Toddler's Day Out

While tucking Madeline into bed, I asked her what was her favorite thing about today. For the record, it was a great, big, wonderful day to be a two-year-old in Krinkeland. It's Pi Day, and also National Potato Chip Day, I understand. But Maddy didn't have time for those official "celebrations." She was too busy being a kid, and, with the great weather, we managed to cram it all in today... so Maddy listed it all tonight:

swimming in my pool
sitting in hot tub
Grandma
Grandpa
McDahwold's
ice cream
see Bebe 'Lias
bikes
pay outside with Lucy
ohnge duice
swings
tetchup

Spring in My Step

I know all of you who live in this area agree with me, but I feel I need to say it, just to document: This weather is awesome! How can you not feel good when, in the second week of March, it's 65 degrees and sunny outside?!

Combine the warm temps with the extra daylight from daylight savings time, and life is good! It's amazing how much my mood was lifted when I got to drive Elisabeth to dance class under full sun this evening, compared to pitch darkness last week. The kids have been outside every chance they get-- riding bikes, shooting hoops, flying kites, blowing bubbles, playing on the swing set. At the grocery store, Amanda asked if we could buy seed packets. A little premature...

I keep thinking, even if the temperatures dip and more snow falls, it will never get cold enough to really feel like winter. Even before the calendar says it, spring is here! After we picked up Libby from dance, we drove by Dairy Queen, and the drive-thru had a line down the block. Now that's a sure sign of spring!

Ruff Crowd

OK, I have so much to tell you... But there's no time, because all of us in Krinkeland-- whether we want to or not-- are moving full-steam-ahead toward opening night of the Saints on Stage production of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast Junior." Not only do I not have much access to a computer these days (see previous post) but I am so exhausted I am hardly functioning... and I think most people would say I am the member of this household who is least taxed, at this point.

But, I just have to relay this cute story from life because by next week I'll forget!

Amanda has gotten this bright idea that she wants to look into becoming a junior dog handler. We were talking to a dog breeder, who also happens to be a fifth grade math teacher (so she and Amanda were on the same brain wavelength) and Amanda decided this would be something interesting to explore. So, she has been doing some reading and considering the possibilities. She tried to convince her sister it was a great idea, but didn't get very far:

Elisabeth: "That's a terrible idea."
Amanda: "No it's not. You get to learn all about the dogs and work with the dogs, train the dogs. You get dressed up and you go to dog shows and you can win ribbons."
Elisabeth: "I don't get it."
Amanda: "Yes, you do. It's like pageants for dogs."
Elisabeth: "It would never work."
Amanda: "Why not?"
Elisabeth: "Where would you get the special outfits? And how would you get the dogs to wear them? That's like torture. Dogs never like to wear clothes."
Amanda: "The dogs don't wear clothes. Dog shows are just regular, naked-fur shows."
Elisabeth: "Oh. I knew that."

Until Closing Night

Don't expect much news out of Krinkeland until after March 11. All the computers in this house have been confiscated by a man posing as a lighting designer, for use in what he claims will be an enchanting production of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast Junior." I don't care what he does with all this equipment, as long as he gets it off my kitchen table.

Substitute Attachment

Amanda's teacher got called to jury duty, so the class has a substitute teacher. Coincidentally-- or not, since it's a parochial school in a small town-- this is the same sub who is slated to come and teach Elisabeth's class when her teacher goes on maternity leave later this month. The girls both adore their regular teachers, but, tonight, while I was putting them to bed, they were discussing this beloved sub:

Amanda: "I can't wait for Mrs. B. to come back, but I also love Mrs. E. She is so nice. But Mrs. B. is our regular teacher and you tend to attach to your regular teacher."
Libby: "Yeah, but Mrs. E. is so nice, I think she will be easy to attach to."
Amanda: "Oh, she is nice, and she is so easy to attach to. She already knows all of our names. The first day, and she looks at all of us and calls us by our names."
Libby: "Attached."

My Kids-- Cute? Really?! Well, If You Insist...

I was just pulling off some photos from the old SD card, organizing them on the computer and thinking, "I really do have cute kids."

Those Names Are for the Dogs!

I am NOT saying we're getting a dog... certainly not this week! But, we were all having a hypothetical discussion about what we would name a hypothetical Krinkeland canine. It turns out we could never get a dog, because we'd never agree on a moniker:

AMANDA
Charlie
Fred
Turtle
Parrot
Shrek

ELISABETH
Fluffy
Lefou
Whizzer

MOM
Lincoln
Reagan
Wilson
Nathan Detroit
Sutton
Foster
Gaston

DAD
Eisenhower II

Showered with Love

Some of the mothers of the second graders gathered at school this afternoon to throw a surprise baby shower for Elisabeth's teacher and her class. What a fun, little way to wrap up the week! I think her teacher was pleased; I know the kids were-- they were bouncing off the walls.

It was a very short, simple event: We had each student personalize a bib for the baby, gave her a group gift and had the most beautiful cake. We also had all the children sit down and offer advice to their teacher, things they know about babies that maybe she does not yet. A little girl offered, "It might take like a week or two or three days for the baby to be born, so you should just be patient." One boy offered his baby brother peed in the tub... and then his mom washed the baby's hair with that water! Another boy said, "Never take a baby anywhere!" Numerous children suggested pacifiers as a way to quiet the baby-- all the time. They also relished the opportunity to use words like "barf" and "fart" in the classroom.

Our most loving wishes to this young family, with prayers for calm minds and hearts at this time, a textbook delivery, a healthy mom and a healthy baby.

p.s. Libby's bib reads, "Joyful Times!"

What You Ask For, What You Get

While getting out the Easter decorations, (a favorite activity for the children, not so much for me,) I was thinking about how quickly time passes ("seems like we just put away the Lenten cross") and how much the kids have changed from last year (Benjamin is now the one sorting plastic eggs, not Elisabeth; Amanda is setting out all the decorations, with her own eye for design; Madeline is speaking clearly about "baskets" and "bunnies".)

I started thinking about those developmental milestones in children, and how all parents know certain benchmarks... because we read about them in the parenting books. My brother and SIL have started asking things of 13-month-old Lucia, and she has begun to respond-- correctly. They say things like, "Where's the cow?" or "Bring me your cup." Sometimes Lucia even does as they say. Then, I started thinking about how two-and-a-half-year-old Madeline has mastered multi-step commands: "Pick up Libby's glasses, take them downstairs, hand them to her, and tell her the next time she forgets them she has to pay a dollar." But those are all objects she knows, and that exchange is part of our usual household routine, so it would be very familiar to Maddy.

Just for fun... and because the rabbit-and-frog toy wouldn't sing "At the Hop"... and truly because I was too exhausted to lift my rear from the couch cushion, I issued a challenge, telling Madeline: "Go find me three AA batteries and a small, Phillips screwdriver and we'll fix this bunny." Now, I knew full well that she didn't know a AA battery from a D battery, nor a Phillips screwdriver from a woolly mammoth. To my surprise, Madeline took off for the part of the house in which the battery box actually resides. After some time, she returned, with: nine AAA batteries; a beaded bracelet; a small, plastic bucket; and a large, stuffed duck; and without her clothing. I'm not sure where that puts her along the developmental continuum, but, in Krinkeland terms, she's just as weird as the rest of 'em.

The Brother Trainer

Madeline is still not potty trained-- not even close. I know it is all my fault-- I just don't have the patience or persistence for the job. Plus, I figure that, sooner or later, something is going to click and she will just get it. (I base this on the experiences I had with all the other children. It is true, however, that Amanda was three years, two months old when I finally locked her in the bathroom and told her we were not leaving until she went.)

Right now, Madeline is in the lots-of-talk-but-no-action stage. She discusses going in the potty chair all the time. She talks about wearing underpants and going to Chuck E. Cheese, Grandma and Grandpa P.'s reward for being trained. We have to visit every toilet we see; she is especially fond of the potties at Target and the girls' school. But, she sits and she sits, and nothing happens.

Luckily for Maddy, she has a new coach in her corner: Benjamin has appointed himself the Toilet Trainer. He sits in the bathroom with that girl for long stretches of time, keeping her company, reading her stories and giving her tips. He uses terminology like: "let the gate open," "make a turd as big as a bear" and "don't flush when the toilet is going 'hhhshshshmmm.'" Ben also frequently demonstrates going, hoping to inspire his younger sister, so I figure when Maddy does finally decide to go, she will do it standing up.

Ben and His Block Buddy

While working on the computer, I could hear Benjamin playing by himself in the toy room. He was singing a song that sounded like, "I have 13 heads... I have 13 heads..."

What?!

Oh, I get it now.

There's no better playmate than a Lego guy.

Snow What?

After spending much of the day at home, I packed up the kids for a late-afternoon errand. When we got to the store, the weather was balmy enough that Benjamin was swinging his jacket above his head. When we were ready to leave, it was snowing so hard we couldn't see across the parking lot!

As we stood in the entryway, bundling up, an older man turned to the kids and fake-scolded, "SNOW! Did YOU order this?!" The kids, in unison, giggled and said, "YES!" It has been such a crazy winter-- Elisabeth commented, "Well, we didn't get a white Christmas, but maybe a white Ash Wednesday."

Of course, to go along with the new snow, all the drivers on the road forgot how to drive. So, it took an hour to get home and I wished we'd never left. The one bonus was I discovered my new car has heated side-view mirrors. Nice.

Anticipating the "Abbey"

I have my nighttime plans set: I'm going to watch the Season Two Season Finale of "Downton Abbey" on PBS. OK, it's already on... so I'm really going to watch the recorded version-- just have to wait till all the kiddos (and hopefully the hubby) are in bed so I can watch it uninterrupted.

Have you seen this show? If not, why the heck not?! It is sooo good. And, this is coming from a woman who thinks-- and even says-- ridiculous things such as, "Ugh. I hate all that historical crap. It's so boring!"

The family home for the Earl of Grantham is Downton Abbey. That's where the show takes place, in rural England, in the early 1900s. The premise is that the Titanic has just gone down, taking with it the earl's only two known male heirs. So, what is to come of the property and the earl's family? The first season took us up to the beginning of World War I.

In the second season, the war continues... and then ends... all while many other "battles" are brewing for the aristocratic family and also amidst the separate side stories of the servants of Downton Abbey. It's a really cool show. My friend Alicia got me hooked during a visit this summer. I, in turn, have hooked many others. Meantime, my SIL and MIL and her husband were all already hooked in their own right.

So, I can't wait to find out what happens tonight. And then, I will have to wait for the next season. Until then, I'll just have to keep busy with my "Downton Abbey" paper dolls, discovered by another hook-ee, my friend Beth.

Gold Digger (Not Equal to) Nose Miner

Amanda: "Mom, when I grow up, I'm going to marry a really smart nerd."
Mom: "Oh?"
Amanda: "Yeah, 'cuz they're the ones who make all the money."
Mom: "Mmmm."
Amanda: "I mean, look at Dad-- he made enough money for us to live in this big house, and we even got to take a trip to Disney World. Disney World, Mom."
Mom: "Well, Amanda, I think you are too young to be concerned with who you are going to marry. More importantly, those are not the criteria for making such an important decision. I did not choose your daddy because of his intelligence or his earning potential. You don't marry for money."
Amanda: "Oh, I know. That's called being a 'gold digger.'"
Mom: "Uh..."
Amanda: "When I first heard that word-- gold digger-- I thought it meant someone who picked his nose. But, then, I heard people talking about it on TV and I figured it out."