My baby is going to school

We've been trying to be a little more creative in our parenting with Tori as she's journeying into a new phase of her life. She's about to start Kindergarten here in a week and a half and I'm just amazed at how ready she is, and how ready I'm not. I thought I'd include this picture of Tori's writing on a post it note for me after a long day of her bad choices and hard consequences. Talk about a little girl who is thinking a lot. The note says, "How can I help to be a better kid?" Can you believe that? Yesterday after I grounded her for throwing Daddy's shoe at our cat five times, she wrote in her journal, "I wish my Mom was a better Mom." Can you believe that? Initial thought was, "Well, that was rude." And then I realized, Wow, she is communicating really well, telling me how she feels. So we had the opportunity to talk about good parents and bad parents and how if I were a bad mom, I wouldn't do anything, and give her no consequences. I gave her the opportunity to choose between consequences, 1.) Get grounded for the "whole day" (about 6 hours in her room with books) or 2.) Give the cat away. Her response: "Can I come out for dinner?" Poor girl. Some might think it was a harsh punishment, but she had been warned before, and she knew better, and she did it with a horrible look on her face (I was spying on her, so I saw), and I was worried for the life of our cat! Anyway, so she is definitely growing up, I'm well pleased. My baby is growing up!