Egocentrism

The Situation:

You walk into preschool.  

The teacher announces, "Be sure your toddler makes a stop at the table in the art room today! We have paper and crayons set out so that they can draw a nice picture for a Mother's Day project we're putting together."

You follow your child back to the art room and glance at the layout.  There's a tub of crayons and a whole bunch of paper.  The table is full.  Moms and kids are working hard on their drawings. 

If you look to a table on the right, you see an example of the finished product.  A "Happy Mother's Day 2008!" placemat.  A nice close-up of your child along side the picture that he/she drew.  It's one of those keepsake things that you would put away along side your kids baby book, their list of first words and the bracelet they wore in the hospital when you popped them out.

The Question:

Do you try to draw your toddlers attention to the art table and get them to scribble out a nice picture?

My Answer:

I asked Katie if she wanted to color and she said, "No."  So, I let her run off to the kitchen area to try to eat plastic fruit.  I was a little disappointed, but then I saw something that made me think again.

One of the other Mom's was sitting at the art table with her kid, who was coloring away.  The kid got up to play with something else.  The mom asked the kid to come back to add more color to the drawing.  Yeah.  More color.  And the kid came back and did it.

I realized that it was actually pretty silly to force Katie to draw a picture so that I can feel good about myself as a Mom.  

It also seemed a bit authoritarian.

And there, my friends, is your five dollar word of the day. 

Addendum

Hmph.  I stand corrected.

I just went outside to assess the amount of work I would need to do to till the dirt patches and low and behold there's little baby grasslings there.

I'm still not impressed with some of the areas, but I think I'll just have to be patient and see what the deal is in a few more days.

This weekend is supposed to be warm with at least some sun forecast.  We'll see what Mr. Sun can do for me.  Come on, SUN!!!!

No Videos. Sorry.

Just a few things....

We had our lawn de-mossed, aerated and overseeded.  Supposedly, the overseeding was supposed to start new grass growth in the huge patches of dirt that appeared after we had the moss ripped out.  So far, it's been three weeks and there is NOTHING.  Not one little blade of wispy green grass.  Now I gotta try and figure out how to get the grass the grow.  You know what that means?  Internet research on grass growing and a trip to Home Depot.  I HATE Home Depot.  Katie hates it too.  Unlike the supermarket, there are no crabs to look at there.

We went to the zoo yesterday with playgroup.  The zoo gets better as Katie gets older.  She can find the animals easier and she can put names to them.  But all those animals were boring in comparison to the ducks and squirrels we saw whilst wandering.  Um, yeah.  Ducks and squirrels elicited the most excitement from the toddlers.  For example, we were sitting looking at this huge elephant swinging it's trunk about and yet Katie was fascinated by the mallard duck napping in the pond in front of it.  I don't get it.

Katie has a new game.  She grabs her little pink baby doll stroller and runs as fast as she can at an object.  When she hits it full speed, she falls to the ground and yells out, "CRASH!"  Then she gets up, changes direction and does it again.  It reminds me of the kid in the movie "Parenthood" with the bucket on his head.  Hey, whatever keeps her happy. 

 

Satisfaction

After reviewing the footage, Huzbend told me that the nakedness was not so bad.  I decided to post the ABC video.  Hope you enjoyed it.

I can't begin to explain how awesome it is to watch Katie grab a book and "read" it to herself.

She's been doing it quite a lot lately.  Sometimes she'll even grab a stuffed animal, put it on her lap and pretend to read to it. 

She's points to the pictures and says what they are.  Then she'll look up at me and smile.  

She loves to talk.  She talks from the moment she wakes up 'til the moment we put her in the crib for "Night Night".

"Katie down.  Katie up.  Katie yummies.  Katie 'Cho Chos'.  Katie sit.  Mommy walka walka. Daddy sing.  Want it.  Brush a teeth.  Katie hide.  Katie poopy.  Mommy poopy.  Daddy poopy.  Ganma poopy.  Everbody poopy!  Happy Birthday, Gorilla!" 

This goes on and on and on.  She's a motor mouth.  Talk, talk, talk.  All day long.

I'm not sure who she got that from.  We're not the most social beings, Huzbend and I. 

But I do know this, it is pretty damn sweet.

 

How To Spend Money And Feel Bad Doing It

I had to get gas for our Xterra.

$3.63 a gallon for Regular.

Holy Crapola.

Then, I picked up a fruit tray at my local grocery store.  I have a preschool function tonight and our class is in charge of snacks.  

There was definitely way too much fruit for the 20 to 25 people that it was meant to feed as stated on the order form.  I think I could have fed a small country.

I got it home and promptly dropped it on the floor.

$50.00 for the tray.

Poof.  Gone.  Totally wasted. 

It ain't gonna feed anyone now.  Well, except Katie, who managed to shove a few pieces into her mouth before I got to clean up.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!

Poop

Katie got pooped on today at the playground.  

She was busy chasing some ducks and geese around when a crow in a tree dropped a load on her shoulder.

It's been a rough week and thus, as you've no doubt noticed, no posts.

I just really didn't have anything good to say.  And when you don't have anything good to say, you just wait a few minutes and your Huzbend will get around to saying it for you.  He just doesn't like the whole typing thing.

I've been busy kicking my own ass lately.  It's time to shed this extra poundage.  Really.  Katie is 20 months old and I've been hanging on to an extra 10 pounds since she was born.  It's time to go.  Sorry, Fat, you need to get lost.

With the help of my in-house personal trainer, I've begun a lifting program again.  I've also decided to hit the treadmill (or the trail) for a jog at least 3 to 4 times a week and to bike on the trainer at least 2 times.  

We'll see how it goes.  It's only really been in full effect since Monday.  So far, so good.  It helps that Katie is actually sleeping quite nicely this week.

Today, she starting pushing her stroller around the house yelling, "KATIE JOG!  KATIE JOG!" I guess she likes the whole jogging thing.

In other news, Katie can recite the ABC song now.  She's really good at the memorization thing. 

I have video of her doing it, but I don't feel comfortable posting it since she's "naked".

"Naked" is big with her right now.  She loves to run around in just a diaper.  Just about all our recent video is of her "naked".  Oh well.  Sorry, folks.

Lemons

One day you're joking.  The next day, um, yeah, not so funny.  

One day you have plans.  The next day you don't.  

One day you are.  The next day you aren't.

I've said many times on this blog that if I have learned anything from having Katie, it's that I should expect the unexpected.  That nothing ever goes as planned.

I guess I forgot that those statements apply to just about everything else in life as well.

I take a lot for granted; my health, our house, my two wonderful families, my husband, my child.  It's sad that it takes events of sickness, tragedy or death to make me stop and appreciate what I have.

And so, for a little while at least, I sit here humble in the fact that I have such wonderful people surrounding me.  That I have a husband who means so much more to me than the feeble word "love" can convey.  That I have a daughter who makes my heart swell with pride and joy on every passing day.

When times are tough, it's easy to get lost in the depths.  To wander aimlessly thinking about what may have been and such.  And so, I was thinking the other day about a saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  I know it's trivial, but it's something I have to focus on.

This also brings to mind some lyrics from a Monty Python song by Eric Idle:  

Some things in life are bad.

They can really make you mad.

Other things just make you swear and curse.

When you're chewing on life's gristle,

Don't grumble, give a whistle.

And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And....Always look on the bright side of life...

Always look on the light side of life....

If life seems jolly rotten,

There's something you've forgotten.

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

When you're feeling in the dumps

Don't be silly chumps

Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing!

And...Always look on the bright side of life....

Always look on the light side of life...

The song goes on, but you get the point.  Hey.  What can I say?  It helps me get through the tough times.  I even have that song on my Ipod.  

And, so, here is my lemonade.....

  

And here is my whistle....