A Shy, Little Munchkin

What a busy day! It is amazing what holds little ones' attention. This morning we hosted my daughter's playgroup at our house. It was our annual Christmas playgroup. We ate goodies that I had baked such as cookies and cupcakes. My daughter had helped bake by putting the cupcake liners into the muffin tin. She had no interest in any other part of the baking. I also had healthy fare such as raisins, grapes, strawberries, string cheese, and a mix of goldfish crackers and pretzels (yes, I consider goldfish crackers healthy). With a plate full of food, my daughter was only interested in the strawberries and licking the sprinkles off of her cupcake.

My daughter had been so excited for her friends to arrive. When she heard the doorbell she was off and waiting anxiously for her friends to come in to play. Once they were inside though her enthusiasm waned and she became a shy, little munchkin. She had more fun observing and taking it all in. I had a craft for the little ones. Many of the other kids played instead of doing the craft. Not my daughter. My daughter feverishly was working on putting together her foam penguin and snowman photo frame ornament even before the others sat down. She loves crafts. That is one thing that can hold her attention.

When the little ones exchanged their Secret Santa presents, she was more interested in watching the little boy whose name she had got open his gift (she had painstakingly decorated the wrapping paper with stickers yesterday). After he had opened his present, she slowly and meticulously opened her gift. If she unwraps all of her Christmas presents at that pace, Christmas morning is going to last a long, long time.

Em had got princess markers and coloring sheets. Even before her guests had left, she had ripped open the box to get to the markers so she could color rather than handing out the goodies for the other little ones. She said good-bye to everyone from her booster seat as she continued coloring. Eventually before the last child had left, she ventured down among her friends.

In the afternoon we had the MOMS club Christmas party. Again, Em was so excited when we pulled into the church parking lot. She started exclaiming, "friends, Mommy, friends!" She launched herself from her car seat as I unlatched her seat belt. As soon as she was out of the car and greeted her one little friend, she became my shy, quiet little munchkin again. She played by herself for the most part in the middle of the chaos. With so many children, toddlers and elementary age, packed into the basement of the church, you would have expected squabbles and tears but there were none. The kids played so well together and apart. The noise level was deafening, as you can imagine. Some did crafts and some played with miscellaneous toys.

I had so much fun today just observing my little munchkin in her little Christmas shirt with her glasses sliding down her nose. I can't wait to see the little woman that she will become. Will she still be a shy, little munchkin or will she come out of her shell and be precocious? I can't wait to find out.