Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Mental Arm Wrestling

I think everyone in our family is a bit out of sorts due to a couple of things that have happened over the last few days. First, on a whim we drove to the coast FOR THE DAY. Not for the weekend. FOR THE DAY. It was truly awesome! There is nothing like the sounds of the waves crashing and the smell of the ocean air. We loved playing on the very chilly beach for a few hours, and I loved racing through IKEA for a half hour on a break during the drive back. A half hour race through IKEA should be its own blog entry, being the major feat that it is and all. To get to the coast, we had to drive five hours there and five hours back, which included a shortcut through a scary neighborhood and a drive past San Quentin. And no, interestingly enough, those are not one in the same. So, to sum up, it was a great day, but a long and tiring day.

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The second thing that happened is Daylight Savings Time. In college I despised “spring forward” and longed for the extra hour that came with “fall back”. However, as a mother of small children, the reverse is true. We still put the kids down at the same time, but they lie in bed and toss and turn for that extra hour before finally going to sleep. The glorious part is they finally sleep until 7 a.m. instead of that horrendous 6 a.m., giving us that much sought after extra hour of sleep. However, the time change gets us all out of whack. The extra light in the evenings is fabulous, but the kids are like, “You want me to go to bed? Now? Say what? The sun is still up. You’re crazy, lady.” To which I reply, “Why, yes, yes I am. And I have you guys to thank for that. Now, hurry up, American Idol is about to start.”

Today we had a great play date at our house, and when it was over it was time for our daily ritual of quiet time. Emily finally hit her emotional wall with all the excitement and changes over the last few days and was a complete shrieking mess when I asked her to brush her teeth. I know, I’m just so mean. There was no reasoning with her. There was no threatening her with the fear of sugar bugs rotting her teeth. There was no getting a word in edgewise. BECAUSE THE GIRL HAS A SET OF LUNGS ON HER Janet Leigh would have gone psycho for. After she hit me, I told her she wasn’t going to get a story before quiet time, to which she replied with more shrieks. I put her to bed and hung out right outside her door. She’d get out of bed, and I’d put her back. She’d get out again, and I’d put her back. All the while she is screaming at the top of her lungs how she wants a story.

AN HOUR LATER, she finally caved that she wasn’t going to get a story. I sung her the ABCs and Twinkle Little Star, and she told me she was sorry for being mad at me.

And thus, I emerge victorious from the mental arm wrestling today. Both kids are asleep, and I get to blog about it. Lucky you.

2 comments:

  1. I want to go to the coast... Maybe I'll just go to the Great Salt Lake and get brine flies in my teeth.

    ReplyDelete