conuly | So, on my day (how boring!)

Current Mood: bouncy

Basically, I came home last night, and attempted (unsuccessfully, due to several interruptions) to sleep. I needed that sleep, too. So I ended up letting the kid watch an extra episode of Backyardigans today (I usually let her watch one episode while I do her hair, which has cut our hair-doing down to under 22 minutes. Since it used to take as long as an hour (if she really didn't want me to do it), this is a good thing.) And because her hair was already braided, I skipped hair-doing as well, and half-napped for the 44 minutes or so this took.

And I feel bad for those 22 minutes she gets every day (or occasionally 44, if I find myself at the end of the day with 22 minutes to kill and no energy to start something potentially messy after we (she) just cleaned up). I feel bad that she watches it, bad that she enjoys it, bad that she *mimics* what she sees on that (admittedly quite cool) show. I feel *good* when she imitates something she found in a book, even one I think is pure brain candy for the toddler set, and *bad* when she copies something from a show I think is nothing but good (if short on outright didacticism). How odd.

I awake from my nap only slightly refreshed, but at least able to enjoy the day. Kinda.

Well, I didn't pull my hair out from the roots.

1. We managed, in a fit of effort (and a major concession on the breakfast front) to get out the house by 9:13 yesterday. Not too shabby :) We needed to leave early (it won't be early by summer, when everything starts earlier anyway) in order to make it to the BCM in time for the "Little Scientist" program (which starts half an hour later than I'd realized anyway). They read a book (The Very Busy Spider) and got to pet a turtle. (The later program was apparently quite different, and better, in my view - they saw a snake and made paper plate snakes of their own.) It was so funny - during the storytime, the reader-person let the kids touch the pages where the web was, to feel that it was raised up. And then as she took it away, Ana got quite indignant that her sister was being left out. "NO! Let EVA touch!" was the exact phrase, I believe. Eva doesn't react well to having her arms pulled this way and that, but she touched the book anyway.

And then we went to the playground, and then we went to Jenn's office to meet up with her on the way home. And then Ana threw a tantrum due to a lack of both nap and adaquate lunch. And then she fell asleep on the train. Finally.

Things I'll do differently next time: 1. I'll have a better breakfast than the one we had - something more substantial than raisins-because-I'm-in-a-rush.

2. I'll get there earlier, by about half an hour, to make sure we have enough time to leave the house - the BCM is a trek.

3. We *will* eat lunch before we get to the museum. We *will* have a lunch the kid will eat, something nice and filling.

4. Nowhere in Ana's diet will be anything sugary. This includes juice and dried fruit. She just can't handle the sugar rush AND the long trip AND the over-stimulating Brooklyn Children's Museum. I like that place, but their layout sacrificed "calming design" for "really cool". And they have no idea what sort of amenities are needed. Seriously, only one bathroom? WTF? (The CMOM is, if anything, worse - and far too slickly designed for my tastes. The only thing I really like about that place is their water area, which is worth the rest of the museum)

5. We're not visiting Jenn after. Ana went through several weeks where she had us convinced she could do without a nap. She *did* go without a nap on many days! But in the past week she's switched back into her old naptime schedule with a vengeance. Skipping her nap yesterday was the worst thing I've ever done to that kid. She needed to sleep, and instead she didn't get to.

6. We'll leave the museum a lot sooner, too - same reason as above, and do something more calming than visit the playground. I didn't realize it had two entrances....

7. We're going to work more bathroom breaks into our schedule if I have to take them myself. Problem is that I've long since trained my body not to need to pee very often. I can't expect that of Ana, and she'll be a lot more amenable to sitting on the toilet if that's not the main reason we went there - See, Ana? It wasn't a ploy! Connie had to go pee-pee too! *sighs*

Notable Ana-quote: Me: Ana, don't go under the table.
Ana: Don't go under table?
Me: Yeah, because it's dirty.
Ana: Table NOT dirty! Ackshully, it's gum.

We Did a Project. Namely, we made peanut butter! Or, I made it and Ana helped. She got to pound at some peanuts with a play-dough hammer to crack the shells open, and to press the button on the spice grinder.

I'm also experimenting with a new concept. In order to keep her from playing in the refrigerator, I'm working on asking her to get me specific items from the fridge, with the idea that this'll make the whole place a lot less attractive to her, while also making her feel responsible (and making my life a lot easier). I don't believe this'll stop her from looking for her favorite syrup and jelly in the fridge, but at least it'll cut down on how often she just opens the door and stares at everything for a while....

I've also been trying to Do Things with the baby, too - I felt bad that I was spending a lot of time with the baby (and neglecting Ana) but not doing anything fun - either feeding her, changing her, or trying to make her fall asleep. So now I'm trying to play games with the baby - and Ana helps. She loves it. So I've killed two birds with one stone. Plus, after we play games, the baby sleeps easier and for longer. I'm kicking myself RIGHT NOW.

Meghan's mom called yesterday. She's having a day care crisis, and needs somebody to watch Meghan tomorrow. So I agreed (and yes, I'm getting paid, though I think for a one-time thing it's not taking advantage if I weren't. If she routinely did this, that'd be wrong), and Meghan's going to be with us tomorrow.

Only problem? This really fucks up my normal Friday schedule. We usually go to the museum - we do the Friday Toddler Program, and we wander for a bit, and we eat lunch with Meghan, and we do Kidz Cook, and we go home. And I really wanted to talk to the toddler-program director to see if she'll be there next week. I have no doubt that I could watch both of them in the museum (honestly, the two of them together means they basically watch themselves. Both Meghan's parents and I have had times when we watched both of them alone for an extended period with the other caregiver-person did something else (in my case, either changing the baby's diaper or getting her into her snowsuit, two things which take a while; in Meghan's dad's case, running out to get diapers or some other essential he'd left in the car), so that's not boasting), but I don't know that I'd be able to get them to the museum. Not only do I not know how Meghan is on busses, but the two routes to the museum are both fraught with danger - big busy streets right at a bus stop. I know I can handle Ana at those bus stops, but I don't know about Meghan, or (worse) Ana *and* Meghan.

So the museum is out for tomorrow, and I'm scrambling to find something to fill up the day. I've decided we'll splurge on the full 44 minutes of TV (hey, it kills time, and it allows them both to choose an episode), make cookies, make popcorn (both of these things *after* lunch), and either play with play-dough or paint. And we'll see about making it to the playground. I just don't like taking Ana out where there's melting snow. She likes to eat snow, but she doesn't yet know the difference between GOOD snow and BAD snow. Any other ideas would be much appreciated.

Wish me luck!

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So, on my day (how boring!)

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