Aunt Kate Arrives!

Julie had the sort of collapse she had last night in part, probably, because there was no other adult around to talk her down.  Ted was picking Aunt Kate up at the airport.  Yes!!!!!  Aunt Kate is here!!!!!  For her first day here, we took her to the zoo in the cold!  Welcome back to Minnesota, where we do spring like winter!  The sun was out and it wasn't so bad in the sun.  (This would be before it SNOWED in the afternoon.  It didn't stick, but still.)  The farm animals have been having babies, and baby farm animals sounds good in any kind of weather and really, they were.

Um, am I supposed to eat your glove?  Hey, Kid, you're supposed to ask your mom or dad for some quarters and then what you do see, is you put them in that machine over there, and get me some food.  So you go on now. . .Go on.

Aunt Kate.  A new person to pick-y me-y up-y.

Hellooooo, Grandpa Charles!

Kids R Crazy and Parenting Is Hard (Or, the Importance of Sleep)

"Kids r crazy."  That's how Sara replied when Julie texted Sara last night that she'd yelled so loud at Joe and Clara, she'd broken a sweat.  You read that, Fans.  She.  Broke.  A.  Sweat.  It might also have been because at one point she was jumping up and down to punctuate her rant.  You read that right as well.  Jumping.  Up.  And.  Down.  No doubt--no doubt--Julie looked like a lunatic.  This might have been why Clara was laughing.  After all, the night before, when Ted marched into their room and tossed the Cars racetrack out into the hallway in pieces, Julie stood in the doorway of the bathroom trying to swallow her laughter.  He looked like a lunatic, but Julie didn't want him to see her laughing because she knew he just happened to reach the end of his rope faster that night but it could have just as easily been her.  She didn't want him to think she was laughing at him.

For whatever reason--probably the newfound thrill of sharing a bed--the bambini have been off the rails again at bedtime.  They laugh.  They cackle.  They screech.  They shriek.  They sing.  They yell.  Eventually, there are tears because eventually, one of them inadvertently kicks the other, or hits the other, or punches the other.  But of course, these are not inadvertent slights to the one who is suffering them.  No, to that one, the blow was not an accident.  Tears might also be shed because in all of the flopping and jostling and jockeying for position, a leg, arm, or head might meet with the bed or the wall.  An animal friend could fall out of bed as well, and well, you know, it's an ocean of fire there a foot off the bed.

Sometimes the bambini risk the hot lava though, and emerge from their bedroom, almost always as a pair.  They walk into the living room, with expressions that seem to say, "Oh.  My.  God.  What are you doing out here?!?! Are you bathing in Skittles while you watch Cars on multiple screens eating ice cream?!?!"  Then Joe, clearly the assumed spokesperson, will say something like "We need water."  (These two would never make it in the desert.  Never.)

All of this means that the bambini have been up until about nine o'clock lately.  That, in turn, means that if, say for example, one asks Birdie to put on her shoes, one is met with petulant resistance that is really terribly tiresome before 8am.

So last night, Julie head reached the end of her rope and was left yelling and jumping up and down like a lunatic.  Joe may have at one point, through tears, wailed, "I can't handle it anymore," and Julie might have roared back, "Well me neither!"  They are both sensitive souls.  Clara of course was laughing at the great show.  Don't turn that dial!

When the storm had passed, of course, Julie felt awful.  Ordinarily, this would be when she would begin crying again because she'd be thinking she'd failed at everything except suggesting to Joe and Clara that a useful way to solve problems is to holler and jump up and down like some psychopathic rabbit.  But, Julie has been working hard at not making these kinds of big leaps, too, and last night, after the storm had passed, all she really wanted to do was be with the bambini.  She wanted them to know she felt awful, and to hug them because she figured they felt at least a little awful, too, having been hollered at by a jumping mother.

So Julie went in the bambini's room, and said she was sorry she'd lost her temper, and she was working on pulling it in when she felt that she was going to lose her temper.  She said she thought it was great that the bambini had someone to talk to and giggle and snuggle with at bedtime, but that they took it too far and needed to work on pulling it in, too.  At the end she said, "O-kay?"  And the bambini said, "O-kay."

So o-kay.

Still, kids are crazy, and what a gift, to have a friend who will tell you that when you forget, so that you can remember the corollary: parenting--raising a person, people--is hard.  Growing up, too.

Which is why it's important, for everyone, to go to bed.

This wasn't last night.  This was the other night ago.  The first night Clara wore underwear to bed.  Three nights accident-free and counting!

Awful Good Parenting

Background: It was Saturday.  Ted had been awake very early due to a back strain he suffered while shoveling water from the back walkway, and Julie had also lost sleep all week due to a sinus infection. They also had plans to go out to dinner that night with friends. So when family quiet time rolled around Julie was quick to claim the sofa as her napping spot, and Ted headed upstairs to the big bed.  Joe was reminded that it was quiet time and he needed to do his own activities because everyone else was taking a nap.  When we left him, he was drawing a picture at the dining room table and had plans to set the iPad up to watch the Cars 2 movie.

Ted, upon being woken by Joe at 2:30pm: Joe asked Ted if it was time for Clara to get up.  Ted looked at the clock and seeing it wasn't quite three when Clara would ordinarily wake up, said, "No, Joe.  Not yet."  Then, Ted rolled back over and fell back asleep.

Julie, upon waking up at around 4:15pm from a deep sleep:  She saw that the door to the bambini's room was open and Clara was out of her bed.  But the house was quiet, so she figured that the bambini must be upstairs with Ted or that they'd all ducked out for a walk.  (It was, after all, almost spring like outside that afternoon.)  She needed to run to the tailor to pick up some pants she planned to wear that very night before the tailor closed.  She gathered her stuff and walked out the front door to the car which was in the front of the house by the curb.  Before driving off she sent Ted a text letting him know she would be back soon.

Ted, upon waking up at around 4:20pm from a deep sleep:  The house was quiet and he headed downstairs.  From the upstairs window he saw the kids outside playing in the sandbox which was, just that day, finally accessible because enough of the winter's snow had melted.  Outdoor toys were scattered across the yard.  He figured Julie took the kids outside to play.  He walked to the kitchen and deduced from the stems littered across the counter top that Joe had been eating the strawberries from the container there.  He went to the back door, slipped on his shoes to walk outside when he glanced at his phone and saw the text (4:17pm) from Julie: "Going to pick up my pants. Babysitter comes at 6:30." Still in a stupor he went outside and said hi to the bambini, who were in snow pants, snow boots, winter coats, hats and gloves in almost 50-degree weather.  Ted and bambini bantered idly back and forth, but Ted was slowly, but slowly, starting to put the pieces together.  The largest piece being: the kids were out here alone.  At first he wondered if Julie decided to leave the bambini unsupervised so she could run to the tailor, but that didn't seem right.  So he calmly told them that they should go inside for snack, which the bambini were happy to do.  They were stripped of their muddy, sandy winter gear all the way to underwear and escorted inside.

Julie, upon arriving home from the tailor at about 4:45pm:  She parked in the back and saw the pile of gear and clothes at the back door.  She let herself in and was soon in the kitchen cleaning some dishes at the sink when Ted strolled by and asked extremely casually, "So. . .did you let the kids outside?"  Julie said, "No."  And then it all finally clicked.

And so we are left to wonder: are we awful parents?  Falling asleep while our almost-five year old had free range of the house with unlocked doors?  So long that the almost-five year old was them joined by his almost-three year old sister?  Perhaps, Fans, perhaps.

But, we are also, frankly, rather proud parents.  As best we can figure, Joe whiled away his time with activities for two hours, then checked on Birdie and finding her awake, suggested they play together outside.  They knew to put on all their winter gear (two feet from Julie's head, mind you).  Joe must have gotten Clara zipped up.  Then, they headed outside, went into the garage and pulled out the usual toys, before realizing they could get at the sandbox, which they then did.

Possibly irresponsible parents terribly proud of their impossibly responsible children.

The scene when Ted walked outside at 4:20pm.  Looks innocent enough, right?

Birdie Flies Higher

Yesterday, Clara began her transition to the Preschool C room.  She spent the morning there, and returned to her Twos room at lunchtime and stayed there the remainder of the day.  She was with Ms. Manisha when Julie arrived to pick the bambini up, and Ms. Manisha reported that all was well.

Clara reports that they are discussing bugs in Ms. Jenny's room--butterflies, lady bugs, beetles, bumble bees. . .check, check, check, and check.  Joe reports that he knows what a butterfly comes from.  Julie said yes, she did, too!  A cocoon.  That's what she learned in A Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Eric Carle is peddling misinformation.  Joe--and Ted--informed Julie and Clara that a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis.

Julie collected Clara before continuing on to Pre-K to collect Joe.  Julie was corralling him when she noticed that Clara had quietly sidled up to her friend Sylvia at the Legos table.  Clara stood there next to Sylvia just beaming away, just like the cat that got cream.  Julie was watching when Sylvia reached over to pet Clara gently on the front of her puffy coat.  Then, they sort of leaned into each other.

It's good to have buddies like that, isn't it, Brigade?  Julie felt so glad for them, and so glad to have seen that moment.

Peas In a Pod (Bed)

Sunday night, something happened here at Raleigh House that's never happened: the bambini fell asleep next to each other in the same bed, Joe's bed.  They spent the whole night next to each other in that bed.  Last night, they were in their own beds.  Tonight, they are back together in Joe's bed.  Julie just went in there when Joe started to wail.  According to Joe, Clara had thrown something at him; according to Clara, she'd shared something.

Following a gentle reminder about gentle sharing and a confirmation that all were happy together in Joe's bed, Joe announced, "Clara is wearing underwear."  So that's rockin'.  More rockin' will be if she's dry in the morning.  We shall keep you updated as events unfold, Brigade.