professing love

Some days I wonder what I got myself in to. The kids are all screaming or crying, I get kicked, spat on, yelled at. Food is thrown. Tantrums are thrown. No one is happy.

And then art work like this comes home from school and all the bad stuff that happened that day disappears.  I love you too, Maja.

#23

Today is a RED LETTER day: kindergarten registration for Maja. I can imagine to some people this would not seem to be such a big deal, but in our neighbourhood for our local public school is it. Richard was in line for registration at 6am. In the dark, cold, mid-January freezing-ness with a thermos of coffee and some hot bagels. And guess what? He wasn’t the first in line for one of the coveted 51 spots. He was #23. There were people in front of him with lawn chairs and blankets!

WHAT? Did I just say “public” school? Yes. A public school in Philadelphia. You heard me correctly. I have not lost my mind. And people lined up in the pre-dawn hours to get in? Uh-huh.

Our local public school is somewhat special, you see. It is the reason houses in our neighbourhood are so expensive as you have to live within a catchment in order to attend this school. The school which is partnered with the University of Pennsylvania and therefore is so well run. One of the few schools where a child can actually get a decent public school education in this city.

Disappointingly, though, Richard didn’t have to stay out there for 3 hrs waiting until the doors opened at 9am. A security guard handed out numbers and sent everyone home with instructions to come back at 8:45am. I am only disappointed because when the time comes I can not hold the guilt over Maja’s head:

Your father stood out in the cold for THREE HOURS so that you could go to school, young lady!!!!!!

Alas, he only stood out there for about 15 min. Ah well, there will be other opportunities to instill parental guilt on my child. For now, I’m just glad we don’t have to pay for daycare for Maja anymore come September.

3 sisters

My three babies:

Maja in 2005; Madeleine in 2007; Pippa in 2009

early October

Early fall in Philadelphia is something to enjoy. No bugs, no heat, no humidity, the sun is bearable, and the temps are mild (upper 60s, low 70s — high teens, low 20s for my Cdn friends).

We were able to enjoy some time at the playground on Saturday afternoon. Not just enjoy because the weather cooperated, but because the girls were not fighting over who got to push the babydoll and stroller.

I may need to have a new rule: all toys MUST come into this house in duplicate (and soon, triplicate).

It was good while it lasted

We had a very busy, very full weekend. The events on their own were fabulous – a baptism and two birthday parties. However, combined into one weekend — disaster. I fully admit that I made a bad judgment call in even considering that Maja could handle all of it because it was clear by Sunday evening that it was too much. Complete and utter meltdown. Thrashing, screaming, crying, inconsolable, irrational meltdown. By the time bedtime rolled around Maja had turned into some kind of monster – head spinning, brain falling out of her ears, screaming. It took me an HOUR to calm her down enough to get her to bed. I had a fat lip by the end of it all. Sad part is that as soon as she woke up Monday she continued with the charade from the night before.

Lesson learned: Don’t over-schedule.

It’s just so exhausting. Not just for Maja but for everyone. I feel awful for not having thought this through better.

I will fully admit that I was afraid of what would greet me at the end of the day when I went to the daycare to pick her up.

This is what graced me with the evening:

What a freakin’ relief. I mean it. Seriously, it was so bad on Sunday evening / Monday morning that I was just about ready to call a psychiatrist and have her evaluated for something. Anything to explain the screaming child I had on my hands.

Thankfully our October, so far, looks calm with only one birthday party on the horizon next Sunday. Oh and while we’re on the subject of October, can I just say how very thankful I am that Hallowe’en falls on a SATURDAY this year? Huge sigh of relief. November is positively barren. As is December. Of course, there will be other excitement in December – no lack of drama scheduled for the end of that month.

step step point, step step point

I received a tutorial in beginner ballet last evening from my four year old.

Maizy (l.) and Maja (r.)

Aren’t they just about THE CUTEST things you’ve seen? They look like little pink gumdrops! Ignore the shoes, please… they were needed to walk over to class.

Potty training sucks

We started potty training Maja in earnest about 2 years ago and guess what? We’re still at it in one form or another. She hasn’t worn a diaper in well over a year (and has been diaper-free @ nighttime for a while) but still it’s a constant process of asking her: Do you have to go potty? Maja, go potty. Ok, potty time!

It’s not that she doesn’t know she has to go… it’s more that she can’t be bothered.

The most frustrating thing is that she refuses to go by herself. Refuses. And when I’m at home by myself with the girls and have just managed to get dinner on the table and everyone seated THAT is when Maja decides she needs to go potty (even though I make a point of asking her before we all sit down) – and since she refuses to go upstairs by herself I have to drag Madeleine upstairs too. It’s chaos.

In the past week, however, things have dramatically improved. Now when Maja announces that she needs to go potty my response is: “ok, you know where the bathroom is. Go.” The ball is in her court: go potty or have an accident. And since the thought of wetting her pants is now so foreign to her… she goes. By herself. And washes her hands. By herself. And comes back downstairs. Hallelujah.

This morning we even had one more ‘break through’ – she got up OUT OF BED (longtime readers will remember that Maja never gets out of bed by herself) and went potty!!!!!! Yea!!!! I will not focus on the fact that she did this at 5:30am and woke her sister up in the process and that I had both of them awake and demanding their morning milk at 5:45am…

Lavish praise was doled out to Maja as I stood there blindly (no glasses on) in the hallway in my pajamas holding a screaming Madeleine. I really am so happy that Maja took it upon herself to get up out of bed and venture to the potty by herself. I cannot stress enough what a big step this is for her.

Yea Maja!!

Now I have to start potty training Madeleine… sigh.

The sibling wars: them against me, or them against each other?

You know this: siblings fight. I know I fought still fight with my sisters, although now over more important things like … oh, I don’t know. But it’s not over shoes, or money, or who got the bigger piece of chocolate cake.

Maja and Madeleine fight. Mostly it’s some unidentifiable indiscretion that Maja has decided on a whim is annoying: She’s following me! She’s copying me! She took my [insert toy name here]. I want the pink one! You ALWAYS let Madeleine have that and I NEVER get it.

It’s exhausting.

Recently, though, they have started playing together a bit better. And with that has come the escalation of ideas for what constitutes having fun. For example, if Mads wants something up high then Maja has the brains and reasoning power to facilitate the acquisition of whatever it is that Mads wants. Admittedly, at times it seems as if Maja is putting words/ideas into Madeleine’s head – I’ve got to keep an eye on this.

Yesterday afternoon Madeleine was quietly playing in the backyard with a bucket of water and some dirt. A perfect toy! She was just puttering along… putting a little water in a pile of dirt and stirring it around. Perfectly happy.
Maja arrives on the scene.

Mads, what are you doing? Are you making mud? [here she goes, planting ideas...]

Uh-huh. [really, the only answer she ever gives her sister, save for the occasional NO!]

Can I help?

Uh-huh.

Want to make mud soup?

Uh-huh.

We need more dirt. We need some leaves. We need more water!

You can only imagine the mess that followed.

If I had a choice, though, of them playing together and making a mess vs. them fighting and me having to intervene every 30 seconds… I’ll take the mess every time. The girls are in cahoots and I’m not complaining! Well, at least not until they facilitate each other sneaking out of the house when they’re teenagers…

Politics: Specter, Obama, coffee, airports

Last Wednesday. It was 5:45am. I’m upstairs with two awake children. There are already problems with this scene, not the least of which is that I do not have any coffee within arm’s reach. Suddenly I hear Richard bounding up the stairs and I faintly think: ahhh, coffee. But no. He is running up the stairs like a maniac at 5:45AM to tell me that: Arlen Specter just became a democrat! He switched!!

Big whoop. Where’s my COFFEE???

But instead I say that I’d heard about that yesterday but what’s the big deal? (me: not a US citizen, not really interested in politics). He switched teams. Changed his mind. You’re allowed to do that! My darling, enthusiastic husband begins to explain to me – remember, I’m not caffeinated – about Arlen Specter … blah blah blah… democrat … blah blah blah … tough Republican opponent … blah blah blah … re-election … blah blah blah … Obama is philibuster-proof… blah blah blah

Once Richard is done explaining all the intricacies of the US political system and I’ve sent him back downstairs for far more important matters (coffee?) Maja is left to ask ME questions. Oh sigh.

Mama, what are you talking about?

Politics.

But who are you talking about?

The people who run this country. You know, like Obama. Do you remember who Obama is?

Yes, he’s the guy on the magazines at the airport.

I’m afraid my daughter has inherited my sense of politics.

you DO want to know if she liked the bike, don’t you?

I’ll let the videos speak for themselves:

and her description, “shiny & red”

And then trying it out in the park — watch out for the Red Rocket!

I think the bike was a success.