New Projects and a Race Question

I am saddened and horrified at the events in Boston.  The thought of what this has done to the unsuspecting families and victims makes me so sick.  Sending love to those in Boston.

My mom called me shortly after with the warning, "Stay away from large crowds!"  To which I replied, "I live in LA.  Where can I go that doesn't have large crowds?"  In truth, I'm more worried when nobody is around.  Alarm bells start blaring in my head and I head for the nearest cluster of people.  The alarm is similar to the time I was driving in South Dakota and I could not see ANY cars on the flat endless highway.  In a panicked high pitched voice, I shouted to my husband, "WHAT DO I DO?!?"  He looked blankly at the highway extending to the horizon and said, "uh, drive?"

That being said, we are heading to a LA Dodgers game tonight and I must admit that I'm just a little nervous.

Changing gears entirely, here are a few photos of projects I haven't blogged about yet. 

1. A dress of my own design

2.  An Easter dress of the Citronelle Violette pattern

The cow (Mr. Cow) is her ever present buddy

3.  Crayon piggies

4.  The short lived photo frames on the fridge, which fell off and shattered a couple of hours later.  Turns out temporary tape is exactly that, temporary.

Fail mom, just FAIL.

In running news, my husband registered us for a half marathon race in August.  He is taking this very seriously this time and wants to PR with a sub 2:00 time.  Reasons why this sucks for me include:

1. Having to negotiate morning workout days
2. The likely possibility that he will have a faster time than me
3. Not having someone to run with

This leads me to my question: When you sign up for a race with someone, do you expect to run WITH them?  Or is the expectation simply to show up and leave together?

The New Job

I'm going to be a stay at home mom!  My husband and I both wanted one of us to be home with our children, we just thought it would be after we had 2 of them.  The timeline moved up drastically when the B's babysitter told us she had to leave to take care of her sister.  At first I was in shock when she told us she leaving.

This is what I was thinking in my head.

Instead of expressing my first reaction, I told her that I completely understood the decision she was making.  The next day, I took a tour of a local preschool that is really highly rated.  The place was a kid factory complete with bored and exhausted "teachers".  To make matters worse, the wait list was months long.  That night we crunched our numbers and figured out that we could afford (barely) to live on one income.  I gave my job my 2 week notice after that.  I'm sure you're wondering what the B's reaction to having mom stay home with her. 

Uh oh.  Hide me!

At work there has been mixed reactions.  Most people had been really supportive, telling me that it's the most important job in the world etc.  Another group is freaking out about who will support them when I leave.  There is also a small group of people that I'll call the stick-your-foot-back-in-you-mouthers.

I have had comments like, "Can you afford to not work?!?"  To which I reply, "Yes."  But I am really wishing I could say, "No, I just think living in debt and on welfare is a good idea." 

Another gem was, "I can't understand why you would quit.  Girls that go to college don't usually give up that easily."  I'll let you guess what my internal response to that one was. 

Say Wha?!

As for me, I'm terrified at the idea of having only one income.  Especially with things as uncertain as they are.  On the other hand, I am very excited to be able to spend my day looking at this face.

This is going to be so much FUN!  (at least until the next time out)

The Injustice!

We are finally moving out of the pushing phase.  After many time-outs, saying sorry, and hugs to friends, B finally understands that pushing is not nice.  "Push no nice.  Hug nice," as she now says.  With that new found understanding, she expects apologies and hugs from pushers and gets really mad when that doesn't happen. 

At the MyGym on Monday, she was pushed in the back off a platform by another little girl.  Luckily I was standing right there or she would have fallen 3 feet onto her face because she really wasn't ready for it.  The father of the pusher half-heartily said, "don't push."  I stood there holding my shaking child who was glaring at the little girl expectantly.  Since I also don't believe it's acceptable to push others without an apology, I stood there waiting as well.  As the dad picked up his girl and started to walk away, I told him that B was expecting an apology because we make her say sorry when she pushes.  B glared at the girl and I glared at the father as he said, "oh, say sorry."  The little girl looked at him with an expression that said, "what's sorry?  Never heard it before."  She didn't say it, he didn't press and he walked away.  Shortly afterwards, B insisted on going home.  I think she was still pissed.



The Nerve!  I'm so offended.

In those situations, I sometimes wonder how much of a fuss I should have made.  I think if I didn't catch the B, I probably have yelled at the dad.  He was standing right there and he didn't stop her!  B looked like she was ready to do some pushing of her own.

You're not worth a time-out. 

When the B is not busy being a tough girl, she's getting ready for dance class!  Her first ballet class is on Saturday and I'm really excited.  I think she's pretty excited too.  The class is only half an hour, but I think that is as long as her attention span is anyway.

What do you mean?  I could do this all day.

It's amazing how quickly she's growing up.  Her favorite activity at the park is the big kid swing.  I'm terrified she'll let go, so I don't push her too high.   



Higher Mama, Higher!



What do you do if your child gets pushed?