My Best Girl

We're in the swing of things now; homeschooling, ballet, bible study. I expected it to be quite a transition for my kindergartener, Darla. I did not anticipate that the Taylor to have the hardest time would be Hudson.

Darla and Hudson are the epitome of the phrase "two peas in a pod". Aside from the 17 months of Darla's life before he was born, they have been joined at the hip. They've shared a room. She has been his words when he's fumbled for a way to express himself. He's protected her when she's scared of dogs.

Now tender hearted Hudson feels like he's without his head. I've noticed ballet days are hard for him. She's busy with school, then off giggling with all the girls to go practice pirouettes and plies. He pouts. He's listless. He asks repeatedly when she'll be home.

To add to his distress, we decided to put the boys in a room with the bunk beds and give Darla her own room. It makes sense: a place for all the polly pockets and all things pink, and a place for tractors and all things blue. Hudson gets a chance to be the leader for Everett while Darla gets the alone time she needs. Hudson likes the idea of being the big kid and he loves the promotion to top bunk. He just misses his sister.

Last weekend Darla had her first slumber party. Her cousin Pearl has 2 girl cousins her age on the other side of the family. They were all having a slumber party at Pearl's Aunt Leah's house. Even though Darla is not technically their cousin, they all have ballet together and are becoming friends. When she was invited to the night of nail painting, movies, and treats I imagined myself at age five and thought, "She'll be so homesick at an unfamiliar house with a slightly familiar host. She'll surely need me to pick her up at bedtime."

Apparently I forgot that I'm not the only one contributing genes to this girl. My party animal husband is the other half and that's the half that said, "I'm going and I'm not scared!"

Eagerly she bounced off to a room of giggling girls; sleeping bag and backpack in tow.

We took the boys out for ice cream so they would have a fun night, too. Hudson could hardly enjoy anything. In the car, "Where is Darla?"

"Hudson, we've talked about it 5 times. Where is she?"

"Slumber party."

"Right."

"How long will she be there?"

"Until morning."

"When in the morning?"

We ordered ice cream and sat down. It continued. "What is Darla doing now? Does she want to come home? Does she go to sleep when I do?"

The first thing the next morning, "Is Darla still sleeping? What will she eat for breakfast? Do you think she got scared?"

When we picked her up I asked her if she got homesick. She said, "Oh, I missed you Mom. I wanted you but I didn't want to miss out on all the fun!"

Hudson responded to her the way he always does when his affection for her bubbles up. He hugged her tight and said, "Darla... you my best girl."