Yesterday wasn’t a bad day. I made my first two-child outing, and took the kids to a lapsit storytime at the local library. It is geared for 2-and-unders, and BabyGirl was thrilled to see all the other kids clapping and singing. She grinned for the whole 10 minute sing-along, and enjoyed playing with the toys for the 30 minute playtime afterwards. Even JediBoy was singing and clapping, I think to entertain BabyGirl. I used to take him to this storytime every week and he never, ever sang along or did the hand motions. He was too deeply observant. So it was fun to see him come out of his shell.
We saw an old friend there, who we first met at the very same storytime about 4 years ago, when her oldest daughter was 2 and JediBoy was 1. She’s got two younger boys now who were both with her. We also chatted with a woman who goes to the same parent resource center we do, and a woman who adopted her son from Guatemala about two years ago. It was a very nice social time.
After that, I took the kids to BigOlGroceryStore, where we had lunch together and then did some shopping. It really hit me how out-of-practice I am at the patience and time it takes to bring a 1-year-old with you everywhere. We carted around so much extra stuff (the diaper bag, the sling, the cart seat cover, her snowsuit) and had to take lots of extra time to make sure she was okay. But things went well there too.
My personal meltdown came around 3:00. I had been trying to get BabyGirl to succumb to her nap since about 2:00, and she was having none of it. That’s just terribly frustrating, so… I gave her an extra-full bottle, left her in the cosleeper in the gated bedroom, and pulled JediBoy away from his Legos. “I need you in the kitchen NOW.”
Poor kid thought he was in trouble… instead, I whipped out the Honey Maid Gingerbread Graham Crackers, bottled icing and assorted candies I bought at the store. I told him I needed to make a gingerbread house! So we did. Of course we were too impatient for the icing to set and hold an actual house together, so when the first attempt fell apart, we moved on to just decorating the graham cracker squares and then eating them. Mmmm. Some days, you need a little icing.
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