Yesterday I looked at Izzy and said, let's go do something fun. She was right on board. I made the same offer to the other girls, but Sophie was hunched over a papercut and Caroline was hunched over a paperdoll.
Paper is serious business at our house, so I had Izzy all to myself.
This is what we call a mummy-daughter date.
A brief aside: when asked about differences between Canada and the United States, I often have to wrack my brain for a scintillating response. We have poutine, yes. We say toque. And let's not forget the Mounties.
One trifling detail is that children call their mothers mum. Not mom. Mum. Sort of a throwback to our Commonwealth ties and fascination with such things as corgis, high teas, clotted cream, and dowager duchesses.
So when I moved to Las Vegas and nothing seemed familiar, nothing reminded me of Canada in the least, I taught my girls this lovely word that felt like home more than anything else.
For our date, we went to a noodle shop. Few things make me happier than sharing foods from other cultures with my girls, to watch them try new dishes and hopefully enjoy them as much as I do.
What is not to love about ramen? That stuff is amazing. So yummy, so fun to eat.
Best of all, to visit with my teenager who is growing so quickly, taking this world in leaps and bounds, and observe how even our exchanges have become. She still asks me tons of questions, but we talk more and more on a similar wavelength and less like a mum and her little girl.
It's breathtaking, this dynamic.
What else did we do? At Izzy's request, we visited a Korean market and stocked up on fun things for lunches plus candy to share with our friends.
And our favorite art supply store, where of all things, she chose...