kids — A Familiar Path

Pretty is as pretty does

February 7, 2011 by Melissa Filed Under: daily life, tess

We got up this morning and I went into the kitchen to start breakfast. A few minutes later Tess joined us. “I pitty,” she announced because it seems she had used her extra morning time to apply her mascara and she felt she had made herself pretty. I blame it on myself for letting my kids watch Toddlers and Tiaras for the first time ever last night. It was just about as disturbing as Animal Hoarders. My kids were astounded at the behavior. Either television has become all about finding the strangest people on earth and displaying their bizarre lives or everyone on earth is strange and I’m the only normal person left.

Apart from the mascara incident, Tess had a superb day. I know I complain a bit about her terrible toddlerhood, but today was the exception to the rule. She woke up happy. She stayed happy. She did not tell anyone to “stop” once and she decided she wanted to be potty trained.

Yes, she decided. I have had no interest in potty training her yet, but my mother has been talking it up to her. She came to me mid morning and said she wanted to use the potty. She did, much to my surprise, and so I dug around and found a tiny pair of panties for her. She was thrilled, and she was careful. She successfully made it to the potty 80% of the time today. I can only assume this potty training brilliance will mean she will be one of those natural readers I’ve always heard about and dreamed of rearing. One of those who will not need tedious instruction, but read naturally at the age of five. Don’t you think that’s what it means?

All I know is whatever I did last night or today to merit this kind of joyful toddler behavior, I hope to repeat again and again. Even if it means subjecting myself to more episodes of Tiny Tyrants, which would have been a more appropriate name for Toddlers and Tiaras.

I walked the dogs again today in the cold. There’s something to be said for getting out each day, even if I have to brave the weather to do it, it is almost always rewarding when I do. We have another round of cold (possibly snowy) weather this week and after that it is going to be all spring all the time. At least that’s what I’m planning.

Sunday was a decent day if you stood in the sunshine. And, no, I’m not training the puppies to be shoe chewers. Absolutely not. Where would you get such an idea?

This one’s going to have blue eyes.

Possibly accented by mascara if Tess has anything to do with it.

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Best moment of January 18, 2011

January 19, 2011 by Melissa Filed Under: clementine, daily life, emeline

I finally threw this out. The bucket of snow and the headless snowman. The first day she made him and stuck him in the freezer I didn’t know. When I opened the door and he fell out at my feet, his head rolling across the kitchen floor. I sighed, almost tossed him outside, then instead, placed him back in the freezer beside his head where he stayed for ten days milling among the biscuits and cream corn.

Yesterday I took my two oldest girls out shopping. It was a shopping trip for my soon to be 11 year old’s birthday. She wanted to choose some new clothes. As we were sitting in a restaurant eating, Clementine, my oldest and my sensitive one, kept bringing up the Blissdom trip which is next week. Each time she did I’d change the subject. The first time I said, “Do you like breakfast at Cracker Barrel?”

Soon she was at it again, “I wish you wouldn’t go.”

I said, “Do you like breakfast at McDonald’s?”

The girls looked at me quizzically and Clementine said, “You keep changing the subject.”

Later she said, “Why do you have to leave us?”

I said, “Do you like breakfast at Sonic?’

Emeline looked at me and burst into giggles, making me giggle and even Clementine, through gathering tears, began to laugh.

It’s going into my best of days, but I haven’t yet figured out how to make it one sentence.

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Sweet times like these

November 23, 2010 by Melissa Filed Under: daily life, motherhood, tess

No one believes me when I tell the stories about her. The destruction she can make in less than 3 minutes, the fits, the broken record of phrases she repeats until she gets what she wants, “Ima eat, Ima eat, Ima eat…”

That just seeing this picture of herself causes her to yell, “uh uh oh, uh uh oh, uh uh oh,” repeatedly while pointing at the screen until someone intervenes and plugs her up. (Interpretation: I want uh oh, which means paci.)

She loves to sing, but she’s shy about it, except at church. As soon as church is over she makes a quick trip to the altar and finds the nearest abandoned microphone and begins her song.

I almost don’t believe it myself, that she’s ever bad at all, when I look at these pictures. Which is why I need these reminders. Sweet times like these, playing with her on my bed, hearing her sweet voice making more words every day.

Because even though people say, “One day you’ll miss that,” about the bad times with little ones, I don’t really think I’ll miss the days when she dug her tiny finger into my lidless Carmex and left a giant finger-sized hole in it. I think I’ll miss this, the sweet times.

This post is linked up with Sweet Shot Tuesday and Tuesdays Unwrapped.