Counting down the days

Sometimes, I wonder if I was supposed to be an elementary school teacher. I mean, I guess being a stay-at-home mom is pretty similar. (Well, except for the fact that I'm only responsible for two kids... not twenty or so.)

I sing the ABCs a million times a day. I teach the girls about numbers and animals and shapes and colors. And some days, we do crafts like this one... this one that reminds me of being in elementary school so much that I was having flashbacks of rectangular pizza and green computer screens as we were taping these strips of paper together.

Lilly's third birthday is less than a month away. We're forgoing the big party this year and instead having lunch with the princesses at Disneyland. She is beyond excited. Before we made this paper chain, she would wake up practically every day and ask, "Is it my birthday party today?!"

Yup. That same question. Every day. Ever since Addie's party. Two months ago.

After a few weeks of having to break the news to her that, in fact, no, today is not her birthday party, I decided I had to come up with some way to help her understand that her birthday was indeed just around the corner. I thought about just buying a calendar and letting her cross off the days that way... but, well, it didn't seem as fun as making a rainbow chain of paper that she could rip on a daily basis.

She decided we had to hang it in her room right next to her bed. She understands that each ring represents one day and that we get to remove one ring for every day that passes, until we reach the final Party Time ring on her birthday.

She's had a blast ripping away each day so far... and surprisingly, she hasn't tried to rip the entire thing to shreds yet. How's that for self-control?