Sometimes It's Just Not Your Day to Twirl

So, in case you have not surmised this on your own, Abigail is a bit of a princess.  A lot of a princess, actually.  She loves all things girly.  The more fluff and glitter, the better.  Kinda funny to see her next to Juli, who is her daddy in a cute little blond toddler girl's body, but I digress.  The other day, I dropped Abby off at school.  She was wearing sparkly blue jeans and a cute purple shirt with ruffles on the shoulders.  This, for her, is a very "plain" outfit, but as there was some glitter and ruffling, it was (barely) passable.  When I came back at the end of the day to pick her up, she was visibly upset.  This is how the ensuing conversation went:

Me: Hi, chickydoodle!
Ab: Hi, mom (lower lip a little droopy, but not officially a pout yet)
M: How was school today?
A: I didn't like it today, mom.
M: Why not?  What happened?
A: Look at Lilly's outfit, mom.
I look at Lilly, who is the picture of cuteness with a little grey dress on that has pink tulle peeking out from the hem of a very twirly skirt.
M: Wow!  That is a cute outfit, Lilly!
Lilly looks at me with a coquettish grin and does a twirl, for which I smile and clap.
A: Mom! (sounding very betrayed and wounded)
M: Whassa matter, hon?
A: How come I did not wear a twirly dress today?
M: You wore one yesterday.
A: I wanna wear one everyday so I can twirl, too.
M: Well, honey, sometimes it's just not your day to twirl.

Mrs. Brooke, who shall henceforth be known as the queen of all preschool teachers, laughed out loud and said that she was "writing this one down".  She thinks it is a saying that could apply to all of us at one time or another.  Sometimes, it is just not your day to twirl.

Abby and the New Preschool

Abby is four years old and attends a preschool that she loves.  This particular preschool had spring break last week, which meant that we had to find someone or someplace that could take its place for five days.  After some checking around, we chose to put her in Juli's daycare/preschool for the week.  I was worried that it would stress Abby out - going to a new place for such a short period of time, having to make new friends and get to know new teachers...I should have known better.

On Monday, I drove the girls to the school and we dropped Juli off at her classroom first - she is in the Frog room, which is a room of seven children who range in age from 17 months (ours) to 27 months.  She has a lot of fun in this room and loves her teachers, but more on that in another blog.

Then, down the hall we went to Abby's room- the Penguinflies.  (Pardon me while the inner English teacher cringes at this name.)  This room is a combination of two rooms, the Penguins and the Fireflies.  I am not sure what the story is behind the combination of the room or the names.

Let me back up a second...Abby put great thought into what she was going to wear this first day of school right down to the accessories.  Once it was all said and done, she had on a pink and grey dress, grey tights, pink shoes, a ponytail with a pink hairbow, a pink necklace and lip gloss (thanks for the gloss, Auntie Jenny!).

Back to the new room.  So we walk in and I show her the pets (gulp).  This room has guinea pigs, frogs and fish, as far as I can tell.  I did not get very close to the guinea pigs or frogs...but I looked at the fish for Abby's sake.  Those of you who know me know that I am not a fan of guinea pigs or things that jump or fly.  Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Anyway, we go in there and the teacher has had the forethought to label Abby's cubby ahead of time, which makes her feel right at home.  One of her teachers (there are three of them) is male and when he enters the room, he immediately dons a Dr. Seuss hat and proceeds to bellow "Good Morning!" at each child as they enter the room.  Although I am initially startled by his vigor and volume, the kids seem to enjoy this immensly.  All the while, Abby is quite nervous and hiding behind me.  Then a little boy, whose name I do not know, runs into the room, tosses his coat into his cubby, says a breezy hello to the man-teacher and heads for the guinea pig cage.  On his way there, he stops short.  He sees my daughter.  What is this?? he is thinking.    Who is this vision of pink fluffiness that stands before me?  I must meet her.  And in all of his four year old bravado asks the only obvious question that there is to ask when he likes a girl.  "Wanna see my spaceship?"

And the sad part is, she did.

Booger

Ok, so Juliana is sick AGAIN - she just finished her amoxicillin on Monday - it is Wednesday and we are back at the doctor because daycare called and thought she might have pink-eye.  Turns out that the ear infection she took ten days of antibiotics for is still there and (urp!) leaking out of her eye.  Poor thing.  But this is not really what I am writing about.  What I am writing about is the booger that will ultimately cause me to abandon my family (for their own good) and move to a small corner of the world to become a hermit.

I was sitting in the drive-thru part of the pharmacy.  This is not a drive-thru window, mind you, but a satellite booth across the parking lot from the pharmacy.  I am a big fan of this drive-thru because it means I can have a sick kid in the car watching movies calmly in the backseat rather than running rampant through the grocery store in an effort to infect everyone they come within 50 feet of.  And it feels more private to me.  I just like it. But I digress...

Ok, so back to sitting at the drive-thru.  Kiddos in the backseat watching Barney (do I hear collective groans???  Let me tell you that when it is eight o'clock at night and you have a sick kid in the car who is up an hour past her bedtime with an ear infection and a fever, Barney is your best freakin friend!!) and I am hanging out up front with the window down (finally!  nice weather for a change!).  Then I feel it - the booger.  It is in the left side of my nose and feels huge!  I think about it for a moment and then realize that I gotta go after it.  And this is not a kleenex booger either - this one will require serious excavation.  Fingers only, my friend.  Any of you who are pretending that you never pick your nose can stop reading here - I don't need no stinkin' liars reading my blog! (wink)  You all know you have picked your nose before, so stop with the fake horror at my actions.

So, I am knuckle deep and really focusing on the task at hand when I look up and there it is...the pharmacy camera.  Staring. Right. At. Me.  Yep - about 12 inches from my face.  Great.  So I jerk my finger from my nose and feel myself turning bright red with embarassment.  What the heck am I going to do now?  I do what comes naturally, of course.  I call my husband.  This is how the conversation went.

Me: Honey?
Dan: Yep.
M: I have a story to tell you.  You ready?
D: Yep.
M: Ok, I am sitting at the drive-thru pharmacy waiting for Juli's medicine and I had a booger.
D: Oh, boy.
M: Yep.  I had to try to get it out honey (in a whiney voice).  It was really bothering me!
D: Ok...
M: So I picked my nose for like a really long time.
D: Oh jeez, hon.
M: And then I looked up and saw the video camera!
D: Oh, no! (giggling hysterically)
M: I know!  What am I supposed to do?  I just know that they are in there laughing at me!!  I am so embarassed!
D: Yep.  I can see that.
M: Oh my god.
D: Hey babe?
M: Yes?
D: They have audio, too.  They can hear you right now.

Well, there it is.  My grand Mindi-moment for the day.  I have to go start packing...

Toilet Paper

For some odd reason, Juliana loves to unwind the toilet paper off of the roll.  (Does anybody else's kid do this??)  If she gets enough of it, she will then grab the end and run wildly through the house, thus "TP'ing" our humble home on the inside, rather than the traditional outside method.  This does not bode well for us 15 years down the road.  One of my big fears is that we are going to be the parents that every other kid's parents hate because we can't control our child(ren). 

In a heroic and paternal effort to prevent our family members from becoming social outcasts, Dan recently intervened in such an adventure...

This is Dan holding Juli while trying to teach her that unrolling the toilet paper is a completely unproductive and inefficient activity.  See how Daddy put it back on the roll, honey?  She is obviously a captive participant.

See, Juli?  This is Daddy rerolling the toilet paper - and it is not as pretty as it once was is it?

After he releases her, Dan feels like he has taught his captive pupil a valuable lesson.  Yes, the wise and patient man continues to roll the toilet paper back onto the roll.  The bemused father of three feels that he may have headed this potential problem off at the pass and taught his youngest child a valuable lesson...

If only he could have seen her devilish grin as he let her go...she hasn't learned a darn thing except maybe that Daddy will fix whatever she messes up because she is his baby girl.  Gotta love it.