A Visit From The Poop Fairy

This child has now opened a child-proofed bottle of fiber capsules (don't judge) three times without adult assistance.

The first time, it was in the grocery store, the day I was purchasing the bottle of capsules. He was getting fussy and whiny and it was about time to check out. I scrambled for something to give him to keep him busy while I checked out. "Oh, look here, Jack! Take this bottle of medicine (that you surely couldn't open) and shake! shake! shake! it to your little heart's content!" I was busy loading up the conveyor belt with our groceries and I noticed that I wasn't hearing as much shake! shake! shaking coming from the toddler in the cart. I turned around to find that he'd taken the lid off and was struggling to bust through the foil cover on the top of the new bottle.

The second time, he was on our bed and he located the bottle on my nightstand (I can't lie: fiber capsules play a big part in my life). I thought that the first time, (in the grocery store) was a fluke for sure, so I left him to play with the bottle while I put away laundry, only to turn around when I heard "pop" and he'd removed the lid.

The third time, child left unattended, again on our bed, with a full (and tightly-closed) bottle of fiber capsules still on nightstand (you'd think I would've learned by now). I was going about my business, likely putting laundry away in the kids' rooms (laundry also plays a big part in my life. Isn't my life resplendent?) when I noticed that it was very, very quiet in our bedroom. I went in to find Jack on our bed, surrounded by approximately 250 fiber capsules. He was throwing them up in the air like you see in the movies, when people win big in Vegas and dump all of the money on the bed and throw it and roll around in it. After I freaked out a little, I realized that he didn't put any in his mouth. At bedtime though, I noticed a little pile of brown, powdery stuff on my side of the bed. At first, I thought it was sawdust or something, until I realized that it was the contents of a fiber capsule, spread about our bed like a generous sprinkling of magical pixie dust.

*Before anyone flips out and calls CPS on me, all of our medications are located on a high shelf in our bathroom--out of Jack's reach. The bottle of fiber capsules has been relocated as well.

Anna: Star of the Week

Anna is "Star of the Week" this week for her class at school. We had to use this poster to tell the story of Anna. It was the best we could come up with, with just a few days notice. I'm kind of proud of it.

Patriot Day 2010

The kids were asked to wear red, white & blue to school today, in honor of September 11.

My Anna

My Anna. As she gets older, little nuances of her personality are really starting to present themselves. One thing that I'm seeing time and time again is that my girl has inherited my social ineptitude. She does really well on a one-on-one basis with friends, but you put her in a group of children and she either flips out, or she goes off to play quietly by herself. One of the first instances of this that I saw was this past May, when we went to the beach with a couple of other families. There were 3 little girls total, staying in this house. I noticed that Anna was often times the odd man out and you could see the hurt and confusion on her face. At one point, when the two other girls were playing happily with one another, Anna asked her friend, "Are you still my friend?". It broke my heart into a million pieces because I understood exactly what she was feeling.

I'm not a social person. A large party, with people who I don't know is hell for me. Fortunately (or unfortunately...I'm not always sure) my husband is a social butterfly and he loves, more than anything else, being among new people and making conversation. I can often times latch onto him and float along with him at a party but that tires us both out after awhile. In fact, I can remember many a party where I was most comfortable finding the family pet and spending my evening petting and visiting with the dog or cat (or Madagascar hissing cockroaches) and being perfectly content and happy. I foresee Anna doing the same thing one day. This past weekend, we were at a fun gathering at some friends' house. There were lots of kids Anna's age--all of whom she's played with before and also sees at school all the time. At one point, I looked outside to see all of the kids playing on the swingset, shrieking with delight. When I did a quick headcount and noticed that Anna wasn't among them, I started looking around for her. I found her inside the house, quietly looking at books in the playroom by herself. I was equal parts sad for her and proud of her for knowing her limits.

In a sense, I'm glad that I'm the way that I am, so that I can help Anna to cope (although, I don't always recommend the sitting in the corner with the family dog-technique for navigating social situations) because I don't think that Kevin understands where she's coming from. I understand what it feels like and I want her to feel confident and okay with the fact that not everyone is a social being and that it's better to be true to yourself, rather than to have to put on an act and be inauthentic and miserable the whole time--because that's not going to win you any friends either.

The song, "Still Fighting It" by Ben Folds runs through my head a lot when I think of my Anna:

Everybody knows
It hurts to grow up
And everybody does
It's so weird to be back here
Let me tell you what
The years go on and
We're still fighting it, we're still fighting it
And you're so much like me
I'm sorry

Jack's First Day of School

Jack started back to school today. He moved up a class and the drop-off didn't go so well. He was rather emotional. This new class is a little less coddle-y and more big kid-ish. It might not be a smooth transition for him.

Speaking of not-so-smooth transitions:

The morning of Anna's second day of school.

My children were a hot mess this morning. I'm very much looking forward to a day to myself.