"Any-Day" plans go like this:

Get to the gym, get to the grocery, the bank, the post office, the sewing store, the gymnastics, the storytime, the playdate, etc.

Why it goes awry:

Miss Crabby Monkey graces the house with her terrible attitude, extra whiny, extra bad attitude she spends the morning in her room.

Someone else is crying and fussing needs to be nursed and paid attention to.  The bills need to be paid online and then of course I check my email and get on BT a little bit, and by the time all this has happened the window of opportunity for the gym has closed until post-nap for Baby E...so gym later.  But she'll nap while I wear her in the grocery store, right?  RIGHT?

Post nap there needs to be food for both of them before we head out, and there are lunches to be packed if we won't be back in time.  Some days it takes a full hour to ensure enough food, extra clothing, diapers, coloring, dolly, and the kitchen sink are all packed in in order to launch.

I have in the past week been a stickler for the earlier bedtime for both the girls and it seems to have alleviated some of the tantrum prone parts of the day.  Now, to weed out the whine-testing Miss Monkey has of late been attempting to engage us with.  

So it goes.

Really, sitting here, hangin' out before I pull the brownies from the oven and dash to see The Man at his office, random Friday afternoon...plump one is "big sigh" looking for what comes next and making the uber-cute baby noises but hasn't started classic crawling and sits, waiting for more entertainment...the other is lounging in her dress up heels mentions a broken foot while trying to snatch dust from the air, sings a gibberish song introducing her baby doll to baby sister.

Who are these people?  Did I really birth them?  or were they beamed here from someother plane of existence?

Simply Holiday

Christmas was fairly quiet and very simple for us.  Miss Monkey received her wished for Santa gifts, and we went for a ride and run on bright beautiful Christmas day.  Last night we talked about how New Year's Eve was a celebration to mark the next calendar year, then kiddos off to bed.  The Man and I had s'mores from the fireplace, watched movies, and I fell asleep until Baby E fussed somewhere around midnight.  

Peaceful holiday weekends---unless you count the massive meltdown we were embarrassed to leave a party one evening.  Small children + sugar + over-stimulation + more sugar + lack of sleep due to holiday party excitement and crazy schedules = complete utter loss of social emotional control, or Atomic Tantrum.  It's bound to happen at least once, the trick is not to make threats we're unwilling to carry out.  In this case I could see that there was no "reset" button to be found, she was already beyond.  I spoke to her firmly, quietly, right in her ear, gave her the choice to calm herself or we'd have to leave, well, we had to leave.  Sometime later, about half way home, a switched flipped and it was almost as if nothing happened.  The next morning it seemed she didn't remember much---sugar hangover?  It's gotta be challenging to keep up with adult schedules throughout the holidays, learn all the new things, the excitement of Santa's impending visit, eating all the sugar, meeting all the people, etc. etc.etc.  All things considered I think with only one meltdown we did all right.

Thank the goodness for friends and family to spend the holiday time with.  I am so grateful for the year we've had, though it was trying we kept moving forward and landed all right, a learning experience for certain.  I'm also grateful for all the new friends we've made and all the 'old' friends that have stuck.  

Hope your holidays were blessed, may you enjoy ringing in the New Year, stay safe, be joyous, may your heart be light, know that you are loved, and may your coming year burst with abundance.

Perfection at Postal Service

Nothing says Christmas to me like the post office.  Being there sending something to a far away friend or family member, watching others packing bright gifts up to send, or gathering up their mail and packages from vacation hold.  It's pretty magical that I can send a card from here to Alaska or Hawaii or New York for less than $0.50 (can't even buy a soda for that!).  I enjoy the post office normally, but especially during holiday season.  I get a lift from sending packages or cards.  Once, more than several years ago, I was the sobbing girl at the counter, missing my husband, sending him a package in hopes that he'd have a bit of Christmas whilst we were so far apart.  On the other hand, if a package arrives with my (or my daughters') name I simply cannot leave it un-opened...packages that aren't addressed to me are almost too too tempting, also!

I digress.  The First Born wanted to send something to her little friends for Christmas, I suggested silly bands and the hand made cards she put together all by herself, I made custom envelopes with her appointed color for each of them.  This afternoon we wait in line at the USPS office, she's chatting away with random abandon, and notices two soldiers at the counter.  "Hey, Mama, they're wearing funny shirts!"
I explain, "Well, they're wearing uniforms, sweetheart, they're soldiers."
"Why are there soldiers, Mama?" 
"Because sometimes we need them to help keep us safe."
"They travel a long way, to different countries, don't they?"
"Yes, sometimes, usually they're away.  But it's Christmas-time and lots of them get to come home to be with their families."
There was some talk of shooting and hunting...sometimes soldiers are hunters, but not all hunters are soldiers.  Then,
"Can I go talk to them?"
"Well, can you wait until after they're done with their business at the counter?"
"Yes.  Then I want to tell them, 'Thank you for keeping us safe, and Merry Christmas!' "
So she waits, and I wait, teary eyed, the Ergo-ed Baby E makes exclamatory remarks"BbAH, AgH, BbAH!".  A couple of minutes and it's mission accomplished, the gentlemen smile and wave as they head back outdoors.  Sweet Miss Monkey then makes her way to the counter to send off her small presents. 

While I fully recognize the differences in the armed forces and their compartmentalized duties, 'keep it simple' is best sometimes.  And anyone who serves to protect the general populace such that we are safe everyday; Police & Fire, Sheriff, National Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, BIG WONDERFUL HOLIDAY THANK YOU!

In the basement...

There's a bike.  It's from Santa, and it's supposed to be hidden until the big day.  But today in classic 4 year old fashion F went downstairs to look for her blankie that had gone missing almost 2 full days ago.  She does an odd (hereditary on her Papa's side I think) thing...she looks for the missing item in places where it couldn't possibly be.

Down to the basement she went, and excitedly returns to me to report that there's "something down there, it's purple and white with flowers! it's a big girl bike, Mama!"

I play cool, "Oh?  hmm, well, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, come and see!"

"No.  I'm not going downstairs...." then cheerfully, lightly,
"That's not our space down there, Ms. Landlay-Dee is storing things down there.  I'm not going down there, it's not our space remember?  And you're not to go down there either."

She did try to get down there once more, but was diverted cleverly with other Christmasey things to be done.

Crisis averted?  We'll see.  The Man already went to do some magic downstairs, so hopefully I'll just use my considerable tools of Denial and Distraction to pretend like nothing happened.