Girls' Day In

A few weeks ago Chloe started asking when she could have her "girlfriends" over for a "girls only playdate." This request caught me off guard... who were her girlfriends??  When did she start calling them that??!!  Turns out she's a chip off the old block... when I'm on my way out to meet a friend for a girl's night, the kids always ask where I'm going and I say "Girl's night out! Mommy's going to hang out with her girlfriends."

Chloe has decided that it's time for her to have her own girl time, so I asked who some of these "girlfriends" might be. "Abigail and Anna Lyn," she announced, referring to her great buddies from dance class. A date was picked, and I was presented with an opportunity to begin to teach Chloe about hospitality.

When you have people over, it's nice to have something planned, I explained.
No problem - the girls would be offered several entertainment choices, all of course being Chloe's favorite things to do: baking cookies, dressing up like princesses, staging a performance in the basement, and doing ballet.

It's really nice to have something to offer your guests to eat and drink, I continued.
No problem - the girls would be offered apple juice, and they can eat the cookies they've baked and decorated!

When they arrive, you want to make sure they feel welcome in our home, I finished.
No problem - both Abigail and Anna Lyn were nearly knocked off their feet when Chloe hugged them hello.

It was a momentous afternoon... we made cutouts, dressed up as princesses, had a tea party, decorated the cookies, practiced the first few moves of the upcoming dance recital, ate the cookies, and played some sort of elaborate game in which Abigail was both the mother and the queen, and Anna Lyn and Chloe were princess sisters. And this was all in about two hours.

What darling little girls. I am so grateful Chloe has these two for friends!

 Friends love through all kinds of weather,
   and families stick together in all kinds of trouble. 

Proverbs 17:17 (The Message)