I swear it's chocolate, I swear

We are really working on Gigi's independence in these here parts. 

On school nights we are now planning the next day's clothing so there are no fights in the morning (how I dread the clothing fights).  If she approves a totally weather-suitable outfit, dressing seems to go way more smoothly for everyone involved (translation: me).

For a child who is more interested in being starkers than dressed, I'm pleasantly surprised that Gigi has also begun to exert independence in the actual dressing process.  She is putting on the under things, socks, and shirts like a pro but she still holds onto her hatred for leg covers of all kinds.  She loathes anything that confines her, so unfortunately a dressing method that requires me pretty much sitting on her or downright bribing her usually gets her adequately covered for the elements.

How I've dreaded these first snowy days of the season.

Anyhow, she's also really into doing food prep herself. Independence in the kitchen has taken hold and it threatens to make meal prep both more comedic and death-defying than it ever was.  So we've started slow: pouring cereal, pouring milk on cereal (which requires 100% supervision and perhaps some stealth guidance or we have a dairy-related disaster on our hands that would make a grown cow cry), but now she wants to butter and jam her own toast.

So being insane, I found these plastic knives that wouldn't be considered dangerous by school officials if say a child who likes to sneak stuff to school, took one to school to pull on the teacher when she least expected it.  You know, because some kids are really sneaky and end up sitting in class with dolls that were specifically denied entry to the school on prior occasions.  And yet, even after searching her gear, STILL these toys somehow show up on her person at school, during class.  And trust me, the teacher lets her mom know every single time it happens.  Yes, so these knives won't cause a panic or even cut water so I gave one to Gigi so she could learn to spread jam on toast.  They really are pathetic in the realm of knives, perhaps I should just call them spreading sticks.

ANYHOW, today the jam was nutella and the bread was graham crackers.  It was mid morning snack time and we'd had a good day, so why not break out the chocolate spread that makes me feel like I'm trapped in an annoying overdubbed european commercial.

I think I'll stop telling the story here because pictures work waaaaay better than words so let me leave it at: I swear that I only left the room for two minutes.

And yes, I really felt the need to explain that it was hazelnut spread before anyone jumped to the wrong conclusion.