Giving up or giving in

Yet another fun filled day of me trying to get my kid to stay in the classroom. We have this thing... I set my phone to go off in 4 minutes. Erin takes the phone, says "Countdown complete", hands me the phone, we kiss goodbye and I'm supposed to leave. Its all very cute when it works.

9 times out of 10 that doesn't happen. She runs to the door and tries to escape. I was Ryan Miller this morning playing goalie in front of the door. She clings to me and won't let me leave. Hitting and kicking..... You get the picture? She's 4 and hates it when I leave. Its not like daycare is a new thing. She's been going since she was 2 months old. And, she kicks me out when I take her to the Grandparent's house. Some days at daycare are fine. Most are not.

It's driving me crazy because I'm late every day. I'm at my wits end. This morning we agreed that I could leave. She went back on her word. Yesterday I was able to leave early only because another parent was there and she knew I was upset with her. I don't want to fall into that pattern of guilt-tripping her (silly Catholicism). I read that the age of reason is 7. I can not wait 3 more years. I need her to understand the outcome of being late. Wait till the fall little girl. Mom isn't allowed in the school in the morning.

I need a cup of coffee.

New header attempt while watching TV

yeah, I know. I don't work in the creative department. I'm support. But I got tired of the text header and Blogger added in an image upload (yea Blogger!).

It's the first attempt and I won't give up the pink yet. I have a pink iPod Nano, a pink and black brief case... you get the picture. Pink is cool in moderation.

Ok - back to House.

Mother's Day - Part 2

To start - cleaning the house at 9 am sucks. But Tim did bring me Donuts. I love that man.

Dinner went well. Pork and Roast beef. Not bad at all. But I cooked. Yep. Mother's day and I cooked. It's only fair. I am the rookie Mom. Mom was impressed with dinner which is always good.

Jim and Shari came over as well. mmmmm.. Bacon Bacon dip.... mmmm. Sorry. Thats some good stuff.

Oh a high note, Erin and I planted. I have a little garden in back and we planted some flowers around the mail box. She isn't afraid of bugs outside which is a help. Inside the house is another story. I'll take some pictures as soon as I dump the camera.

Mother's Day - Part 1

This is going to be a 2 parter -

Part 1 - Friday. Daycare.
I love Erin's teachers. They had breakfast for us. Muffins, Donuts, OJ... mmmm.. Donuts. And they had a craft for us to do with the kids. Mom and Kid handprints. I get my gift later - they were not dry yet. To top it -- they gave us carnations.

I love her class...

Part 2 is Sunday... Dinner for Mom, Jim, Shari, Alexis, Tim and Erin. My house. Yeah.

"He has is father's eyes.."

I was reading one of my many Mom blogs this morning and came across this. Its a Red Castle Carry cot and it hooks into a stroller for a Pram like thing.

It for infants up to about 6 months (my kids, 4-5 months).

The first thing I thought of was Rosemary's Baby. Is that sick?

I absolutely love this carrier. And yes, it does come in just just Black with a gray interior.

Now if I can just figure out how to attach some hanging dice and a plush Cthulhu

Clean Bathroom

I left for VA last week... uneventful trip so thus the reason for no blog. I was home Friday morning around 12:30 AM and back at work at 9. The only thing of note - I watched JESUS CAMP and I'm terrified.

But I do want to mention that Mr. Clean Extra Power Multi-Surface spray TOTALLY ROCKS! I have a soap scum issue and well.. its gone now. Not to mention the kick ass pink and purple bottle. Spray, wait, scrub just a little and No More yuck!

Innocence

It was a nice day and dry so Kid and I went to the playground. Two young girls were there playing, about the Kid's age so she felt the need to play with them. No problems here. Instant friendship. A 4, 5 and 7 year old playing. Normal picture in my book. But it struck me as hopeful... the 2 little girls were African-American. The Kid has no concept of racism. Only if someone is being mean or not playing nice.

So the 4 of played... I pushed them on the swings, went on the slide and played Pirate on the spinning Crows Nest.

After 30 min (10 of which were trying to the Kid to leave), we said our good-byes and walked home. Being still light and somewhat warm, the Kid didn't want to go home. I didn't blame her so she suggested a walk. Instead of our usual Left turn at the corner, she wanted to go right. As we walked, the Kid saw her 2 new friends running to her. They lived on the corner. No mom in sight, no older sibling in sight... what the hell?!

These 3 little girls have no concept of Stranger Danger or deceit. The Kid wanted to go in and see the girls room. The girls had no problem walking away with me to join us on our walk. I stopped it there. I made the girls go ask their mom, I introduced myself and said we'd be back in like 15 min. The mom was like, whatever and the girls joined us. I have mixed emotions about this - 1) Society has lost its sense of the Neighborhood due to fear. 2) The girls and the kid had no concept of STRANGER DANGER. 3) Would I let someone take my kid for a walk? No. I wouldn't. I had plan B all set if the mom said no. I can pull off the Mom Cover story in a heartbeat. But this mom said yes. I'm unsettled by this - we'll stick to playing at the playground. No more walks or house visits. I guess I've lost my trust too.

Goddess Alert!

Happiness- Linda Carter made a guest appearance on Smallville. I caught the end of it. She was not Wonder Woman but Chloe's mom. She was still had super powers.

Linda Carter - you are a goddess.

GOAL!!!

The kid loves the Sabres. Yes.. she's 4 and likes Hockey. Now, to what degree, I don't know. Her preschool teacher is a HUGE fan and they do a Sabre's cheer at school on Game days. But last night, I was flipping channels and the Pittsburg/Ottawa game was on. Kid said 'STOP! Hockey is on". So I did.

I explained the game to her and she got to the idea. She lasted about 15 minutes of the game. Pretty good for a 4 year old. She kept wanting to yell "GOAL!" . I kept wanting to yell "FIGHT!"

Maybe cable will be in order.. damn.

some things just shouldn't be

Good lord! What the hell! A poo and pee plush toy? for what reason? I thought the whole idea was to remove said yuck from the body... not make it cute! They even have tee-shirts and socks with the "characters" on it (I'll use that term loosely). What's next? I'm just not going to go there...

The Landlord

Wrong in so many ways but so freaking funny!

Desire

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. And strangely, I've had no desire to write about it. Even today - I'm home with a pukey 4 year old and I'm feeling kind of crappy myself. When kids get sick, the government should provide HAZMAT suits. So lets review

The weather is no where near spring. Snow and cold....
My father in law was hospitalized and is now home.
My daughter is now over her fear of dogs, as long as they are quiet.
I can make a dress for the kid
Chuck E Cheese is ok as long as hubby is there (panic attack with a zillion kids around not good)
My best friend is coming in for 2 weeks
I get vacation days in Dec and July.. thats about it
My house is still a toy disaster
I hate Ants

Yeah -- fun filled huh?
If ya'll excuse me, I'm going to find some more drugs for me...

the power of old movies

I don't believe in total censorship at home. Some movies we'll not watch with Erin to avoid the nightmare issue or long explanation of what that man and woman were doing. But, if its on and she comes stumbling in, I don't panic. She's usually not interested.

Last night we watched "Streetcar named Desire". She made it quite a ways through. I passed out before it ended. Now, this morning the questions came.

"mommy? Why were the girls, you know, Stella and the other one - why were they not in color?" Ok - valid question and I went on to explain that some movies were made in Black and white and not color.

"Why did they put the man in the shower?" Huh? Oh - after a drunken Poker game Stanley flies into a rage and passes out thus needing a cold shower to cool him down. I didn't tell the kid that. My response went something like this.
"well, Stanley got really mad and his friends wanted to get him to calm down". The kid interjects - "Yeah, he threw the Radio out the window cause he didn't want the lady dancing". Wow. I continued "Correct. He was just very angry and being very mean. Being mean is not good"

Kid then goes on "Well, I get mean cause I want you to pay attention to me". BLAMO! Self admission from a 4 year old as to why she throws her temper tantrums. It took "Streetcar named Desire" to get her to see that mean wasn't good. She saw how Stanley being mean scared the ladies and she didn't like that.

I proceeded "Well, if you act mean, I don't want to pay attention to you or talk to you. I don't like it when you are mean. If you are a nice girl and listen, we'd pay MORE attention to you and not yell."

Light clicks on for Erin "Yeah, so if I'm not mean, we can talk more!" She may finally have turned a corner. Thank you Tennessee Williams.

Spring

There is a certain smell in the air when Spring begins. It is hard to describe but you know it when you smell it. Actually, there are 2 - Spring and Parade Day. Let me explain.

Parade Day : Mid March is the St. Patrick's day parade. More often than not, its cold. But - there is usually a warm up about that time. For some strange reason, there is a certain clean smell to it.

Spring: Clean, warmer air with a hint of moisture like its going to rain. And it has to be at least 60 degrees. It did that this morning. There is a cold front coming in and its supposed to rain (thunder storm oh yeah!). I let Erin wear her spring coat and no tights. Just socks with her dress. I immediately opened my window in the office. 6 floors up you get wind.

I can see the clouds moving in and its sort of hopeful. The spring rain will wash away the last of the brown/black snow and get rid of the salt that remains. There is one little patch of snow on the roof just outside my window. It reminds me of a scared creature holding on to its last vestiges of life.

This is going to be one of those days where I won't work - just stare out the window and think about cleaning my house. Cycle out the winter clothes, throw out the ones that are dead, make a goodwill bag and air out the house.

Not so much a hooky day but a 'don't want to think' kind of day.

Boy, I am gonna miss this view.

Game Cakes

This is the best site ever! If Tommy is into Mario next year, maybe Aunty will try.... hmmmm...
Tim, I think I want a Diablo cake for my birthday.

Sick day again

Tis the season for runny noses and vomiting and fevers. Erin came down with the flu after Mom's birthday party Tuesday. We spent the evening at Mom's for her Birthday and introduced Erin to my brother's dog. Erin is terrified of dogs. Well, not any more. She got over it and loves the thing now. Bonus.

All was well until 3 am and I hear "MOMMY!! I THINK I HAVE TO THROW UP!". Thus the early morning adventures of Nurse Mommy proceeded.

That was Wednesday. Between fevers and fights to take the medicine, we moved into Thursday feeling still yucky by better. Morning passed and her mood lightened. Not so warm..thats good. Trip to the store for better meds and appetite came back. YEAH!

Its now 2 pm. All that remains is a runny nose. Meds are still in order but she's better.

I love my kid. I'm sick of kid shows.
I want to go back to work.

I wasn't had...

An update to a previous post - Erin really was sick. She started running a temp more so in the afternoon and now is officially sick. I'm in for the night as I will have a 4 year old on my lap all night.

Law and Order - Special Letter Unit

And here I thought I've seen it all.. and they really look like the actors!

idiots.

apparently, its legal to make a left hand turn from a right hand lane. I swear, if one person does it, I'm going to cause an accident to prove a point.

And whats the big idea of running red lights? And pedestrian's crossing AGAINST the light?
Darwinism in action.

I've been had...

"Mommy, my belly hurts" says the flush faced almost 4 year old. Sniffle, cough and moan. Head and face are warm. Hmmm.. so we send her to school and wait for the call or keep her home?

"Ok - home it is" - Calls are made and laptop is brought out. Run to the store and child is happy and singing... hmmmmm....

Get home and child proceeds to dance and sing... still warm and cough is there BUT only when I ask how she feels. "Mom, I'm not sick"....

"What!?! If you are not sick, then you go to school" Child then proceeds to cough. Whining "I'm sick". Which is it? Sick or not sick.

I know a cold/flu can feel. Achy yet can manage to be social. I do it all the time. I work when I'm sick. I'm an idiot. So home we are. I'm working (well, trying to with having to disconnect and reconnect the VPN which is a pain) and Erin is watching cartoons. She still says her belly hurts so we'll see.