That amazing A

I’ve been thinking up things to say about A, and intending to post a little about just her, since, oh, her birthday. In July.

A is now three and almost a half. She is catching up quick on her big sister J in all things physical. She still loves her blankey, a good cuddle, and her speech is still difficult to comprehend. But she is growing up.

Though A has always had the gift of independence – when by herself she could always amuse herself – I used to worry, a little, at how completely willing she was to accommodate J’s every whim when they played together. But now, she thoroughly holds her own. She plays just as willingly as ever, most of the time, but if she has had enough, she she has a streak of the mischief so wide it might even be called wicked. You can see she knows exactly what she is doing when she pushes J’s buttons. So much more often it is J, at 4 and a half, who ends up  calling for mommy at the injustice of it all.

In fact, A has times when the mischief extends to me, and her father, seeing just how far she can push. We are constantly trying to figure out how to keep one step ahead of her. When a kid grins on the way to time out, knowing it was totally worth it, what do you do?

Unfortunately, I seriously lose at this game. I am by nature inconsistent, and unless you stay right on top of A, she’ll eat you for breakfast. She takes everything I have sometimes, but she is also so loving and amiable by nature, you can’t stay mad long.

She rarely prowls the house late at night anymore, and I kind of miss our little chats late at night, even if they did mostly consist of GO TO BED on my part. But she is never-endingly funny, amused by the world as much as she adds fun too it. Quite a little character, that one.

That’s twice

I never mean to blog about the weather, but it seems to be a big factor in my life. Go figure.
The ice storm hit again last night, but fortunately for pedestrians, a layer of snow on top of it kept it from  being nearly as treacherous as last time.
Nevertheless, the roads were crazy, so the girls and I didn’t pile in the car for a trip to the museum as planned. Maybe this afternoon, we’ll see.
Instead, we went outside to play in the yard. I had a distinct advantage in hide and go seek, as I noticed the distinctive trails of two little boots in the fresh snow – and went the other way, to prolong the search each time.

Then the girls busied themselves filling a bucket with snow, which we took in to melt with warm water, followed by window washing, snack, floor cleaning, and now they are immersed in all things train, giving me a moment to post!

Dreary

The first ice storm of the year always offends me. Throughout the spring and summer, I  manage to put this bit of nastiness out of my mind. Then I am viciously reminded how much I hate it, and the realization annoys me anew – in no small part because I have forgotten (again)  -  because, well, this weather sucks any energy and drive I may have right out of me.

There is minuscule consolation in the fact that icicles are pretty. But that only works when the sun comes out. No such compensation today.

Bring on the cocoa and books.

The kids are alright

A and J continue to amaze me. Sure, they have their incredibly babyish moments, and their fights, but generally they are exceptionally good-hearted and pleasant to be around.

Take today. I dropped them off at their daycare provider’s. J’s school is putting on a dance performance this afternoon. Because I’m out of work, I have the opportunity to attend. While standing around in the front hall discussing the details of how to get there, it came out that there will be parts when everyone can dance, too! Our daycare provider mentioned that she didn’t like to dance. I said, conscious of the little ears, that I loved to dance, but I wasn’t sure anyone liked to see me!

J and A rushed over, kissed and hugged me,  and announced that they LOVED to see me dance.
My own little fan club.

And, similarly, J applauds herself. The other day she took her sister and I on an exploration. She wanted to show me something, but she turned down the wrong street. We turned back, and went down the other street, and as she crested the hill, she recognized it was certainly the right street this time.
She pumped her arm in the air in celebration. WOO HOO! Yay J! she yelled, and jumped for joy.
What a gal.

And now for something completely different

Not much different in the writing or reading, just in my life.
I no longer have a job.

I can’t get into the details, I’ll leave it at the fact that I am on a job search.

Friends and family have been wonderful, and I am relatively optimistic that this will be a good change in the end.

I now have a computer set up at home, and will post more shortly, but there is nothing like sitting down at a keyboard to make you entirely forget what you were going to write.

Fair  warning: there will probably be more, soon!

This Christmas, the kids are in for it.

I’ve made a momentous decision. I’m buying Charlie Brown’s Christmas on DVD and playing the shit out of it this year.
Why? I love Vince Garaldi music, but this is bigger than that. I’m inculcating the kids in the Christmas story. Schultz-style.
I’ve fielded a couple of questions on religion already (“What is ‘pray’?” and, predictably, shortly after that, “What is God?”) but I have given the whole issue pretty short shrift.
The kids need to know that there is this long tradition, a story older than Visit from St. Nicholas, behind the tinsel in the winter’s dark. A story, and a practice, that has been the support of many and yet fostered more wars (I tried to explain that one last night, too) than any other activity, even discussing politics at the dinner table.
And I’ve been seeking a way to get into it with the girls. By “it”, I mean: how do people believe, what do people use to make sense of the world? The Death of our dear dog (thankfully) carefully skirted that discussion, but I hope this will be, well, it.