Hello, Hello Kitty

L loves cats.  She always has.  We have 2 cats who are absolutely wonderful with her so I'm sure that's why.

L with our cat, Sassi

She went through a stage at around a year to a year and a half where if a shirt didn't have a cat on it, she wouldn't wear it.  Cat shirts aren't all that easy to find, as it turns out.  Before this obsession, I was thoroughly against character shirts.  I thought they were tacky.  But, on the hunt for cat shirts, I found that the easiest cat to find was none other than Hello Kitty.  Her obsession with cats (or "Meows" as she used to call them) morphed into an obsession with Hello Kitty.

I never cared for Hello Kitty.  Growing up, I went to San Rio Surprise in the mall just like every other little girl growing up in the early '90s, but I liked Keroppi.  Cute little Keroppi was a precious green frog with big cartoon eyes.  I just loved that guy.  I remember being a child and thinking he was so under appreciated and that wench Hello Kitty was stealing his thunder.

Keroppi

Somewhere along the road, Hello Kitty plotted the ultimate take over and Keroppi and the rest of the gang are hardly visibile singing backup to the rockstar she has become.

Hello Kitty has taken over the world and has pounced on my own sweet child and hypnotized her with that bow on her left ear and her non-existent mouth.  We have Hello Kitty Build-a-Bears, Hello Kitty beanie babies, a Hello Kitty alarm clock and soon, we may even have a Hello Kitty birthday party.  L is wavering between a "Dorfy" party (Dorothy/Wizard of Oz) or Hello Kitty.  I'd love for Dorfy to win, but it's not my party so I'll say Yes to whichever she chooses.

I'm really looking forward to all the ways I can involve her in the process of planning and preparing for her big day.  I can't wait to see her beaming with pride at all she's prepared "all by herself."  Recently, I've been having her "sign" her name to cards.  She loves it!

The world we live in has a cruel way of knocking us down.  I want to make sure I build my children up so that when the world pushes, they come back swinging.

I went to a meeting at church before we had a Dedication ceremony for the kids and something was said that really struck a chord with me and it was this, don't be a spirit crusher.  Lift your children up!

Yesterday at the mall, I saw a young girl walking with her mom and dad.  She was maybe 4 years old.  Like children have a tendency to do, she kept getting in front of her mother's feet.  L does this to me a lot.  I can't even tell you how many times she got in my "blind spot" when I had a big pregnant belly.  This mom, however, was clearly at her breaking point and yelled at her sweet daughter, "Quit getting in front of me! Get away!"  My heart broke for that girl.  Her spirit was clearly crushed.

We have a board in our kitchen that I write memos on and in big, bold letters I wrote my husband and I a reminder about spirit crushing and each day it is on my mind.  If L wants to have a Hello Kitty party for the next 10 birthdays, I'm up for the challenge.

Hello, Hello Kitty!  Come on in!

 Glow egg hunting in an HK shirt

Look who got sucked into the Dark Side