to look like a total slut, yet applying it all thickly.

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