This morning as I was leaving for work I heard crying downstairs. I could tell it was Paris, but had no idea where it was coming from. So, I ran downstairs to find her and heard it coming from the garage. I went to open the garage door, thought it was strange that it was locked, and once it was open she shot into my arms balling. I asked her how she got there and she said, "I came downstairs to surprise you. I set my iPod alarm to get up and I came down here to make a sandwich and get in your car to go to work with you. I played around for a while waiting, but then you didn't come and I locked the door to make it more realistic when you came out and I couldn't get back into the house and I didn't know if you were coming."
My heart broke! Of course I HAD to take her to work with me after all of that (she had packed a lunch, books to read and paper/pencils to draw with in a backpack). So, she is here with me this morning and her first question when we got here was if I minded that she eat her sandwich before lunch since she was starved. I told her I would take her out to lunch, so go ahead and eat it.
Then she asked if she could take out the Garbage :-) A few months ago Paris got in trouble at a play (Saturday's Warriors). We were in the front row and she took a Junior Mint and threw it on the stage where the actors were. Luckily the performers were back towards the middle of the sage and didn't really use the front 1/3 of it, so they didn't step on the mint, but we were pretty upset and disappointed with her. So, we decided her punishment would be 1 week of not staying at her best friend/cousins house (Aubree of course) and 5 days of picking up all of the trash at Daddy's office. We told her this during the intermission. She was upset, of course, and (I feel) ashamed of what she did (it was totally out of character for her). So, I told her that if she went on the stage and got the Junior Mint before the play started again I would reduce her "sentence" to 5 days of no sleep-overs and 3 days of trash. It took a little prodding (and Dad holding her hand) but she did get on the stage and get the mint.
So, the following week she came to the office and had Nikki show her what to do. Then she took out everyone's trash (bathrooms included) each day by herself. She smiled, sang and had a great time with it (which at first I was thinking wasn't proper humility for a punishment, but then thought I love that she is making even chores/punishment fun and that is the type of girl I am proud to know.) So, now when she comes to visit she wants to take out the trash and keeps asking if she can work here when she grows up - working up from trash to being a geek like me :-) I am too proud.
My little trash girl
Daddy's Little Geek with her bag of goodies she packed to "stowaway"
