How It Goes.

I think I've mentioned in other posts how Cecilia doesn't think I'm nearly as funny as I think I am. Sometimes we have conversations that go like this:

Cecilia: Wow, it's hot today!
Momlissa: You know what else is hot? My butt in these jeans! [I turn around and show her my butt.] Don't you think so?!

And this is the face she makes:

This may or may not be a real-life example. I'll let you decide. (Hint: I'm wearing jeans today!)

She's In For A Big Surprise

Recently Cecilia discovered the agony of having a pimple in/on your nose. For two or three days she complained about how badly it hurt, and upon inspection it appeared to be the kind that just had to run its course. Eventually it did, but there were two moments in particular that I enjoyed during this time of pimples-in-the-nose:

1) The girls have been asked to help clean up, and Cecilia is stuck with a job that's normally reserved for Ruby. She protests, and I basically tell her "too bad, do it anyway," at which points she starts to cry and dramatically proclaims, "But I'm the one WITH A PIMPLE IN MY NOSE!"

She eventually completed the job.

2) Her nose has been bothering her and she has come to me looking for some kind of remedy, and I'm forced to tell her there's nothing much I can do about it. Cecilia becomes frustrated by this.

Cecilia [dramatically]: Isn't there something you can do? Isn't there pimple cream or something?

Momlissa: Well, there actually IS such a thing, but I'm not sure it'll do much good because I don't think I can get in your nose in the right spot.

Cecilia [with even more drama]: UGH!! When will these pimples ever STOP?!

I'll report back in about 6 years and let you all know how that's going.

An update/aside: Because people are so thoughtful and good, we received more than one offer to have Cici's stolen iPod replaced. This is incredibly kind and generous, and we are grateful to have people who care about the girls so much that they would want to do this. We were very fortunate to discover that Grandpa S (who works part-time at an Apple Store) had an extra (new!) iPod at home, and it was dropped off at our house earlier this week. Cecilia is overjoyed and all this generosity has gone a long way to remind us that most people are pretty darn awesome. Thank you!!

Party Girl

Earlier this week I received a phone call from the mother of another 3rd-grader at Cecilia's school to invite Cici to his upcoming birthday party. This call was amusing for a few reasons. They are:

• The boy (Felix) has never been in class with Cici. They go to the same school - yes - but don't actually have classes together. They once encountered each other at a park, had fun running around and playing, but that's it. She's since been invited to his house to play, just the two of them.
• The mother also wanted to let me know that Cici would be the only girl and to make sure that she would still feel comfortable if she was the only girl. Cici doesn't notice stuff like this (at least not yet).
  
• This is not the first time I've gotten a call from a parent asking if it was okay that Cici was the only girl at a party. The first time it happened was Kindergarten.

Cecilia just is who she is and likes what she likes, and it's one reason that she's never had problem making friends: girls AND boys.

And I love love love love love that about her.

Breakfast Drama

Ruby's school offers free breakfast to all kids, and this year they have a new system where you go to the cafeteria, grab your breakfast, and return to your classroom to eat it there (research shows that kids are more likely to eat a school breakfast if they can eat it in their classroom/homeroom). I decided to wait for her and walk her to her classroom because she packed a lunch from home today and I wasn't sure where it should be kept (and to make sure Ruby remembered). She went into the cafeteria and came back a couple minutes later empty-handed. When asked about this, she said she had changed her mind. And I said, "No honey, you need to eat something." Normally she eats at home and this is actually her SECOND breakfast, but today she slept late and and we figured she could just eat FIRST breakfast at school - so I definitely wanted her to eat. At this point her lip started to quiver and I knew something was up, so I asked if she was confused or scared about anything. As it turns out, when she went into the cafeteria they handed her the breakfast bag for the items, she got confused thinking it was for lunch (which she didn't need because we packed one), and handed the bag back. After realizing her error, she was confused and embarrassed and didn't know what to do so she just left.

This is the point where I began fighting off tears of my own.

I told her it was no big deal - people make silly mistakes all the time - and we walked back into the lunchroom together for her breakfast.

When I left she was smiling and happily eating breakfast with her table-mates, and I waited until I was safely out of eyesight before crying about my sweet, sweet girl being confused and scared and surrounded by the great big giant other children.

Do you think anyone would notice if I disguised myself as a plant and followed her around all day long?

In Beautiful You-Know-Where.

Last month the girls visiting their grandparents in Wisconsin. It's always a highlight of the summer for them (and for Grandma and Gramps too). And on a cold, windy, rainy September night like this, I think it's important for us all to look at them, and remember.

My Buddy and Me

Today was Ruby's first day of Kindergarten. She was a rock star: all smiles, excitement, and enthusiasm. I was a disaster: blubbering, waterworks, and the kind of hugs that embarrass your children:

I was trying to explain my sadness about this to my best friend Lindsay, and here is what it really boils down to. I'm losing my buddy.



Ever since the girls were born they've gone to daycare. I've never really known what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom and, frankly, I was always okay with that. But last year I quit my job to go back to school and, as such, I had a lot of time with my Ruby Girl because she was only in half-time preschool. And even though it was tiring and challenging at times, it was also ... a little magical. She was 4 last year and she's a very bright girl, so it was less about me taking care of her needs (she knows how to get a drink of water or when to go potty on her own) and more about just, sort of, hanging out. We ran errands and had lunch and cooked dinner and read books and fetched Cici from the bus stop -- TOGETHER. Every day. Me and Rubes. And it was pretty terrific. If you know Ruby you know what I mean; she's fun and funny and silly and smart and sassy and is an AMAZING belcher. These are all qualities you want in a person that you spend A LOT of time with, ya know?

Saying good-bye to Ruby this morning was more than just sending my baby off to Kindergarten, it was losing my really awesome playmate. And that totally breaks my heart.

When I picked her up today she was so excited to share her day, but her teacher mentioned that at one point she seemed a little sad. I asked her why she got a little sad, and she said it was because she was thinking about me and started to miss me but then remembered all the fun things to do and was fine. I just have to think about all the things she's going to learn and love about school and, hopefully, I'll be fine, too.

iStolen

Wednesday morning we discovered that someone had rummaged through our van looking for things to steal. The various compartments and little drawers in the dashboard had been opened and all their contents had been scattered. There wasn't much in there for them to take - about 75 cents in change - and then I remembered that I had seen Cecilia's iPod in the van just the day before. When I looked in the back where it had been, it was clear that it had been taken.

*A quick note about her iPod: Our children don't play video games, they don't have cell phones, or TVs in their room, and we don't have cable television. The iPod was a gift from Santa last Christmas and was really meant to be something special, not a just another way to add to their consumption of media.

As such, I was PISSED. (Please forgive my language, Linda.) It's my understanding that Santa pays Apple good money for those things. We filed a police report with the knowledge that pawn shops have some reporting requirement with the police department, and Santa had the good sense to engrave Cici's name onto the actual iPod.

Cecilia was understandably disappointed, but we're all trying to look at this as a lesson learned. In the grand scheme of things we have nothing to complain about, and Santa probably has the resources for a new iPod this year. But still - ARGH!!

Grade 3

Cecilia went back to school this week. Grade 3. The only thing I can say is, "What?!" Not that I wasn't ready for her to go back (because I WAS), but I'd give my left arm to stop time for a little while and keep them from getting any bigger. There must be some technology for that, right? An app or something? Alas...


Ruby doesn't start until Monday (they give the big kids some time to settle in before the little kids show up), and that's when it's really going to get ugly. It's not fair to make mothers send their babies to school. I mean, honestly.