can we get a redo?

Today, she is four. The morning started off well. She was thrilled to discover her gifts, declared it the "wonderfullest" birthday ever, and got ready to take some blueberry muffins to school for her birthday treat. She was a little hoarse this morning, but nothing too bad. As we walked out the door, she complained of a stomach ache.

40 minutes after I dropped her off at school, I got a call to come back and get her and the muffins because she had a fever. Came home, set up shop in the playroom so she could lounge and rest and still play a little. Canceled the family party scheduled for later tonight. Got her lunch ready and delivered, and then she ran up to me and told me that our cat was chasing a chipmunk through the living room.

Then I saw the cat dragging the wriggling chipmunk towards us, and being a tough broad, I screamed and holed the girls and myself up in the master bedroom and called for testosterone backup.

Caroline insisted on going and intervening in the cat/chipmunk ordeal. She wanted to break bread and get them peaceful, only she suggested they break pretzels since chipmunks love pretzels. When I explained that our cat was probably going to play the role of reaper to the chipmunk, Caroline got really upset.

"But Mama, I have to go down there. I have always wanted a pet chipmunk, and Bijoux is a -- what's that word where one animal kills other animals? Predator! -- Bijoux is a predator to chipmunks. My birthday is ruined because I can't even have a blueberry muffin treat at school, my family party is canceled, and now we're going to have to have a chipmunk memorial!"

The chipmunk escaped. It's still somewhere in the house, and while this might be a relief to Caroline (not to me), she got some bad news that she has croup and has to take steroids again. She hates the taste of them and was trying to negotiate out of them. The doctor gave her a choice of one shot of them or 3 days of drinking them. She chose to drink them. But the misery of this day is not lost on her. She held up a lollipop given to her by the pitying doctor and said very woefully, "Happy birthday to myyyyyself."