There is little to report today. This is indicative of my muddled and foggy brain, rather than a statement on the activity levels of my family. The only thought I seem to be able to consistently hold on to is: How can I get a surgeon to just remove my sinuses and replace them with some 21st century magic stem-cell-based Bionic Super Sinuses. But back here in the land of reality, I must patiently endure the vice-like grip around my head and attempt to soldier on. Thankfully, Dr. M, my primary care doc, was kind enough to squeeze me in for an appointment late this afternoon. Yay for Avelox, my new favorite antibiotic.
Breaking News! Amy did do #2 on the big-girl potty tonight. YAAAAYYYYYY!!! She fought me every step of the way, and then, in desperation and without even thinking, I promised her a HANDFUL of chocolate chips – she usually gets one or two for tinkling on the potty – if she would “produce” in the toilet. How I could have overlooked the power of chocolate? Well, it’s just unimaginable, really. And sure enough, the “handful” measurement proved to be Amy’s proverbial carrot. Twenty minutes later, she hears the plunk in the toilet, and even before she stretches her out her arm to grab the Cottonelle, she’s saying, “Handful chips, mama? Handful choc-lot chips??” So, we have officially found Amy’s currency. Should I see if I can negotiate a per-case deal direct from Toll House before we settle in for the next set of unpleasant milestones, such as… getting her first cavity filled??
Kate had her second Daisy meeting tonight. She is bodily excited about this. No, that’s not a typo. She twitches and hops and flits with her broad, bold smile, and when she does all this, there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s completely forgotten about all social etiquette I’ve been drilling into her for the past 5 years. But, if she’s bouncing off the walls at the meeting, I won’t be there to see it. Between the sinus pressure and my asthma-induced coughing, today was so awful that I wasn’t even using proper grammar when speaking (UNHEARD of for me). Thus, this Daisy co-leader was not able to attend the meeting. The other Daisy co-leader happens to live around the block from me, and she kindly took Kate with her. Did I ever mention how much I LOVE my neighborhood? Really. It rocks. Anyway, Kate received her uniform and official Daisy pin tonight, and the head Leader took photos of each girl in their new tunic and pin. Then, while the girls made foamie photo frames, the Leader’s husband printed the pictures, so each Daisy came home with her own keepsake. What 5-year-old doesn’t love a picture of themselves?
Claire continues to remind me of all the reasons she deserves a Wii for Christmas. She’s getting down to enumerating things like, “I helped Amy out of her chair at supper,” and “I put away my clean socks and underwear.” Hmmmmmmm. To help Amy out of her chair, Claire simply has to stretch her leg out and push the chair away from the table, and Amy crawls off of it unassisted. So, yeah, the content of her campaign may be weak, but I have to admire her creative delivery, message consistency, and her accurate target audience (me) analysis. If there is such a thing as The Marketing Gene, Claire has been endowed with it and is fully implementing it, in her age appropriate way.
Now it’s time to enjoy my Fake Tree and see if the codeine-derivative cough syrup prescribed by the doc is different enough from actual codeine (which I am allergic to) to stop my coughing and induce sleep. Since codeine elicits hallucinations in me, tomorrow’s blog entry may be really wild.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Huge congrats to Amy and Kate for their milestone day. Claire is inventive, if she hasn’t made her case by now, I’m sure by Christmas she will have and the Wii will be under the tree. Ahhh–the magic of chocolate!!!!!!! It ranks right up there with some really powerful medications for depression, in my mind.
In the almost 13 years of child-dom, we have yet to hear the request of any video game from Santa. Lucky for us! We have, however at last count, collected over thirty Barbie and Barbie-esque dolls. Half of the shoes and accessories have long since been vacuumed to a higher plain. Sophie is still wanting to keep the potty seat…just not use it. “I like my diapers!”, she will say with pride. She will be 3 in March…so we just need to be patient. After 13 years of buying diapers, we want to be done. Fake tree or not? We do both. It has become too much of a tradition to go hunting for just the right one. Not at all like the Griswolds. We have a Daisy in our house and we have had two before. It seemed to have come and gone to older and other interests. The activities are fun and life lasting. Two of the girls are in the neighbor’s yard building forts, tee pees, and other things. Don’t ask about the pail that they ‘pretended’ to use as a toilet. All I know is what they told me, “Well, it was a mess to clean up!” As far as numbing our senses to it all…we have found a good Merlot or Cab. Sauv. is the ticket. I usually will settle for a good ol’ cold one. The snow has been falling for 4 hours here. The barometric pressure has been in flux. This, coming from an educator, can be directly correlated to the student activity level today. So tonight, bring on the vino, close the schools, and let the Christmas Season begin!!
So, Jeff, do they still keep ASKING for the video games, even if they continuously don’t get them (and Santa doesn’t bring them)? Does the repetition of “no” resonate with them at some point? Just wondering……
Feel bette Mel.