August Catch Up

Dear Friends and Family,

It's almost my birthday which means it's almost September which means it's almost the start of school. And, before I know it, it'll be time to think of Halloween costumes, go shopping for turkey, figure out Christmas plans, and ring in the New Year. Yep. That's how I know another year has flown by because it's almost my birthday.

Where did this summer go? Well, it started with a bruiser of a weekend that included reunion for Mr. mouse and a recital for P and some high stress in coordinating the weekend. Then, there was a flurry of camps which involved new friends and new routines every week it seemed. Next year I think we'll aim for more continuity. And, before you knew it summer camp was over. My mom flew out last week and spent some time with P. And, we've got plans with my sister next week. Mr. mouse has a trip. We may or may not follow.

We got an iPad for P although it's officially for the family because the Kindle was on its last legs and she learned so much in technology camp we didn't want it to stop because we weren't willing to invest in an iPad. We traveled and got to see Niagara Falls, Cave of the Mounds, and all things Lincoln since we skipped on dance classes this summer.

We tried to figure out P's eczema and made some progress. I think the initial breaks in the skin come from abrasion, either playing in the park or on the beach. Then, if we get chlorine in it it gets worse. So we didn't spend a lot of time at the parks or the pool this summer. Instead we played Guess Who Star Wars Edition at the library, did jigsaw puzzles and read at Barnes and Noble.

P figured out the monkey bars. P got three wiggly teeth.

I put my work on hold. I got a Fitbit. I walked a ton and then lost a little motivation. I restarted Weight Watchers, lost 15 pounds and stopped tracking. I've maintained my weight loss but haven't lost any more since I stopped tracking. I planned our trip to Disney. I planned a road trip I plan on taking next spring with a girlfriend.

Mr. mouse got a new job at the same company. He had to deal with a hot water heater replacement.

Oh, and we've been growing peppers on the roof. That's our summer.


Cheers!
mouse

Last Day of Kindergarten

Dear P,

It's Friday. Today's the last day of school before summer vacation. It seems like kindergarten only started yesterday, the year truly did fly by.

I'm so proud of you. You've matured so much the past year. You have a great group of friends. You're able to figure out how to make compromises so that everyone gets to have a say in your play scenarios. You are able to articulate what makes you happy, what makes you sad, and what you find annoying. It's precious listening to you. You sound so much older than six years old. And, it's especially darling because you are about the size of a typical four year old.

I'm also very proud of how far you've come academically. You've picked up so much Spanish and math and reading. You've nearly memorized the Almanac your friend, Gabe, gave you and you're able to make connections to facts you've read in the book with conversations you have with us and with your friends. You're comfortable with time and money and numbers into the thousands. Your favorite books right now are the Who Is/Who Was series of biographies. We currently have Maria Tallchief, Marco Polo, Leonardo da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln, Gold Rush, and Louis Armstrong on loan from the library and Laura Ingalls Wilder on hold. See? It's fun feeding your thirst for knowledge.

It's been a good year for me as well. Last year, I was still transitioning from old work to new work. This year, I feel comfortable with the amount of time I got to spend at school and with you. I feel healed from the scars of old work. And, I'm excited about another summer with my slightly older kid. It's also been a good year because I've finally begun wrangling my way back to wellness. I want to be a good role model for you. And, I've been wrangling our house back to sanity. I don't want you to feel like you live in a pig sty.

I feel like my little kid isn't such a little kid anymore. I think from now until middle school, you're my big kid - my big kid who loves dance and swim and math and reading. Then, you'll be a tweenager before I know it. I guess it's time to say good-bye to my little kid years and hello to my big kid years. I'm sure I'll enjoy them as much as I have the first six.


Love,
your mommy

Lunch Walks Among Us

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday's popsicle party was a huge success. Many popsicles were eaten, many bubbles were blown, many chalk drawings were drawn, and three bird were rescued by the park professionals.

At the party, we were talking with a couple of parents about how much parenthood had changed since we were children. It started with being able to play and roam unattended since our kids were essentially running free in the park and it was a special treat to reflux to vaccines to ADD and ADHD to all sorts of other things we need to worry about now that our parents didn't need to worry about.

And, it got me thinking, there are things where the actual number of people with X has been going up like peanut allergies. Then there are things where the actual number is staying the same but the diagnosis of it is going up like reflux. For those things in the latter category, where the actual number of people with X is staying the same, just diagnosis of X is on the rise, it means X is walking among us in the same proportion of the population in adults as in children. The undiagnosed adults who had ADHD as children are working in cubes next to my old cube and Mr. mouse's current office. The undiagnosed adults who had reflux as children are eating at restaurants next to us when we go out to dinner. The undiagnosed walk among us. And, largely, they seem fine.

Does that mean we're worrying ourselves over nothing? If things worked out okay in the end then does intervention make sense? Or does intervention make the journey to the end easier and less painful? I'm not sure. We medicated P for reflux. And, I don't let her roam unattended. And, I think I would her intervene if ADD or ADHD came up. But, I need to remember there are all sorts of things that walk among us in adults who went undiagnosed as children. And, they seem fine.


Cheers!
mouse

Fun Times with My 6 Year Old

Dear Friends and Family,

P is always a little sad when Mr. mouse tells her he has a business trip. But, as long as it is a short one, she seems to do okay. In fact, to be honest, it's better than okay. We have fewer meltdowns, we get to bed earlier, we enjoy each other's company more. When the trips get long, we inevitably get the "I miss Daddy" meltdown that lasts for 20+ minutes, but with short trips it seems to be okay.

Mr. mouse left yesterday morning for a short trip. He'll be back today. Yesterday, P and I got ready in the morning. It was a little bit of a scramble, but we got to school about 5 minutes early so I'll consider it a successful drop off. If we had been super efficient, we would have had time for a doughnut and the bus, but I'm not going to be picky. I picked up P in the afternoon and she had a play date with one of her close friends from school.

We ate dinner together. P played while I filled the tub. She had a bath followed by tub time. We got into our pajamas, brushed our teeth, and went to bed together. We both slept through the night. I'll consider it a success.

Today, we need to get to school a little early so I need to go wake her soon. Hopefully today goes as smoothly as yesterday did.


Cheers!
mouse

Day 5 of Spring Break

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Friday. P and I had the entire week off together and I had so much fun with her.

Monday, we went on a play date with a friend from summer camp. Then, we spent the afternoon building snowmen and attending dance class. P rated the day a 4.5. I think she really enjoyed her play date. She made a new friend there after her friend had to leave. And, she really enjoyed making the snow people. She named the original one Hailey. But, when we got home from dance, we found Hailey sprawled on the deck and broken into three balls. We used each to build a new snowman. She named them Emily, Despicable (because it only had one eye and looked like a minion) and Hailey. We built those snowmen on the ground so they wouldn't fall over.

Tuesday, we went to the museum and saw a movie and tried a mirror maze. Then, we came home and colored until Mr. mouse came home. P rated the day a 4.0 which made me a little sad. But, I enjoyed the day.

Wednesday, we went to the park and met up with a friend for another play date. It was cold, and P's hair was bothering her, and we cut the play date a little short when P told me she was done and wanted to go home. It turns out she bonked her head and her butt while playing and both were bothering her. She also got a cramp in her left foot so I think it was good we finished early. We came home, built a fort, watched Big Hero 6 and finished our art project from the day before. It was so fun watching Big Hero 6 together in the fort - except the part when P thought Baymax was dead. We had to pause the movie and she cried in my arms for a little bit before agreeing to go back to the movie. It's the first time I saw her cry over fictional character. She was so sad. It must have been a good day because P rated it a 5.0 in spite of the sad moment in the movie.

Thursday, we went to Mr. mouse's office for lunch. Then, we came home for 30 minutes before heading out to swim. After swim, we went to Home Depot and picked up some PVC pipe to make a new fort for P. It's almost like a canopy bed. I'm glad I got to use my engineering skills in designing it. Actually, anyone could have done it. I guess I used my engineering skills in looking at fort ideas and picking one that was easy and structurally sound. Yesterday was a 5.5 for P, mostly because she got to eat lunch with Mr. mouse.

And, now, today, the day of errands... Hopefully it's not too big a drag on P. But, stuff has to get done otherwise the house will begin to fall apart around us. And, I'm okay that she sees errands and understands they need to get done too.


Cheers!
mouse

Grandma's Here! Grandma's Here! Grandma's Here!

Dear Friends and Family,

There's nothing like having Grandma visit. For P, it's a new playmate - someone who lets her direct the play and is willing to explore P's favorite topics with her. Yesterday, P and my mom played fashion show. P put on dress up outfit after dress up outfit and giggled with my mom. They stayed up in P's room and chatted about the things little girls need to tell their grandma.

Then, we had dinner and dessert and P went to bed. It's freezing cold today. And we have swim this afternoon. Wish us luck.


Cheers!
mouse

Grandma's Coming! Grandma's Coming! Grandma's Coming!

Dear Friends and Family,

If you visited inside P's head today, that's what you would hear. She had close to twelve hours of sleep last night. And, she's eating dinner for breakfast this morning. And, she's counting down the hours until my mom arrives later today.

It's so endearing watching our five year old. She's sharp as a tack and you can see her logic coming through. She's independent enough to open and close her own car door. Yet, things are still new and fascinating for her. Like when we fold laundry, she loves sorting the clothes and folding the napkins. Or when the soap dispenser stops working, she loves working through testing process with Mr. mouse or me. Or when she's counting down the hours until grandma is coming and she smiles every time she realizes it's today.

Our little P.


Cheers!
mouse

Frustrated P

Dear Friends and Family,

P needs to learn the butterfly kick to advance to the next level. That's the only thing she has left to learn. And, she wants to learn in. But, it's hard.

Mr. mouse tried to teach her something or other in her bath. I watched and it didn't look right. Then, at swim yesterday, P tried to do what Mr. mouse taught her. But, it wasn't right. Then, she tried to combine what Mr. mouse told her to do with what her teacher told her to do. And, of course, it wasn't possible and it still wasn't right.

And, that's when she lost it and began crying during her swimming lesson. I needed to go in and help her calm down. I wonder if this might be the time to plunk down $60 for a month of private swim lessons so she can learn this one kick and move on. In a normal 30 minute lesson there just isn't enough time to learn the kick since they only spend 5 minutes on it per week.

I just know she was really upset yesterday, both at herself and at Mr. mouse, but mostly at herself. And, I wish there was something I could do to help. At a minimum, I guess I'll tell Mr. mouse to step back and not confuse her.


Cheers!
mouse

The Role of School vs. The Role of Parents

Dear Friends and Family,

P goes to private school so we pay tuition. If P went to public school, it'd be free since it's public school and public schools are free.

This post isn't about P's school in particular but more about schools in general both public and private. The curriculum may be different, the teacher-student ratios may be different, but overall, I think schools are schools and home is home unless you home school, but that's not within scope of this post.

I think it comes down to two things. The first is comparative advantage. We should each focus on what we do better than the other. After all, it's not practical for me to try to teach P hip hop. She takes a class for hip hop. Her hip hop teacher knows hip hop, I do not. Therefore, by definition, he's got the comparative advantage. Therefore, lessons make sense. Another example would be swimming. I know how to swim. I think I could teach P how to swim. But, P takes swim classes because her teacher has the advantage of being trained in teaching swimming. He gets more done in 30 minutes with P than I would in 30 minutes with P. With me?

The second is goal alignment. In a perfect roles the goals of the schools and the goals of the parents would be perfectly aligned, but in reality they are not. Ultimately, parents are selfish. They want to optimize around their kid. Schools optimize for the group. They can't optimize for the individual participant. Going back to swimming, P needs to practice her breaststroke kick and her butterfly kick. I would love it if her teacher spent all of his time on just that. But, he doesn't because other students need to practice other things to. So, she spends part of her 30 minutes on freestyle and on backstroke and on other parts of learning to swim. This is where family swim comes in. While we are not better than her teachers in teaching swimming, P does benefit from family swim because she can spend an hour doing just her kicks which would not be possible in a group setting. Our goal is to make P a better swimmer so we optimize our time outside of classes on what P needs. Still with me?

Okay. Then, back to school and parents.

Let's start with an obvious place where schools have an inherent comparative advantage - the number of kids interacting with each other. Every day when P goes to school she is placed in an environment with other kids. I don't think that's shocking. It's more kids from a wider background for a longer period of time than I would ever be able to manufacture in our home. School's got me beat so let's take advantage of the comparative advantage.

At school P will meet kids she wouldn't meet at home. There are some kids we see regularly because P's friends with them and we're friends with the parents. There are some kids we never see outside of school. I think that's realistic. You don't go through life only interacting with close friends. So one potential role of school is it can expose P to lots of people and teach her that she's got to learn to function within a group of people where not everyone is a close friend, some people are friends, some people are acquaintances, some people are just people you have to be with even if you don't like them. You have to find a way to make it work out because life is like that. In this role, I think the schools goals and ours are aligned. Perfect.

At school P is with her teachers. Mr. mouse and I are not there. There are more children in the room than adults. That means, compared to home, you're resource constrained which doesn't sound like a comparative advantage at all. Except it is, if you're trying to teach your child independence. At home, P knows there are two adults and one child. As long as she's patient, we can get to anything that she needs help with. In a way, this limits her independence. At school, P knows there are three adults and twenty children. Realistically, the teachers can't step in on every situation. There's not enough hours in the day. So, children have to learn some level of independence. The teachers are there as an escalation point, but they begin trying to figure it out on their own. They begin trying to resolve conflict on their own. The begin trying to negotiate solutions on their own. So another potential role of school is it can teach P to independently resolve conflict. In this role, I think the schools goals and ours are aligned. Excellent.

At school, conflicts will come up. It hasn't yet. But, I'd be an idiot if I didn't think it wouldn't at some point. P's not going to go through 12-18 more years of school without encountering some conflict somewhere. I think that's the point where things begin to get more complicated. The right answer may not be obvious or may not even exist. Opinion comes into play and it's not clear either party has a comparative advantage. And, goals, well, there's bound to be misalignment of goals. If it's between P and the school, we will want what's best for P and the school will want what's best for school. If it's between P and another student, we will want what's best for P, the other parents will want what's best for their child, and the school will want what's best for the group which may not be either what's best for P or what's best for the other child. I think in those situations, we need to advocate for P, but the school needs to advocate for the school, and well, I'm assuming the other parents will advocate for their child.

I'm not sure what happens in those situations. I guess in those situations the school will do what's best for the school and we will need to decide if that's something we can live with or if we can't live with it what our next best option is because our role as parents will be to optimize for P.

I'm not sure this was helpful to anyone, but it was helpful to me. Happy Thursday!


Cheers!
mouse

Ambitious Week

Dear Friends and Family,

After an abysmal week last week, I'm trying to make up lost ground this week. So far, I've gotten 8 things crossed off my to do list. I'm going to try for another 4 today. We'll continue plugging away at it and see how the week ends.

Today, I've got lunch with a girlfriend from old work. And, after school P has her new swim class. It's not the most convenient time. But, we'll have to figure out a way to make it work since she's graduated to a new level. Knowing our luck, this is the class she plateaus at and we need to figure out a way to make this time slot work. I'm okay with that. She's made such good progress until now. If she plateaus, she plateaus, and we'll figure out a way to make it work.

Today, we're going to try the snack and nap in car routine. We'll see if it sticks. Wish me luck.


Cheers!
mouse

Mom of the Year

Dear Friends and Family,

I'll confess. This morning I had sharp words for P. She took an hour to eat breakfast and as a result she was almost late for school. I had to prompt her for every bite with a "food in mouth" reminder. Then, when the food had been in her mouth long enough I had to prompt her with a "chew and swallow" followed by another "food in mouth" reminder.

There's nothing less fun than being a food coach in the morning to a kid who's lost all sense of time. Well, we missed every conceivable bus. And, when we got in the car, I gave her a piece of my mind.

Then, I realized, she'd be in school for the day with those heavy words weighing her down. So, I told her I was sorry and asked why she took so long to eat. I'm not sure I got a good answer, but we agreed tomorrow morning I'd wake her early so we didn't run into this problem again.

I think she was in better spirits by the time we got to school. Mom of the Year. Yep.


Cheers!
mouse

Hypothetical vs. Realistic

Dear Friends and Family,

I've noticed there's a selective phenomena to how my memory works.

Take hand holding, for instance. I love holding P's hand when we walk together. I love the feel of her little hand in mine. I love the bonding and the expression of love that holding hands means to me. There are times that P will walk next to me, holding me hand, and I treasure those moments. I wish I could capture each one of those moments in a bottle and keep it forever.

But...

For every time that we do walk together, hand in hand, down the street, there's at least four or five times that we "walk" together, hand-in-hand, down the street. Sometimes P is hopping, skipping, jumping, tugging, lollygagging, dancing, duck walking, tiptoeing... You name it, she'll do it. And, on those instances, my arm is being yanked every which way to Sunday. And, I know, while she's holding my hand, it's an automatic thing and her mind's elsewhere.

So, while, hypothetically, it's sweeter than sweet can be to hold hands and walk down the street together, realistically, it's not always as precious in the moment. It all depends, do you have walking P or bouncing P? Somehow, I always remember walking P and forget bouncing P.


Cheers!
mouse

Problems at School

Dear Friends and Family,

It was bound to happen. Sooner or later, we knew we'd have to work through problems at school.

Last year, Mr. mouse and P and I had to work through some issues that had to do with some boys coming over and knocking down P's towers. And, that was relatively straightforward and P handled it well.

This year, we've noticed P is branching out to play with more kids which we think is excellent. But it also means she's not as close to her BFF from last year which is the trade-off, I guess, for making more friends. Plus, there's less play time this year as the kids get more structure to their day. So, that alone would have decreased P's play time with her BFF. But, that's all fine and good. That would hardly constitute a problem by our standards.

The problem? One of the girls in P's class is very sensitive and a little bossy. And while P has been coping with it, it has been impacting her experience at school. While I feel for the girl and wish she was happy, I'm not willing to let it impact P. So, I've told P that if the girl is not being a good friend then P shouldn't feel obligated to play with her. I know, that would hardly constitute a problem in a lot of parent's books. But, I hold myself responsible for this one. The mom introduced herself to me and so P's relationship with the girl is a result of my friendship with the mom.

But, I've got my priorities straight. P comes first. And, if the situation with the girls is not a healthy one then I'm not going to encourage it going forward. If that means restricting the relationship to just the moms, I'm fine with that. And, if it means slowly drifting apart, I'm fine with that as well. It won't be anything melodramatic like in a soap opera. It'll just mean that P's calendar and mine will be less available, P's more so than mine. No fireworks. That's just not me.


Cheers!
mouse

Looking Forward to a Day with My Big Kid

Dear Friends and Family,

P moved up in swim levels yesterday and I couldn't be prouder! She started swim lessons in May and moved up a level in July. So, I was anticipating 4-6 months at the second level before she was ready to move up to the third level. I thought she was doing well, but I knew parents can be biased towards their own kids. So, imagine my surprise when I saw an instructor come over to P's lane with a move-up card and a ribbon. At that point, I knew someone was moving up, I just didn't know who.

Then, P pointed to herself and spelled the word up. Hooray for P! Well, this next level is apparently the level where kids get stuck. It's the level where stamina and endurance come into play. We may sign P up for a second class each week to try and power through this level. We'll see.

Today, P's off from school. I'm looking forward to the day off with my big kid. It'll be like summer vacation again. I'm so excited.


Cheers!
mouse

09.15.14: Apple Picking Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

The weekend... Well, I can't remember Saturday all that well. We had house cleaning in the morning, lunch, and then I napped while Mr. mouse and P went bike riding.

Sunday, was a most perfect day. We went to church and then we went apple picking. Several friends from P's school made the drive out to pick apples with us. It was warm, but not too warm, sunny, but with just enough cloud cover, and breezy without being windy. We picked apples, ate a picnic lunch, and then lounged on the grass while the children played. P had a meltdown near the end which I wish we could have avoided, but it wasn't enough to ruin my day. The kids found a frog and after many attempts they caught it and one of the boys kissed it.

There wasn't as many apples as last year. I think it had something to do with the brutal winter we had and the less than stellar summer. But, we bought plenty to munch on throughout the fall.

Now, I'm off to my day. I think I should take my contacts off. They're bothering me.


Cheers!
mouse

09.02.14: The Very Last Day of Summer Vacation

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Tuesday. We're back from vacation. And, it's our very last day of summer vacation.

It's been a great week. We spent a weekend back in our first work town visiting friends. It's been 20 years since that first summer in our first work town. It was fun driving along the same roads, remembering life in 1994 which does not seem all that long ago.

Then, we went on our end-of-summer vacation. This time, instead of going to a far flung location, we went to Seattle to visit a host of friends we have in the Pacific Northwest. We got to spend a lot of time with my cousin and my two year old nephew who is technically my first cousin once removed.

This was also a mile marker trip. A year ago, I quit old work only to be persuaded into staying on part time. While the money was good, I've realized many times over that I shouldn't have agreed to stay on part time. I didn't have enough time to do anything right, splitting my time three ways. And, ultimately, I spent a lot of time detoxing from what ultimately was a less that satisfactory transition from old work.

Still, in taking this trip, I realized two very important things. I only lost a year. I am, now, where I could have been last year. And, while a year lost is a year lost, I can take comfort in having lost only a year. I am so glad not to be splitting my time three ways going forward. And, the other thing I realized was that while there was a lot of toxicity related to old work, I still had a good year. P made new friends. I made new friends. And, we had a great summer together. There's so many happy memories. The year wasn't a total waste.

So, my friends, we're headed into our last day of summer vacation. P's bag is packed. We have orientation in an hour and half. Then, P and I have one last day together before we head off to kindergarten.


Cheers!
mouse

Ten Days at an End

Dear Friends and Family,

Today is my last real day with P before school kicks in again. Next week, Mr. mouse is off so we'll be doing things as a family. Then, Tuesday we have orientation. And, Wednesday is the first day of school.

But, today is my last real day with P before school kicks in again. In retrospect, I'm glad I took the summer off. I'm glad was done with old work. I'm glad I put new work on the back burner. I'm glad I had the fun moments I did with P. I'll be honest, on the days she had full day camp we didn't get much done together. By the time we got home and had a snack, there just wasn't a large enough chunk of time to take on a major project before Mr. mouse got home.

On the other hand, for the four weeks P had half-day camp and for the two weeks P had no camp, we had lots of time to get into lots of trouble together. Did we spend some days running errands? Yes, we did. Did we spend some days getting things done at home? Yes, we did. Did we spend some days working on sheets? Well, not as consistently as Mr. mouse wanted, but, yes, we did. Did we spend some days with friends on play dates? Here and there, we did. Were there times I parked P in front of the TV for half an hour? There were probably a handful of times I did.

But, a lot of days we empty days where we could go to the park or play at home with toys that hadn't gotten touched in forever. We had time to talk over lunch. P told me that one time she wished it could be her birthday every day. How sweet it that? We had time to read together, sometimes me reading to P, sometimes both of us with our own books, quietly enjoying each other's company.

It was fun. I love having a five-year-old in the house. I'm glad I took the time to enjoy it.

Today, we're off to the museum. We got a free pass at the library. We'll meet Mr. mouse for lunch. And, then, we're off to new adventures. Still fun, but my summer vacation with P is coming to a close. I'm glad I got as much time as I did.


Cheers!
mouse

A Day at the Park

Dear Friends and Family,

We stole a few magical moments in the park yesterday morning before the rains came in. P and I played fairy princess which I rarely let her play. She fashioned a wand for herself by tying a leaf around a twig. I picked a larger twig with a fork in it.

We found a quiet corner in the tree house playground and played fairy princess. How do you play fairy princess?

Well, this time, we did a lot of food things. I'd put a spell on her, "magic wand, magic wand, make P like asparagus." And then I'd ask her what she wants for lunch and P would reply, "asparagus." I'd pretend to make something out of asparagus and offer it to her. She'd gobble it up. And then I'd say, "wow, P really likes asparagus." We did it over and over again.

P also had a kitten named good good who had a kitten named nice nice who had a kitten named nice good. The three kittens liked lemon mint tarts so we needed to make them for the kittens. We went shopping and cooked them up.

We discovered we had two approaches with the alligators in the water. P would put them to sleep to cross the water. I'd feed them cheeseburgers to distract them. After a couple of times crossing the water with awake, but distracted alligators, P was okay with the cheeseburgers.

And, we played on the slide. P would cast a spell on me to make me go down the slide. I'd declare, "I feel like going down a slide right now." And then, to her giggles, I'd come down the slide.

We wrapped up the park visit with multiple trips to the pretend doctor for pretend stitches. And, we made a run for the car right before the big rain hit.

We spent the afternoon organizing shoes because that's what P wanted to do. Then, she napped. And, that was our day yesterday.


Cheers!
mouse

To Zara or Not to Zara

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, that was easy. There's no Zara at the mall by the mail box. I guess we will not Zara today.

What'd we do yesterday? P and I went to the museum and spent a fun-filled day exploring science. We went through an exhibit on five habitats - rain forest, ocean, polar, cave and savanna. Then, we ate lunch. We watched a movie on the flight of the monarch butterfly. It was P's first movie. She whispered to me tidbits about butterflies throughout the movie. It was very cute. We learned about flavor and how it's a combination of taste and smell. P had a mint jellybean. She chewed it first with her nose pinched and then with her nose opened. And, we polished off the day with a ride through a train where P saw a talking donkey.

P was exhausted when we came home. I wanted to feed her dinner and put her to bed. But, she wanted time with Mr. mouse. So, after dinner she went out to play tennis with him. Then, had bath. Then, went to bed. She was in that easily distracted, stuck in random loops mode. I hate yelling at her to get her out of it. I think we're going to try sending her to her room when she gets like that so we're not in constant yelling-at-our-daughter mode.

It's Wednesday. We've got a doctor's appointment. Then, we'll pick up mail and go to the park. We've got swim lessons and a play date. Frankly, we're over scheduled today. We'll have to find a low key activity for tomorrow to make up for it. Perhaps we'll go to Zara.


Cheers!
mouse

08.11.14: P's Bike Accident

Dear Friends and Family,

Another week another bike accident. This time it was P. There was blood everywhere. We took her home and washed her up and let her cry herself out watching videos on my lap. Then, we assessed the damage. It seemed like all of the bleeding was from her mouth. And, the bleeding had stopped. Her left hand had some pretty nasty cuts on two of the fingers, but they weren't bleeding any more either. So, we debated the emergency room vs. keeping her at home. In the end, keeping her at home won out because we thought the rest in a familiar setting would do her more good than sitting in an emergency room.

We took her to the doctor on Sunday. Looks like P has a partially detached frenulum. We called the dentist today. They're okay looking at it on our regularly scheduled appointment later this month.

The fingers continue to mend a little more each day. And, P's swelling (on her lip) is slowly going down. She can go swimming on Wednesday. And, outside of taking it a little easy, we should be okay for the next two weeks which is good because I think we'd all be a little bummed if we were stuck inside for the last two weeks of summer vacation.

I'm just glad everything seems to be okay.


Cheers!
mouse