It's in the vault

Last night, after her shower, as Jacelyn was putting on her pajamas, she asked if she could stay up. I regretfully told her she could not, she had to get to bed. Next, in our little natural order of bedtime events, came tooth-brushing and hair drying. She saw the hair dryer on the counter and looked slightly panicked, and then hopped up into my lap. "I love school, mama" she cooed, hugging me. I was amused and decided to roll with it. "Oh really? What do you love about school?" And then she sang like a bird. She gave up information I have been asking about since the first day of school. She told me about why she doesn't play with some of her best friends from last year anymore, she told me she really, really loves her teacher, she counted to 50 by 5's (something she actually played dumb about when I asked her if she could do the other day), she told me what day it was and gave me the correct calender date. I was flabbergasted.

This is the same child who, in the car after school, can only offer up her morning trip to the bathroom that required some wiping assistance as the day's big event. "What else happened at school?" I will ask her. "Nothing." she will reply, shrugging and looking out the window. "What did you learn about?" I will continue, stubbornly. "Nothing" she responds again. "Who did you play with?" I will ask, chagrined. "My friends" she will answer, as though this should have been obvious. "Which friends?" I ask, a little desperately now. "You know, my friends." "But which one?" I will persist. "Madison" she answers, each time. Having heard this answer EVERY DAY since school started, I recently commented to Madison's mother on how much the two girls play together. Madison's mother said, "Really? Madison never says that she plays with Jacelyn. I even asked her the other day, and she said they don't see each other that often". I am getting the brush-off answer from my five year old! Ack!

That's OK, though. She needs her space, and her time, and things that stay hers. If she wants to keep information to herself, she can. I'll just remember to hit her up before bedtime every now and then so I can keep up.