So yesterday The Girl got out of bed complaining with a sore throat. It's been an all around rough week for her - she's just been much more tired and cranky than usual. Being the Mother of the Year I am, I told that sweet baby to climb back in bed so I could shower her with a day of pettin'.

In between bouts of studying for my retreat this weekend, I cooked breakfast and took it to The Girl on a bed tray. I kept her dvd's switched out and generally made sure she had a restful day. I've missed that stinker since she has left me for Kindergarten. It was fabulous having her back if only for a few hours.

Newsflash: Kindergarten isn't what it used to be.

Teacher sent home the work Sis missed in class for one day. There were 8 front and back pages. EIGHT!? And before anyone mistakenly thinks I'm slamming the greatest Kinder teacher ever, I totally know it's the system that has changed, not the darlin' women who have committed their lives to rooms full of 5 and 6 year olds. May the Lord bless and keep everyone of them, may His face shine upon them, and Lord have mercy may He grant them peace.

Seriously, though. What happened to those little padded nap mats? Finger paint? Being able to graduate knowing nothing more than your ABC's? Something has gone awry, girls. Don't misunderstand me. I don't want my kids to be ignorant but I'm not convinced overwhelming them as babies is producing the desired effect.

Case in point: I knew Sis had enough when she started banging her head on the table crying, "I can't take all the coloring. I just can't take all the coloring!" It just so happened I was finishing up my listener guides for the retreat this weekend and had somehow messed up the formatting so that my cute little border was cut off at the bottom so I joined her in the self-mutilation. I finally decided I could live with less than perfection. (Not to mention my head hurt.) I also decided that, no thank you very much, I'm not making this child do all those sheets in one night. So she closed her folder, I closed MS Word and we were both the happier for it.

I guess it was just a little funny that after all the homework distress she went to her room and colored a giant picture of Tinkerbell. When I asked her why in the world she was coloring when she couldn't take one more second of the homework, she said, "I only color what is fun."

That's my girl.