Now Serving #4

Since Oo is 4 years old, her favorite number is 4. And because Oo's world must be systematic and organized (which does not necessarily mean "tidy"), EVERYTHING must equal the number 4.

If she's eating baby carrots, she wants to be given exactly 4 carrots. Every bite of those carrots consists of 4 small nibbles before she chews and swallows. If she's filling a cup with water, she holds the cup under the water to the count of 4. If she's eating M&Ms, she'll eat only 4 M&Ms, not 3 and not 5. But if she wants more M&Ms, she wants exactly 4 more. Should I tell her she can only have 2 more, she'll say, "No thank you. Give them to T because he's 2 years old."

She rinses away her toothpaste with 4 sips of water. Before she'll come in the house for dinner, she slides down the slide 4 more times and then must sniff 4 flowers in our yard. She blows 4 kisses to Adrian in the morning, and makes 4 pictures when we're painting. There must be 4 kisses on each boo boo and 4 books read at a time to her.

Oo turns 4 1/2 next week. I was planning on baking her a birthday cake shaped in a half circle to celebrate. But now I'm wondering. If she knows she is 4 1/2, just how much will it complicate matters? Four and a half carrots, bites, sips, M&Ms, slides, flowers, kisses, books... Oy! I need to think this through.