Rambling Update

I'm glad I have girls. Because I just can't stand the halfway hairstyle the boys are wearing right now. I mean, actual long hair is one thing, and I know you have to go through a halfway stage to get there. But keeping it cut so that it's perpetually in that halfway state with the bangs in the eyes drives me nuts.

My parents were here on Wednesday-Thursday this week for a visit. It was great to see them but their assessment of The Bug always sort of wigs me out. I remember after she turned a year old and started walking, my dad said something like, "now you're really in trouble." I couldn't figure out why, but one of the books I have that talks about the different ages and developments said that after 1 is a stormy time for some kids because they're exploring independence, etc. Anyway, The Bug has been described as a "spitfire," a "live wire," and one of my mother-in-law's friends says that it looks as if she's embracing her hair color.

I dunno... for us it's just day-to-day living. The Bug is definitely louder and more climby and runny and apt to do dangerous things than her big sister was at the age of 15 months. But she's also rather attached to both me and her daddy, loves to sit in our laps and hug and kiss us, etc.

There are days, however... Like yesterday, for example. The Bug started running amok and screaming, etc. right after breakfast, and didn't really stop for the rest of the day. She's having fun most of the time, but I'm having to run like the wind to keep up with her. She even wrenched away from me a couple times in the parking lot when we were walking back to the car after picking up Sweet Pea from school. Yikes! Now I am actually beginning to see why some parents put their kids in harnesses on leashes... no kidding.

Sweet Pea's school had us make earthquake kits for our kids, which I thought was pretty cool. In case of emergency the school has water, blankets, etc., but they asked us to put a bottle of water and two days' worth of food into a gallon-sized ziploc bag with our child's name on it and take those to school for them to have on hand in case of an emergency. It took us a while to get ours figured out and put together since the school is a nut-free zone (due to deadly allergies that some of the students have) and Sweet Pea doesn't eat meat for the most part. Even if she did eat meat I couldn't see her consenting to eat jerky, even if she were hungry. We eventually decided that just those "cheese" and cracker things with the red plastic spread sticks - I know you know what I'm talking about - would have to do for protein, and the rest is freeze-dried and dried fruit. I also, at the school's very good suggestion, included a note to Sweet Pea from us so that if she actually is ever stuck at school during an emergency, she will know that we know of the situation and will be there to get her as quickly as we can, etc. She already has pictures of us in her cubby at school, so I think she's got the best we can give her in an emergency there.

Of course, even though the school called these "Earthquake Kits," this assignment made me actually think about and face the fact that in an emergency, which might not necessarily be an earthquake, my children and I could actually be separated. It's a hard thought to consider and I had truly never thought about it before. I think that's something you have to think about long enough to prepare for the eventuality, and then you have to put it away so you don't go crazy with worry.

This assignment for Sweet Pea's school also made me think about how unprepared we are at home for emergencies. There was a time when things were uncertain in 2001 when I did keep extra water, canned food, etc. on hand. I never had a true emergency kit, but now I'm thinking about that again - thinking that I really should put something together for our family so we're not SOL if something should happen. And honestly, I'm more worried about something awful actually happening nowadays than I used to be. Our president is clueless enough to think that Nelson Mandela is dead and that he can just trash talk nuclear nations as a matter of course. I need to stock up our emergency supplies.

In other news, Sweet Pea is so excited about writing that she has started making books! She'll staple a bunch of paper together, draw pictures, and then write little stories about the pictures. Of course, she does not know how to spell just anything and everything; she will sit down with a book and me, or Slipshod, or my mom, and ask how to write the sentences she has thought of. Still, it's pretty cool and she is JAZZED about knowing how to write the letters that make up words and sentences. She does know how to write some words by herself now: Cat (of course, ha ha), her name, and Mommy and Daddy. She also sat down the other day and wrote her numbers up to 11 and her 1s didn't look the way I taught her, so she is obviously learning numbers at school! It's really exciting to watch her learn and to hear the new songs she's learning, paintings she does, etc. She is just so excited about school, even though she misses me while she's there. It has become part of the school dropoff ritual now for her to say, after giving me a hug and a kiss, "It's time for me to go in now, Mama. I'm going to go." I love that she's learning how to set boundaries so well at such a young age.

Well, I could write more but I'd rather eat lunch and watch some TV while The Bug is sleeping (and Sweet Pea is at school). Then, lucky me, I have to go scrub two of the bathrooms, because we just found out that my mom, who was not feeling well while she and Dad were here, has a rather frightening and contagious GI infection. Joy.