Once again, the Father-Daughter Dance was a huge success. Mostly, because Madison ditched her dad and hung with her friends the entire time. She is definitely turning into a young lady. The little girl in her still shines through by way of her desire to stuff two cupcakes, jello, a handful of chicken tenders, and a Shirley Temple into her tiny stomach (which I am convinced is made of iron), however. Between the horse-drawn carriage rides and the dancing, we both had a tremendous time. Here are the pics.

It is amazing what little minds will come up with on a regular basis. From blanket forts to building choo-choo tracks to stealing other kid’s snacks at school. What?! That’s right. Madison has now decided that she would like to be a cleptomaniac when she grows up. And, her mother and I are at our proverbial wits end.

Yesterday, Little Miss decided it would be a good day to take her friend’s snack at school and not tell her. When asked about this, she also decided to lie to her teacher and tell her that she did not know what happened. Detective Mom was on the case. By the time I arrived home, the waterworks were well underway and Madison was roughly 30 minutes away from having to call her friend and apolgize.

We have been trying really hard to ensure that Madison has a thorough understanding of the fact that this is wrong and unequivocably unacceptable behavior. She has been punished, asked to apologize, prayed over; you name it. We cannot seem to stop this behavior and she cannot seem to grasp the concept that this is a serious issue.

My paranoid-father method of thinking fast forwards me to 2023 as I visit her through a glass partition at the local correctional facility. Of course, my rational side says that this is just a phase and she will soon grow out of it. Let’s hope the latter rings true.