Four year olds are so easy to please, yet they aren't.

This past weekend Steven and I were able to have our niece, Addisyn, over for a night and a day. It was possibly the longest 24 hours of our lives. Addi is a sweet, vibrant, headstrong little girl. Did I mention headstrong? Upon her arrival she immediately wanted to play in the water...in the sink. She loves to fill things up pour them out, make "donuts & cookies" and make our water bill sky rocket to new levels. Of course we let her play in the water for as long as we could without her fingers turning to prunes. After extensive water play I had to distract her. I remembered a pen and paper set that was given to me as part of a birthday gift. It is a pink pen with a green lid and 3 sets of notepad paper with correlating colors. I gave it to Addi to play with and draw. It is almost the case where kids and babies are sometimes more impressed with the packaging than than the actual toy. Addi loved this pen and paper and she wouldn't let it out of her sight the entire time she was visiting. I even asked if she could share her pen with me so I could draw to which she replied, "No, because I'm going to be using it for a long long time." She wasn't lying. She used the pen and drew for close to 45 minutes in one sitting. (I didn't mind, it was the longest amount of time she sat still, ever, I'm convinced.) In this simple way a 4 year old is easy to please. In another way they aren't. She seemed to have brought her ear plugs with her because I'm positive she simply could not hear us. (Addi? Addi? Addi? Are you there? I know you hear me.) When things weren't pleasing to this particular child her words were "That does not sound like a plan to me." Let me tell you, she doesn't really like plans. All in all we had a blast with Addi at the park, pool and walking trail. She is such a sweet little girl who in all honesty is easy to please...but sometimes isn't.