4.25.2010
4.20.2010
Bite Me
Today at daycare, some little punk kid bit my sweet precious baby.
According to the teacher, Grace was playing outside having a great time when this mean little kid in her class had the nerve to just come running up to her and bite her. ON THE HEAD!
Now she has a red set of teeth on the top of her forehead.
Okay, so I know. Kids will be kids. They bite. It happens. My kid will probably bite the other kids soon enough (especially since she's being shown how to do it!).
But, this is the first time in her young life that Grace has had to experience the just-plain-meanness of others. I'm claiming my right to be angry about it!
Luckily for that kid, he gets to remain in anonymity - identity only known by the teacher, his parents and my poor innocent baby.
According to the teacher, Grace was playing outside having a great time when this mean little kid in her class had the nerve to just come running up to her and bite her. ON THE HEAD!
Now she has a red set of teeth on the top of her forehead.
Okay, so I know. Kids will be kids. They bite. It happens. My kid will probably bite the other kids soon enough (especially since she's being shown how to do it!).
But, this is the first time in her young life that Grace has had to experience the just-plain-meanness of others. I'm claiming my right to be angry about it!
Luckily for that kid, he gets to remain in anonymity - identity only known by the teacher, his parents and my poor innocent baby.
4.19.2010
4.17.2010
4.06.2010
Dancing to the Blue Light
Today, for the first time in my life, I was pulled for speeding.
I was driving around a curve. I knew I was going a little fast. When I reached the end of the curve, I saw the policeman. He was sitting in a driveway, hidden by bushes. Sneaky, sneaky.
He blinked his lights at me and I instantly slowed.
I continued on my way (5 below the speed limit) and he followed at a pretty good distance behind me. "Safe." I thought.
About a mile down the road, the policeman turned on his lights and pulled me over. I honestly didn't know they did that. I thought if they caught you in a place where there was lots of room to pull over that they would go ahead and do so.
Anyway, I was trembling but not crying. I always wondered how I would act, what I would say, etc. It turns out that I will act like a complete dork. But not a crying dork.
Mr. Officer got my license and registration. He was rude and I was shaking. I told him that I had never been in this situation before, so I was nervous. I didn't want him to think that I was hiding something or acting suspicious for some criminal reason.
Him: "Not even a warning?"
Me: "No Sir" (check out the politeness)
Him: "Well, slow down then."
He let me go.
I did slow down. I set my cruise to make sure of it.
I was driving around a curve. I knew I was going a little fast. When I reached the end of the curve, I saw the policeman. He was sitting in a driveway, hidden by bushes. Sneaky, sneaky.
He blinked his lights at me and I instantly slowed.
I continued on my way (5 below the speed limit) and he followed at a pretty good distance behind me. "Safe." I thought.
About a mile down the road, the policeman turned on his lights and pulled me over. I honestly didn't know they did that. I thought if they caught you in a place where there was lots of room to pull over that they would go ahead and do so.
Anyway, I was trembling but not crying. I always wondered how I would act, what I would say, etc. It turns out that I will act like a complete dork. But not a crying dork.
Mr. Officer got my license and registration. He was rude and I was shaking. I told him that I had never been in this situation before, so I was nervous. I didn't want him to think that I was hiding something or acting suspicious for some criminal reason.
Him: "Not even a warning?"
Me: "No Sir" (check out the politeness)
Him: "Well, slow down then."
He let me go.
I did slow down. I set my cruise to make sure of it.
3.22.2010
Day Care
Dear Grace,
Today you started daycare.
This decision came after many months of struggle for me that I have tried my best to make you unaware of.
The bottom line is this - your grandma wanted to keep you during the day the first year of your life. We thought it would be a good thing. You have had lots of bonding time and we didn't have to worry too much about expenses. She would have kept you longer - she kept extending the time that she wanted to keep you. But, your dad & I think you are ready for something more.
Now you are over a year old and you are coming to a stage in your life where you are ready to learn school-type things. You have a desire to watch kids your age. It's time.
The daycare is a nice one. The nicest one in our area. I visited the building and met your teacher. I'm using "nice" a lot, but they were very nice too.
Your cousin Meltdown goes there and she adores you. That's a big plus - you know one of the bigger kids who will always be on your side. Unless you pull her dog's tail. She *is* 4, you know.
This morning, I packed you in the car just like I always do. We sang in the car as we were drivinglike we always do.
We got out at a strange place. That's when the confusion began. You snapped to attention - knowing immediately something was going on. We went inside and I handed you over to the nice lady.
You went hysterical.
I could barely talk to the nice lady over your screaming. I wanted to be sure that she had all the instructions to cater to your every need.
She smiled reassuringly at me. She's done this before. A lot.
I kissed you and told you I loved you. Then I left the room.
I had to fill out more paperwork, so I was there for a while. I could hear you all the way down the hall.
When I left the building, I thought that they were going to have to push me out the door. I may have smiled at you and tried to comfort you, but I want you to know when you are old enough to read this that it was HARD. I did not want to leave you in the hands of someone I don't *really* know. Each of your cries broke my heart a little more. *I* cried too. All the way home.
I was so upset that I did what I always do when I am broken hearted. I called *my* Daddy and whined over the phone. He assured me that you would be fine - even have fun.
I checked on you during my lunch time. You don't know this. I snuck in the door and peered at you in the high chair during your lunch. You were letting the nice lady feed you. You didn't see me and I worked really hard not to barge through the door and snatch you up.
You will adjust to daycare. Experts have told me this. And, when you do, you will like it. Who knows? You might even learn to take a nap. When the nice lady told me you would be taking a two hour nap at the same time every day when we met, I laughed at her silently and thought "Good Luck".
When I picked you up, you were playing. You started flipping out the moment you saw me. You pushed away all the other kids and teachers to get to me. I snatched you up and you held on for dear life. Both of us did.
I love you so much, my sweet little angel.
Love forever,
Mama
Today you started daycare.
This decision came after many months of struggle for me that I have tried my best to make you unaware of.
The bottom line is this - your grandma wanted to keep you during the day the first year of your life. We thought it would be a good thing. You have had lots of bonding time and we didn't have to worry too much about expenses. She would have kept you longer - she kept extending the time that she wanted to keep you. But, your dad & I think you are ready for something more.
Now you are over a year old and you are coming to a stage in your life where you are ready to learn school-type things. You have a desire to watch kids your age. It's time.
The daycare is a nice one. The nicest one in our area. I visited the building and met your teacher. I'm using "nice" a lot, but they were very nice too.
Your cousin Meltdown goes there and she adores you. That's a big plus - you know one of the bigger kids who will always be on your side. Unless you pull her dog's tail. She *is* 4, you know.
This morning, I packed you in the car just like I always do. We sang in the car as we were drivinglike we always do.
We got out at a strange place. That's when the confusion began. You snapped to attention - knowing immediately something was going on. We went inside and I handed you over to the nice lady.
You went hysterical.
I could barely talk to the nice lady over your screaming. I wanted to be sure that she had all the instructions to cater to your every need.
She smiled reassuringly at me. She's done this before. A lot.
I kissed you and told you I loved you. Then I left the room.
I had to fill out more paperwork, so I was there for a while. I could hear you all the way down the hall.
When I left the building, I thought that they were going to have to push me out the door. I may have smiled at you and tried to comfort you, but I want you to know when you are old enough to read this that it was HARD. I did not want to leave you in the hands of someone I don't *really* know. Each of your cries broke my heart a little more. *I* cried too. All the way home.
I was so upset that I did what I always do when I am broken hearted. I called *my* Daddy and whined over the phone. He assured me that you would be fine - even have fun.
I checked on you during my lunch time. You don't know this. I snuck in the door and peered at you in the high chair during your lunch. You were letting the nice lady feed you. You didn't see me and I worked really hard not to barge through the door and snatch you up.
You will adjust to daycare. Experts have told me this. And, when you do, you will like it. Who knows? You might even learn to take a nap. When the nice lady told me you would be taking a two hour nap at the same time every day when we met, I laughed at her silently and thought "Good Luck".
When I picked you up, you were playing. You started flipping out the moment you saw me. You pushed away all the other kids and teachers to get to me. I snatched you up and you held on for dear life. Both of us did.
I love you so much, my sweet little angel.
Love forever,
Mama
3.01.2010
The MiL and the Car Seat
Having said all that, the latest battle, which I'm now facing alone, is over the car seat. I was informed about two weeks ago that Grace is now One, so therefore it is time that we can lose the heavy-as-all-get-out infant car seat for the much more convenient forward-facing variety.
Well, I have a problem with this. My child is petite. She's not quite the recommended 20 pounds. (She's probably 19 something by now, but still NOT 20.) Besides, I've read tons of information about how much safer rear-facing car seats are, so I'm not in a terrible hurry to switch.
I told the MiL this and expected to have a reprieve of the subject until I (the PARENT) brought it up again.
Saturday, the MiL bought a forward-facing car seat and informed us that we would no longer need to leave the infant car seat with Grace when we drop her off in the mornings.
Sunday night, the MiL watched Grace while J & I were at choir/orchestra practice and brought her to church. She informed me that "Grace loves the new carseat. She did so much better than that other one."
A background note...Grace hates driving in the dark. Sometimes she screams the entire ride. Apparently the forward facing car seat is the solution to this problem. But, it is a solution that I would like to implement. When I feel that Grace is big enough.
2.28.2010
No Takebacks
Grace's little friend Sophia (~18 months) just got a new little brother.
Sophia is a mild-mannered child. She rarely throws a tantrum and is just all-around pleasant to be around. She's the baby in the nursery that I want Grace to watch and learn from. Or until this week, that is.
Sophia's not taking to the role of a big sister in a now-family-of-four so well. In fact, she does not want anything to do with her little brother.
This week, at the doctor's office after his check-up, her mom packed up new baby Elliot. Sophia looked directly at him. "Bye-bye Baby." she said. And she grabbed her mom's hand and headed for the door.
Her mom scooped her up while trying to stifle her laughter. "Sophia, I'm sorry honey, but we can't just leave him here."
Sophia is a mild-mannered child. She rarely throws a tantrum and is just all-around pleasant to be around. She's the baby in the nursery that I want Grace to watch and learn from. Or until this week, that is.
Sophia's not taking to the role of a big sister in a now-family-of-four so well. In fact, she does not want anything to do with her little brother.
This week, at the doctor's office after his check-up, her mom packed up new baby Elliot. Sophia looked directly at him. "Bye-bye Baby." she said. And she grabbed her mom's hand and headed for the door.
Her mom scooped her up while trying to stifle her laughter. "Sophia, I'm sorry honey, but we can't just leave him here."
2.14.2010
My Little Valentine
Here's the Valentine's card we are sending out this year...
We bribed Grace to hold her hand out for this photo (the full version is in a previous post) by offering her a forbidden cell phone to play with!
The idea (my sister-in-law's) was to make a cut in the printed photo on top of her hand & below her hand and insert a lollipop so that it would look like Grace was handing the recipient a lollipop. This would have been super-cute, but I ran out of time and someone ate all the lollipops that I bought for this project!
So, they will just have to settle for irresistible cuteness.
2.08.2010
A Busted Tire, A Dented Rim and a Long Drive Home
You see, this pothole has been in this location a very long time. I knew it was there. But, today, I hit it. Today there was an oncoming car in the other lane and stopping was out of the question, so in that split-second decision between pothole and hitting another car head-on, I chose pothole. I probably made the wrong choice.
The thud as my car landed back onto the ground after sailing in the air was as deflating as my tire (and my wallet and my pride and well, you get the point) was about to be.
I pulled over to get out and survey the damage. The tire had already sunken. Panic set in as I called my husband (who was 4 hours away from me). He didn't pick up.
Then, I looked up. Like a mirage in the desert, there was a tire place right beside where I pulled my car off the road. I carefully rolled it into the parking lot.
After waiting about an hour, I learned that I would need a new rim and four new tires. Apparently, the tires in my year-old car were so worn down that all of them needed to be replaced. They could have it back to me tomorrow.
Problem. I work an hour and a half away from home. No one could come get me or take me home. So, I paid them a $10 fee and let them put my spare on.
Going 50 miles an hour makes my ride home completely unbearable. Everyone passed me as if I was standing still. I had to set my cruise so I could successfully suppress my lead-foot urges.
I finally got a hold of J, who called the dealership. They could work me in, so I limped into the parking lot a couple of hours later. Okay, maybe just two hours, but going 50 miles an hour will not only put me half to sleep - it puts my sense of time way off.
4 hours later (and this time I'm sure about the time), the service guy came and gently broke the news to me that my rim was dented beyond repair by the dealership. He recommended a specialty place in the hopes that we could save the outrageous expense of ordering a new one.
So, now I'm in a rental car for who-knows-how-long.
Stupid pothole.
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