Claire Turned Seven and Mommy Blew It

Dearest Claire,

Please pay no attention to the date on this post.  I know that your birthday was a week ago.  I'm sorry to be posting this so late.

School Picture

On Thursday, your actual natal day, I worked, and then we went out for dinner.  You chose Pizza King where they have trains to deliver your drinks - not because it's your favorite, but because you knew it would delight your brother.  That sums up the kind of kid you are nicely.  You are always thinking of other people, and rarely think of yourself first.  I think that's a really rare quality in a 6 or 7 year old!

On Friday a bunch of your friends came home from school with you, and we had cake and ice cream and watched Frozen and played video games.  You have such wonderful friends, and everyone was super good and we all had a wonderful time.

Friend Party - slightly blurry

Saturday we had your "family party," including both the family we were born with and the family we've chosen.  Then Saturday night I had a party to go to, we had a reunion in Zionsville on Sunday, we went to Grammaland Monday (it's spring break), I worked Tuesday and Thursday, we had a bunch of errands to do on Wednesday...  Which brings us to today and here I am, FINALLY getting around to your birthday post.

Family Party

Frozen has been really popular all winter, and you got two sets of the "Elsa and Anna" Barbie dolls for your birthday.  I've been SO PROUD of the way you've shared them with your sister.  You've been extremely generous and kind to her.  Again, that's just the kind of person you are.

Even though you spend so much of your time worrying about other peoples' feelings, you're not a doormat! When you play you are a real leader, often scripting the dialogue between dolls and telling the other kids what you want them to say.  It makes me wonder if you're going to be a scriptwriter, or maybe the CEO of a huge corporation when you grow up.  Because you balance being compassionate and caring with being assertive, people are always willing to go along with what you want to do. 

The First Warm Day of the Year at the Park

You have gotten really into video games this year - you and Mary Grace play Wii Infinity almost every day.  I will confess that I have no idea what it is that you do with the Infinity.  To me it looks like the characters just run around an island, climbing things and jumping down.  I must be getting old, too, because I just don't get the appeal.

You started piano lessons this year, and you really love it.  I often have to chase you away from the piano because it's time to get ready for school, but you'd rather be playing.  I hope you keep that commitment to practicing as you get farther in your learning.  I love to hear the house fill with music.

Dr. Seuss's Birthday

We're so proud of you, Claire.  You're such a fun, caring, loving person.  I can't believe you're already 7 years old.  Try not to grow up too fast, ok?

Christmastime at Grandma Susan's

Here's the checklist I started when you were a baby:

Your favorite toy for playing is: Wii Infinity, Barbies

Your favorite toy for snuggling is: Biscuit went missing this year!  :(  You most love to snuggle with Jack

Your favorite food is: "Panda Chicken" (orange chicken from Panda Express), and crepes with Nutella

Your favorite book is: You've been reading The Hobbit with Daddy.  You read a hundred books this school year!  

Your favorite activity is: Wrestle Night 

Your favorite place to go is: Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Busters

Your best friend is: Jack, Mary Grace, Jocelyn, Emma, Caitrin, Juliet, and Cameron, and UNCLE CHUCK

Something new that you're doing: playing piano

Something you've mastered: fashion - you have a strong sense of your own personal style

Something people say about you:  People are always telling us how kind you are to all the kids around you

.

Something that you're saying is:  Last year I wrote, "you're SINGING.  You are really good!  You have a natural ear for music.  I can't wait for you to start piano lessons next January.  You're going to be amazing."  I'm proud to report that you're still singing and you love playing piano, just like I knew you would!

Something Dad and I are proud of you for: your selflessness

Something surprising about you: you are very, very consistent.  Some of the answers on this checklist have been the same for years and years!  (I'm leaving this one, also, because it's still true!)

We love you, Claire Bear!

Love,

Mama

Not So Fast

While doing some online back-to-school clothes shopping, Claire informed me that she no longer likes polka dots, and that she wants to wear a lot of black because it "goes with everything."

Every single item she picked out was black or denim.

Isn't 6-1/2 a little young for a goth phase?

So if you see her walking around looking like a midget Morticia Adams, know that I tried.  But she doesn't like purple anymore.  Purple is for babies, Mom.

Also, we're growing out her bangs, and she refuses to keep any sort of barrette or bow in them for more than eleven seconds, so her hair is always in her eyes.  I get after her, constantly, to push it to the side, "you know, the way Mimi wears hers?" but it doesn't do much good.

If she gets into my eyeliner, I swear I'm sending her to boarding school.

Middle child syndrome, y'all.  It's a thing.

America's #1 Game

Mary Grace:  JACK! Jack! JACK! Jack! JACK!

Jack:  YAH YA YAH YA YAH WAhahahahhhaHAHAHAH!  Woah woah woah woah woah!!!!

Mom:  Mary Grace?  Mary Grace.  Mary GRACE!

Mary Grace:  What?

Mom:  It's time to start calming down.  Please play something quiet with your brother.

Mary Grace:  We're going to play hide and seek!!!!

Mom:  No, you're not.  Do something quiet like reading a book to him.  It's getting close to bedtime.  Hide and seek is not quiet.

Mary Grace:  But it's America's number one home game!

Mom:  Go read a book. (straight faced)

Mary Grace:  Ok.

Mom:  (dies laughing)

***

In other news, Claire lost a tooth at school today, and her teacher suspects that she swallowed it.  Mrs. O made her a paper tooth to put under her pillow, but she got it wet on the way home and came in sobbing.  Luckily I heard her before she hit the door, so I had time to stick a Magical Golden Dollar Coin (tm) in my pocket.

I used a little sleight of hand, and now she totally believes that the Tooth Fairy came and put magic in Mommy while she was at school, probably during rest time, and that Mommy used that magic to find a coin in her mouth when she got home from school.

Phew!

***

PS - they're still not quiet and no one is reading anyone any books.  Mary Grace is teaching Claire how to play the piano (Mary Grace's first lesson was today) and BJ is swinging Jack upside down and throwing him at the couch.

First Day Of School

The kids woke me up at 6:45 this morning.  They might be a little excited.

I made them a hot breakfast (pancakes and bacon), got MG showered (Claire had a bath last night), got everyone's hair brushed, remembered to send all the things (lunch, smock, backpacks, etc.).

 They were outside in plenty of time for the bus.

And for just a couple pictures...  :)

We arrived at school at the same time they did, and met them outside their classes.  We wanted them to practice their routines.

Everything went perfectly.  They were confident and excited and ready to rock.  I managed not to cry until we got outside.

I can't wait to hear about all of their adventures.

Claire's Birthday - Five!

Pre-school picture - 2011

Dear Claire,


I'm not sure how it's possible that five years have passed since you were born.  I can't believe that you're going to be going to Kindergarten this year, and that you're so grown up already.  Where has the time gone?


I just went back and read your checklist from last year, and it's surprising how many things have stayed the same!  I promise that Dad and I didn't read it before filling out this year.  We copied and pasted your 3 year old list, because it came up first when I Googled.  I think that says a lot about you as a person - you're very consistent.  I'd guess that you'll still like spicy food and wrestling when you're a grown up.  You'll probably still love dresses and hate jeans (although you've lightened up on that rule quite a bit this year, and I appreciate it!).  


Something funny that I hadn't realized until re-reading those old checklists - when I was pregnant with Jack, we used to play "Ninja Baby" with one of your dolls (and that was still your favorite toy after he was born).  Now that he's getting bigger, one of his tricks is to do "Fruit Ninja," where he waves his hands around in the air like he's playing the video game.  I wonder if that started in utero?  You LOVE it when you can get him to perform, so you'll say, "Fruit ninja!" to him, or you'll say, "Jack, are you going to sleep tonight?" to try to get him to shake his head "no" and make everyone laugh.  You're such a terrific big sister.  You love your real "Ninja Baby" almost as much as you used to love the pretend one.  Maybe more!


At bedtime now, instead of playing Ninja Baby, we like to "talk to Biscuit."  I'll put on a silly low voice and pretend to be your stuffed cat, Biscuit.  I love making you laugh when we do this.  You have such a wonderful giggle.  It's gotten to be our little bedtime tradition.  


You're caught in between wanting to be a big girl like your sister and wanting to stay a baby.  You're excited to go to Kindergarten this year (I can't believe it...) but you don't want to leave your preschool behind.  It seems like you feel pulled in both directions, and that it's hard for you, sometimes, to figure out how you fit in.  I hope that this year Dad and I can help guide you to just be where you are, and to learn that you don't have to be big like Mary Grace or little like Jack - that we love you just as you are, and where you are, and when you are.  


Your favorite toy for playing is: Star Wars figurines and Peter Pan Polly Pocket-sized "guys" 


Your favorite toy for snuggling is: Biscuit


Your favorite food is: "Panda Chicken" (orange chicken from Panda Express)


Your favorite book is: Do You Do a Didgeridoo  


Your favorite activity is: Wrestle Night 


Your favorite place to go is: Chuck E. Cheese


Your best friend is: Mary Grace (and Cameron W., Juliet S., Caitrin D., Sarah P., Hudson M., Jack D.,  Sutton C., ... You have a TON of friends!)


Something new that you're doing: your drawing has really improved a lot this year, you're starting to draw recognizable things rather than scribbling!


Something you've mastered: sleeping through the night - please teach your siblings!!


Something people say about you:  Mrs. D at school told me the other day that you have prayed for Jack at preschool every single day since school started.  When he's sick you pray for him to get better.  When he's healthy you thank God for him.  I think it's wonderful that you love your little brother so much.


Something that you're saying is:  "Lovin' it!"  When I played the Adele CD for the first time, you would listen to each song for a few seconds and then say, "Lovin' it!"


Something Dad and I are proud of you for: that you love school so much and love learning.  You are always full of questions and we just love your inquisitive mind and how you soak everything up like a sponge.


Something surprising about you: You're absolutely fearless.  I don't think anyone would expect someone so young and so little to be as brave as you are.  Also, you're exceptionally good at using iPhones and iPads.  Technology seems to come very naturally to you!  I can't imagine where you get that...


Love you bunches, 
Mommy

Five

Tonight as I was putting the kids to bed, I said, "Next time I see you, you'll be a five year old!" to Claire.

I think that must have freaked her out.

She came down crying about half an hour ago, and said, "I just wanted to see you one more time when I'm four!"  (Boo hoo hoo, hug, etc.)

She came down again just now and said, "Do I even LOOK like a five year old?"

I told her she's going to be a great five year old, that she'll be the best five year old she can be, but right now she needs to go be great at going to sleep.

Mary Grace has always been really excited to get older - she's "almost" the next year older starting about 4 months before her birthday.  But Claire really really wants to stay little.  Is this a middle child thing?

Full Moon

If my Facebook friends are any indication, there really IS something to the whole, "a full moon makes everybody lose their minds," thing.

Claire had a really hard day.  It started at the park (yes, MEAN Mommy took them to the park!  With our friends M&M!  And I stopped to get the neighbor kids, N&S, too, to give their pregnant mom a break.  Gosh, I'm mean...)  I wouldn't put her in the baby swing, because she's almost five, for God's sake, and she lost. her. mind.

She cried so long and so loud that a little old lady stopped and asked her if she was lost.  I was literally 6 feet away, pushing Jack on the swing and selectively ignoring her temper tantrum.

To that I said, "You're scaring strangers now, Claire, you really have to knock it off."

The compassion drips from me.  I'm like Mother Teresa.

And, for the annals of Great Moments in Parenting, this was the second time in as many days that a stranger had approached my kids because they looked lost and/or abandoned.  I was letting Jack cruise around the playground at the school yesterday when we dropped MG off for Daisies (I honestly don't know how they can stand me, I am so horrible and rotten... taking them to playgrounds, on the way to fun activities?  How do they put up with it??)  Anyway, he was like 12 feet away, it's not like there were any cars around, or like he moves fast.  I was staying close to the dog so she wouldn't jump on any of the kids coming out of the school, and this little boy asked Jack if he was lost.  It was kind of sweet, if you ignore the part where I'm apparently so neglectful that it's obvious to 3rd graders...

Biscuit* has been charged as an accessory.
He was also sent to bed early.

ANYWAY, so we came home, and they went outside to play with their little neighbor friends, and I made Koolaid for everyone and let them finish half a bag of pretzels between the four of them (mean, mean, meanie mean meanyhead).  Mary Grace told Claire that she didn't want to do something, it's still not clear what, and Claire bashed her upside the head with Biscuit the stuffed cat.  He's one of those really large Beanie Babies, not just stuffing, so he packs a wallop.

Mary Grace started screaming, then Claire started screaming, and then I sent Claire to her room, where she proceeded to scream and cry for two hours.  Basically she cried constantly from 2:30 until 5:30.

I managed to stay calm and ignore her and speak clearly and calmly to her, until she peed her pants, just moments before BJ walked in, and I just couldn't take it anymore.

I won't go into great detail, but I got very loud and nasty (mainly with BJ, who had the great misfortune to come home in a calm, rational, good mood and therefore immediately became the enemy).  I summarily cleaned her up, made her a peanut butter sandwich, and sent her to bed without a hug or a kiss at 6 pm.

Oh, stop it.  A few minutes later when I had calmed down I went upstairs and we talked about why her behavior was unacceptable, and how when she behaves like that (especially when I'm trying my best to make a nice day for her and she's being an ungrateful little.....) it hurts my feelings and makes me angry, and blah blah blah and I read her a book and held her until she fell asleep at 6:30 (see?  She really did need a nap).

Does the full moon affect you or your kids?  Did you have a bad day today too?  Commiserate in the comments.



* Our Biscuit is more gray than orange, after having been literally dragged all over for the last couple of years.  He also has a scar on his back where I had to stitch him up after Penny got a hold of him about 6 months ago.  In other words, we'd better not lose that little bastard because he's identifiable, and I wouldn't be able to pass off some new Biscuit that I bought on Ebay as the real Biscuit in a million years.

Not Quite Enough

Yesterday when I picked Claire up from school she felt warm, looked pale, and seemed kind of puny.  Rather than get her things together to leave, she just wanted to snuggle and hide her face in my armpit.  I was shocked when I got home and took her temperature (twice!) and it was normal.  (I think my thermometer might be broken.  Actually, I am developing a strong distrust for thermometers in general, because none of mine seem to work - whether they're for people or for meat or for the crock pot.  What's up with that?)

She went down to Grandpa's with cookies and stopped briefly at home before going with her sister to play at the neighbor's.  She acted fine.  I figured that maybe she had just been too hot.  Maybe they had just come in from the playground and she left her coat on too long and that was why she felt warm.  Maybe it was just a fluke.

Then I picked her up today at 11:40ish, and the teacher said, "We took her temperature at 11:10 and it was 101, but we knew you were already on your way to get Mary Grace so we didn't call you."  I told them I'd keep her home tomorrow, just to be sure she's ok.  I felt guilty for sending her to school (and grandpa's, and the neighbor's!) sick, but she hadn't acted sick at all, except for a few moments when I picked her up yesterday.

I brought her home, made her soup and hot tea, changed her into her pajamas, and she has been driving everyone insane ever since.

She's just sick enough that she can't go to school tomorrow, but she's not sick enough to stop fighting with her sister.  She's sick enough to be whiny and screamy, but not sick enough to hush up already and go to sleep before she drives us all crazy.

Mary Grace just said, and I quote, "Claire, you need a nap!"

I think it's better to get sick all at once and, most importantly, to have to go to bed, rather than drawing it out into several days-worth of being sort of well but not quite, but too sick to go anywhere or do anything.  I would gladly sit on the couch and snuggle and read books and rub her back, if she would just sit still and quit whining.

Of course, now that I've had the audacity to write down, "I wish my kid would get just a little bit sicker," she's going to start projectile vomiting or get chicken pox or something really impressive.  And then the other two will start, too, and by this time next week I'll be up to my elbows in vomit and/or calamine lotion, wanting to come back in time to this very moment and hit myself over the head with something large and heavy.

I should probably go bash myself in the head, on behalf of my future self, just to be safe.

Why I Don't Watch Daytime TV

I turned on Dr. Phil yesterday while Mary Grace was at school and I was home with Jack and Claire.  I don't know why.  I almost never watch television.  I wasn't even really paying attention to it, and I couldn't tell you what the topic was.  I just wanted some noise, I guess.

Anyway, so Dr. Phil throws to a commercial for this:

...and Claire, who was sitting at the kitchen table coloring and wasn't even supposed to be paying attention said, "You should get some of that Mommy."

"What?"  I asked.

"For your eyes," she said, as she pointed to the area below her own eyes.  Where the bags under my eyes have grown their own bags.

"No," I said, (I did not say, "No, smartass," though I wanted to) "I need your brother and your sister to sleep."

This, my friends, is why I almost never turn on daytime TV.

Claire's Belated First Day of School

Claire's first day of preschool happened almost a week ago, but we also got a puppy, and frankly it has been easier to snap a cute pic here and there with my iPhone and upload it this week than it has been to sit down and upload all the photos to the computer, then to Picasa Web Albums, and then to the blog.

My life is SOOOOO difficult. 

For the moment, though, Jack is painting himself with the residue of failure cheese curls and I've reached a fragile truce with Cujo Penny in between puppy spaz attacks, so here we go...

But hold on - it seems that at this very moment the universe is punishing me for being a negligent parent by causing my camera to lose its mind.  I just closed a dialogue box that said "catastrophic failure."  Um.... shi....


Dear Sony, 


I strongly dislike your PMB software, and I also strongly dislike the way the automatic archival works.  I do not need folders called "7-31-11 - 8-15-11" in my life.  They stress me out.


That is all,
Amy

The pictures are still on the camera, I just can't get them into the computer...

And now Jack has lost interest in the cheese curls.  He just unplugged the camera's USB from the computer.  Awesome.

DO NOT EAT THAT, JACK!

Ok.  Toys.  And they uploaded.  Finally.  Good.  Here we go.

Claire's First Day of Preschool, a Sarcastic Retrospective

Obviously terrified, Claire begins the long, stressful journey to her classroom.

Notice how she clings to her mother, crying, "Please don't leave me!"  

I had to drag her by her feet through the door, kicking and screaming.

Claire is very wary of Mrs. P, who incidentally doesn't look happy to be there at all.

Claire has little interest in any of the toys in her new classroom.

Hostile natives arrive to investigate Claire's presence in the room.  

Claire adopts a defensive posture and fends off an attack.

"Oh get out of here, Mom, you big dope, I'm fine.  Why are you crying?  

Don't you have to go to work or something?  Sheesh.  Get lost!"

One of the hardest things about being a mother is that if you're doing it right, your kids will break your heart a thousand times by not needing you the way your ego wants them to need you.  And you'll end up crying in your nearly-empty minivan and singing "Sunrise, Sunset."  It's really undignified.  

I Dressed Myself

I think I need to have buttons printed that say, "I dressed myself!"

Natural Consequences

BJ and I were in the family room watching Season of the Witch with Nicolas Cage (which is supposedly set during the crusades but Nick Cage and the other guy talk to each other like they're in a buddy-cop movie, and it's not altogether that believable).  We had just gotten to the climax of the film, where the devil shows up, and we heard some noise behind us.

"Is that a kid?" I said to BJ as he paused the movie, and we both got up to look around. 

The baby was still asleep, there was no one in the downstairs bathroom or in either of the downstairs bedrooms.

BJ bravely went upstairs (there's no way I would have gone upstairs alone - haha!) where he found Claire.  "That's a really scary movie, Daddy," she said.

He came down to tell me that it was her (we heard her footsteps as she ran back upstairs to bed), and that she's scared, and he's going to stay with her until she's asleep.  I went up and said, "You know the scary part in Sleeping Beauty, where the witch shows up?  This movie is just like that.  And just like that movie, it's just pretend.  You know, the nice thing about movies, don't you?  The good guys always win.  You don't have to worry.  You're safe here, in our house, with Mommy and Daddy.  Nothing bad is going to happen here.  It's just make-believe."  Then I gave her a kiss and said goodnight, and I came downstairs to listen in case Jack wakes up.  BJ is up there with her now.

Poor kid.  I guess sometimes sneaking downstairs is its own punishment.

And sometimes Nicolas Cage movies are their own punishment, too.  Please leave a comment and tell me what movies you've liked lately - I keep picking bad ones.

Parking Lots

For some reason, Claire has decided all of a sudden that she's plenty big enough to take off away from me in parking lots.

It started when we moved one of the booster seats behind the driver's side, instead of having both girls in the back. Suddenly they're exiting the car on both sides, and it's a serious problem.

Today we went to Chico's and when we got 15 feet from the car Claire took off running for it. I was holding Jack in one hand, Mary Grace's hand in the other, and Claire was holding MG's other hand. I couldn't stop her, and when I screamed at her to stop she just kept right on going. I scolded the heck out of her.

We arrived at the grocery store less than 5 minutes later and my dad was there. Claire had gotten out and took off running for Grandpa (crossing one lane of the parking lot without looking in either direction - thank God no one was coming). That time she got a swat on the butt and a stern lecture about parking lots, cars, etc.

When we left the store, the little **** did it AGAIN! This time left me sobbing. "You just DON'T understand how DANGEROUS it is! You're so little and cars are so big, and you could die, or you could get hurt and never be the same again! I don't know what I have to say to get through to you!!!"

I've thought about making her look at pictures or video online of kids who have been hit by cars, but that seems morbid and while I do want to scare her, I don't want to scar her. I've also thought about taking a kid sized toy (maybe building a kid her size out of Legos) into the cul-de-sac and running it down with my car.

This plan seems just a hair more insane than I want to be.

What do I do? Mary Grace NEVER did this. Even now, if we're crossing a street or parking lot and she's not holding my hand, she'll grab hold of my pocket. She's been good about this since she was 18 months old. Claire is four. WTH?

I put both the boosters back in the back - so both girls will have to get out on the passenger side now.  I also used the child locks on both doors so that they have to be opened from the outside.  But that's not going to stop her from taking off running.  Maybe I'll just have to grab her by the scuff of her neck from now on.  I have no idea.

My groceries are melting.  Suggestions welcome, comments encouraged.  I need a beer.


PS - never Google Image Search "road rash."  

Happy Birthday Claire!

Dear Claire,

Tonight at 11:09 pm you will turn four.  That seemed a little late for a birthday party, especially on a Sunday night, so we opted to have your birthday party a bit early.  We're going to take a couple of your friends to the movie theater to see Gnomeo and Juliet, then we'll have cupcakes and ice cream in the party room.  You are SO excited.  You and Mary Grace like to plan your birthdays all year long, so it's a bit like Christmas morning.  There's a pile of presents on the table just waiting for you to get up.  I'm sorry that Daylight Saving Time fell on your birthday and you only get 23 hours instead of 24.

You've grown so much in the last year!  You started the 2 day preschool program, rather than just going to the "drop off" program when Mary Grace is in school, and you absolutely love it.  I think you'd go to school twice a day if you had your way.  You tend to hang out with the boys more than the girls (at least, I hear about the boys more).  The other day, your classmate Josh's nanny told me that they'd been talking and he said, "You know what?  Claire is so smart."  It's true - you're a very smart girl.

You love music and you love singing.  We made up a little song for you to learn to spell your name.  "C-L-A, I-R-E, that spells me, I am Claire."  I think you'll be an auditory learner like I am.  You love Ben Folds and the music from Glee.  We went to a party last summer and the big kids were playing Rock Band.  You got a hold of the microphone and did a rousing rendition of "Mr. Crowley" by Ozzy Osbourne.  It was hilarious.  You're quite a little ham.

You just woke up, so it's time to get this party on the road!  You and Daddy are going out for breakfast, and he's going to let you get pie even though it's before lunch, because birthdays are for breaking the rules.

Your favorite toy for playing is: Polly Pockets

Your favorite toy for snuggling is: "Ninja Baby"

Your favorite food is: brownies

Your favorite book is: Do You Do A Didgeriedoo and the ABC Leapfrog book

Your favorite activity is: Wrestle Night (which is always said with lots of exclamation points)

Your favorite place to go is: Chuck E. Cheese

Your best friend is: Mary Grace (close second, Shayne)

Something new that you're doing:  Beginning to read letters and learn their sounds

Something you've mastered:  riding your bike with training wheels

Something people say about you:  "I love her hair cut!"

Something that you're saying is:  "I'm still your baby, too, right Mommy?"  When you and Mary Grace are playing, and you need to do something else for a minute, you say, "Pause the game!" even if you're just playing with toys and not a video game.

Something Dad and I are proud of you for:  you are so sweet with your baby brother

Something surprising about you:  you love to wear dresses and "soft pants," and you hate to wear jeans



Love,
Mommy

Frightful Weather!

My bonus mom, my siblings, and their significant others were supposed to come down from Grammaland today, but couldn't because of the weather. 

Claire is all worried because she thinks they can't come down because of a lizard.  Hahaha!

MG seems to be coming down sick, so it's probably for the best.

Nothing goes according to plan.

Explain this 3-Year-Old Behavior

11:15 am - Mommy, I want some soup.
(You can have some for lunch in a little bit.)
11:16 am - I want soup.
11:17 am - SOOOOOOOUUUPP!
11:18 am - Mommy, I want some soup right NOW.
11:20 am - (crying) Please can I have soup.
11:21 am - (screaming) AAAAAAAAAHHHH!  WANT SOUP!!!
etc.
11:59 am - (fainting with hunger and frustration, whispers) sssssoooooouuupppp....
12:00 pm - Here's your soup, Claire.

Amount of soup eaten?  One bite.  Seriously.

And she did the same thing with cookies (COOKIES!) this afternoon.

What.  The.  Hell?  Seriously!

A Bad Thing?

Claire had a cough this morning and no appetite.  We took her temperature as a precaution, but it was normal, so we took her to preschool.  I mentioned to one of her teachers that she had a cough, but no fever.  She said it was going around, and I agreed.  After all, you can't keep them home for every little sniffle.

Two and a half hours later I'm standing in front of the school, finishing up a call with my mom, when another mom comes out of the school, "Your little girl has a fever," she says.  I hang up with my mom and open the school door to find Claire in the arms of the school's director, sobbing.  Claire was sobbing, that is.  The director was fine.  "We would've called you, but we just took her temp 10 minutes ago, and we knew you were on your way.  It's 102," she said, "She says her tummy hurts."

I felt like the worst mom!  They dismissed Mary Grace from her class and I hustled everyone home.  Claire spit up, and I'm still not sure if it was vomit or just snot.  She had this wet, rattling cough.  She cried a lot until I got some Tylenol into her.  Once the fever came down she perked up quite a bit.  She even ate some noodles and drank some tea.

So I called the doctor's office to get the dose for Children's Dimetapp (because EVERYTHING says "under 6 years - do not use!" now, which is SO ANNOYING).  The doctor's office recommended that I use Children's Robitussin instead.  I had adult Robitussin DM, but not Children's Robitussin without letters, so I sent BJ to the store (hooray for Daddy's office being 10 minutes from home!).  Turns out that both are 100 mg per teaspoon of Guaifensin.  *sigh*  The DM means it also has some other unspellable stuff in it - dextromethospanaquawarble...  maybe that's what's bad for little kids.

The nurse told me to only give her 1/4 - 1/2 tsp, and to beware - it would knock her out.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I said. 

I'm going to start writing my speech for Mother of the Year now.

Claire's First Day of School

It's nice that Mary Grace started on Tuesday and Claire started today, because that meant that everyone had her own special first day of school.

The sun was as bright as our smiles.

Claire was so excited to have her very own cubby for her "pack pack."

Big Sis was on hand to show her the ropes.

Bye Daddy!

Bye Mommy! Get lost, I have a lot to do! No tears here!

After school we went to Noodles for lunch with Grandpa Ben. The kids sang "Sticky Sticky Bubblegum" for us.  Claire showed us the worksheet the kids did about their first day of school, that showed different emotions they might be feeling (sad, scared, etc.).  I asked Claire which face was like hers.

"Happy!" she replied.

Claire - Master of Psychology

At the ripe old age of 3-1/2, Claire has mastered the psychology.

"Mary Grace, don't you want it to be my turn?"

"Mommy, don't you want me to have more cake?"


It would be maddening, if she weren't so cute.


So, has she actually mastered psychology, or is she a Jedi...?  You be the judge:

It's really no surprise when you consider who she's been hanging out with...

Follow Up: How do you handle gifts?

Well, after all of your excellent advice, here's what we did... 

We let Claire buy herself a Jessie doll with her own money.

Both of the kids have piggy banks, and somehow they accumulate money - they'll get a $5 from a grandparent for Valentine's day or a $20 from another one for a birthday, or I'll have too much change in my purse so I'll dump it in their piggy banks.  It's not like they have many incidental expenses.  Sometimes when I know we're going shopping for stuff that will bore them (like maternity clothes) I'll let them take a purse and a little bit of their money (and sunglasses and lip gloss, of course) so they can be Big Girls with their own money... but that's really the only time they have an opportunity to spend it, and that only happens once in a great while.  Generally they spend their pocket money on Polly Pockets dolls and small things like that.

Last Christmas, Claire got a FurReal cat that MG loved and coveted, so we let MG go to Walmart with some of her Christmas money from her Great-Grandma Gleason and get one for herself.  I figured this was the same sort of situation.  I may not always make the best decisions as a mother, but I try to be consistent.

So Grandpa Bob went to Indy and bought another Jessie doll, and brought it back, and Claire bought it from him.  (The ones available at our local Walmart had plastic hair, and we wanted the one with yarn hair).

Grandpa Bob may or may not have stuck that money right back in her piggy bank, but if he did, Claire didn't see him.

I'd like to say that peace has reigned in our house since then, but unfortunately that hasn't happened.  Claire is still finding things to fight over, but this attitude of hers started before the birthday festivities began.  Something else is going on with her.  I'd check to see if she has molars coming in, but I'm afraid I would lose a finger.  If she doesn't knock it off, I'm going to make her a doctor's appointment, because she's just been acting a little bit too strangely.

I mentioned on Facebook that we had to leave Wolf Park on Sunday because she was acting like such a colossal brat.  She was terrible at the zoo on Monday, too, but I just ignored her.  She did fairly well on MG's birthday, until we opened presents.  She's just got a hair trigger when it comes to crying and throwing tantrums, lately, and I can NOT figure out what has changed.  She's getting the same amount of sleep.  Her eating habits haven't changed.  She isn't much more or less active.  I haven't changed the way we discipline her (time outs) at all.  There have been moments when she has played SO nicely with MG, and then for no reason that anyone can figure out, she loses her little mind and starts hollering about something.

If anyone has any guesses, besides teething, I'd love to hear them.  She hasn't complained of being in any pain.  Do kids even get molars at 3-1/2?  I can't remember.