Five

Gwennie is five. She is going through yet another lovely stage. I tell her no and she will whine and mope about it. She will keep begging me to do whatever it was she originally asked about. Last night she kept asking for candy even though I told her no. Over and over she whined "I just want a piece of candy, harumph." She is defiant in a whole new (and fun) way. I am at my wit's end most days by the time we go to bed.

Sometimes she will be this lovely helpful child, and I adore spending time with her. Then in moments she will turn into terror girl. She throws temper tantrums like a two year old. I know part of it is her fear of the new baby. She loves the idea of being a big sister, but she also fears losing her place in our family. (I think.) She doesn't want to grow up most of the time.

I wish she was in preschool. I wish we had neighbors with children her age (or even friends that we saw regularly). She is bored. I hate bored kids. I am always trying to come up with new activities for her. (Just now, she was sitting on my side moaning, so I asked her to go and draw a picture of what she would like to give Rhayn for Christmas.)

Speaking of Christmas, I am starting to worry about it a little. Yesterday I saw a sign that said "41 Days Until Christmas". I knew it was sneaking up on me... but 41 days (40 now)? Really? Yikes. I have nothing... I want to start buying gifts, and I really need to get to the fabric store to purchase fabric for a couple gifts I am planning on making. I have no idea what to get the girls. They don't need ANYTHING. Sigh. I am already overwhelmed by it and its not even December. Last year I had excellent ideas, this year, nada. Anyone have good ideas? Inexpensive ideas?