Archive for September, 2010

P – now demon free!

Posted on September 8th, 2010

After the worst day of parenting I have ever experienced to date (including all those sleepless nights with a newborn, wondering WTF did I get myself into?), I actually got a decent night’s sleep. So did P. And while we did start the day with a tantrum (over Dinosaur Train, naturally), she recovered pretty well and is cheerful, reading books and ignoring Sesame Street (my work here is done), and asking for a dog. M is sick at home, which I would ordinarily be annoyed by (because it screws with my routine and he’s always, you know, messing things up and not putting them back), but today I figure it’s a bonus. If P goes all bat-sh*t crazy again, I’m taking off and leaving…

Categories: Not crazy...yet, Too much to ask?

If you ever wanted to stay home with your kid, consider this.

Posted on September 7th, 2010

For those of you who might fantasize about staying home with the wee one? This post is for you. P and I were picking out a puzzle. And then she went apesh*t – full on screaming tantrum, kicking the floor. I’m holding the two Ravensburger boxes, stunned, thinking, “WTF just happened?” It morphed into a tantrum about making eggs. She loves to make eggs. That lasted 15 minutes, until I got the carton of eggs out, showed one to her and told her she had to pull herself together. It kind of worked – she stood up. I took her hand, and led her sobbing self to the kitchen sink where she washed her hands and sniffled her way through cracking four eggs. Then…

Categories: Disasters, Too much to ask?

Tuesday blahs

Posted on September 7th, 2010

I should be loving today. It’s not Monday! It’s 57 degrees and raining – my idea of perfect weather! (The highest high this week is projected to be 68. Love it.) I have an excuse to get the top-shelf hat boxes down and swap out summer hats for cashmere and wool caps! I washed coats and jackets all weekend! I was hugely productive (writing) all weekend and can slack a little today, if I want! I cooked overtime over the weekend and have yummy leftovers! My panic about putative moving has turned into potential excitement (I demanded “a study” in any new residence) about a room of one’s own! But alas. The most dreaded way of waking up (“Mama! I had an accident!”) occurred,…

Categories: Disasters, Weird day

String updates

Posted on September 5th, 2010

I put the kibbosh on P’s violin lessons, at least for a little while. I was having to enforce practice time, which I was dead-set against (shades of my mother ordering me to practice) and which was supposed to be M’s domain. She can’t concentrate on practicing and is frustrated easily (I know, she’s three) and I don’t like being the practice police. So…we’ve got a break, for a while. I’ve been playing my cello more and more. One of the tips about avoiding perfectionism in kids is to let them see you learn something – making mistakes, soldiering on, improving, and so forth. And there are lots of mistakes, which make P laugh. And she’s very interested when I practice (and I take…

Categories: Epiphanies, Music

Fall air and updates

Posted on September 5th, 2010

All in all, we had a delightful year so far, weather-wise. Cool, cloudy, and only a few heat waves. The trees closest to my window have been turning orange for the past few weeks. Fall is definitely in the air. Today I opened the windows for the first time in a few days (the new a/c unit is awesome – not only does it work so much better than the old one, it’s also quieter, so I’m not desperate to turn it off in the evenings). It feels great. A couple of weeks ago, I was lamenting that it was almost fall and I wasn’t going to school or doing anything that really merited that back-to-school feeling I get in the fall – like…

Categories: Epiphanies, Hard days

Reading on the Roof

Posted on September 2nd, 2010

It’s hot for us (85) and humid (60 percent-ish) and going for a walk was just kind of blah. So we went up on the roof, found a table in the shade, and sat down to read. P thought it was hilarious when the wind blew the pages of her book! I found it less hilarious but actually managed to finish one article in the LRB. Yay! That’s one more than I read yesterday. We watched helicopters and planes and laughed and laughed at the wind. It felt great, despite the heat, and I didn’t even realize it was that warm until we came down to our cooler loft.

Categories: Good day

There but for the grace of an education?

Posted on September 2nd, 2010

This article from the NY Times scares the bejeezus out of me. It’s why I was so hesitant even to talk to anyone about P’s tantrums – what if they wanted to medicate her? We don’t think there’s anything wrong with her, aside from being very strong willed. The shrink we consulted with agreed, gave us some tips, and it’s made a difference. I leave her easel out all the time (she does angry dots and lines when mad), hand her a stuffed kangaroo when she starts to melt down (it calms her down), and when she’s rested or calm enough, we can talk about her feelings. We have a much more structured, gradual bedtime routine. But my god. What if someone looked at…

Categories: Epiphanies

Down day

Posted on September 1st, 2010

We need a break. Today, I think the most ambitious thing I’ll attempt is a trip to the grocery store. P seems to be doing much better (hooray!) and I’m hoping my sanity will return shortly. Monday’s temper-a-thon really wiped me out, and yesterday was a logistical nightmare. I may splurge on a really nice cup of coffee (the place that’s spitting distance away – well, rock tossing distance – was featured in Sunset recently) and let P eat some organic, flour-free chocolate cookies and run around like a mad creature on their deck.

Categories: Not crazy...yet, Weird day