Quiet, Too Quiet

As a single mom, I cherish the moments that Little Zo Peep and Libby Doodle Doo go off and spend time together on their own.  It shows me how much they have really bonded as sisters.   Plus, it gives me a little by-myself time -- something I don't get very often.

They are together right now in the attic playroom.  

I've told Little Zo Peep that she can't have friends over until that playroom is put back in order (it's been a wreck since her last friend came over 3 weeks ago -- and I refuse to clean it).  This morning Miss Peep has convinced her baby sister to go up there and help her clean the mess.

Now having the two of them go off together and work on a project can result in a disaster.  For example, the day after Easter they were quietly working on a project downstairs for over an hour.  It was quiet -- too quiet.  When I called down to ask them what they were doing, Zo Peep replied, "Just playing."

I should have gone down and checked on them, but I was selfishly enjoying my alone time.  After an hour, I heard them walk up the basement steps and exit the house from the side door  landing.  I ran outside to find every exposed inch of skin on their faces, arms, hands, legs, and feet -- covered with red ink.  You see, they had both received Easter stamps and a red ink pad the day before and they were stamping each other with various Easter designs.  They put so many designs on their skin that the red ink just merged together into one big red mess.  It took days for the final remnant of that red ink to wash away.

But not every sister bonding event turns into a huge problem.  Last week they went upstairs at the end of the school day to change into play clothes.  They were up there longer than I expected.  When I called up the stairs to check on them, Zo Peep called back, "Don't come up mom, we're going to surprise you."

After the ink experience I wanted to fly up the stairs.  Instead I cut them slack and let them be.  About 10 minutes later they came downstairs in matching sports attire.  

Clearly, Little Zo Peep tried to match the outfits as much as possible -- right down to the Steelers Terrible Towels hanging from their belt loops.  I had to take them outside for some photos.

 

So which path will this morning's sisterhood project take -- cuteness or catastrophe?

Time will tell.

Update -- No bad incidents -- but not much cleaning either.  Zo Peep went back into the attic crawl space and found some old costume jewelry that had belong to my mother.  She played with that most of the time.  Libby Doodle Doo carried a pair of plastic Cinderella high heels down to the kitchen, put them on and went clicking and clacking throughout the house.