Who Put The Play Doh Away?

When no one is watching, my almost four year old has little moments of big kid responsible behaviour.

For instance yesterday, I went down to the basement to find that the Play Doh he had been playing with had been put back in the containers with the lids sealed. Today his lunch plate was put on the counter after he'd finished eating, as was his empty juice cup the other day.

I'm finding examples like this daily now, which make me think that either we have a ghost or my incessant nagging has finally kicked in.

Then there was today... I heard him coming up the stairs from the basement, muttering to himself:

"Hafta take deez off. Dey all wet"

Hmmm. "Buddy... what's wet?"

"Mine pants, Mommy"

I met him at the top of the stairs to see that he was stripped from the waist down, carrying his underwear and pants. When I asked him how he'd gotten wet, his response suggested that we still have some work to do on the big kid stuff:

"Nuffing..."

My Issue With Futility

Enough said. Do I really have to continue with the rest of the post?

Ok fine. Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Why I clean my house and expect it to stay that way must therefor be a sad sign of the state of my sanity.

Realistically, while you're dragging the vacuum cleaner across the carpet, aren't you thinking "ahh, now it's clean"? I know when I scrub the toilet, the little voice in my head is saying "take that, germs! Ha!". Every single time. And yet it never stays clean.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting that we never clean. But geez...

It could be worse. At least now my kids run for the nearest couch to get off the floor when they hear the vacuum start. My four year old son even puts the chairs up on the snack table for me.

Sometimes he does this even before I get the vacuum out. I'm not sure what he's trying to tell me...

June

June is nuts.

I'm referring to the month, not some poor crazy girl unlucky enough to be under my scrutiny. I'm talking about that month in which school ends, my husband and son were both born, and Father's Day is celebrated.

That may not sound like much to some people, but I don't do birthdays well. I tend to stress unnecessarily about them. My husband's will be easy because we won't do anything, but my son's will be this gigantic backyard barbeque bash that I'll worry and fret over, that will turn out just fine as it always does, and yet I'll worry and fret as I always do.

Father's Day will be frantic last minute calling on my part (I'm never organized enough to send cards) to my Dad, Father In Law, and Step Dad. Then there'll be some kind of present for my husband from the kids.

Then there's school. My daughter finishes Kindergarten this June. Even reading the last month's schedule makes me well up - never mind making it all happen.

"Grade 7 graduation - Kindergarten students will accompany the Grade 7 grads down the aisle in the ceremony". You're kidding me... pass the tissues now, and stock me up for later.

"Next year's Kindergarten students visit" ...as in, the little guys starting in the fall get to come and see my big girl as she's finishing her first year. I remember her being the "newbie starting in the fall" and I think I must have blinked or something (where's the darn tissue already!!).

"Last full day of school - final report cards will be given out today". What do you mean last day??? She has to say goodbye (never mind her - I have to say goodbye??).

Aw geez. I just don't think I have the stomach for this. Bring back the poopy diapers... that I can handle.

Waiting For The Other Shoe...

...to drop.

She's in her bed, after having fallen asleep early on the couch. I picked her up and carried her in there, which woke her up. I told her it was her bedtime, and she just said "OK" and snuggled down into her bed, still in her clothes, not saying a word about her missed bedtime stories. Now I can hear her talking to herself, seemingly wide awake, and yet she still hasn't called me to ask about the stories.

An explanation might be her dental surgery yesterday, which necessitated 1.25 hrs of general anaesthetic. I was NOT happy about having to do that, but that's a whole other post. Anyway, she's been, uh, "recovering" (a.k.a. acting weird) since.

Not alarmingly weird. Not call the doctor, start to panic, omg what did they do to her weird. It's all very subtle, which leads me to think that it's just her body and brain still detoxing a bit.

For example, this morning, the Queen of Dawdling was inexplicably ready for school twenty minutes early. She dressed herself in about ninety seconds flat. She then said "Mommy let's go!! I want to be first in line." To put it in perspective, we have never left early before. She's never gotten dressed without me nagging at her to hurry up. We've never left the house for school without me playing the roll of "Let's Move Or We'll Be Late" drill Sergeant.

The fact that she's at the moment wide awake and not concerned that she's not had her bedtime stories has me shaking my head... as in, Oh my GOD the universe is on it's EAR shaking my head. I'm not sure what to expect next, but I'm on the edge of my seat waiting...

Duct Tape Update

(Hey that rhymed). Wow, did that work like a charm. The only tricky part was that I had a hard time getting it to stay on her foot, which seems strange considering how sticky it is. She's been a good girl though about trying to keep it on, and I've been using really large pieces which seem to stick better.

What a difference. It's gone from gradually getting worse to being almost gone. Within a day or two of starting with the duct tape, I noticed it turning around. Wahoo...