Allergies?

Apparently the doctor said Pete's tic might just be allergies. The sleepwalking is unrelated to the tic, she thinks. Poor Pete. Well, we've got medicine to try...

It's Probably Nothing...

Since Pete's tic has been going on for more than a month, I called the nurse about it today. I've been meaning to do that for a week or two, but [insert excuse here] (BAD MOM!). I'm sorry! Get off my case. I did it today! Yeah, I know, Bad Mom.

So the nurse asked all these questions, "Does she have any physical tics?" "Has she shown signs of seizure?" "How is the mobility in her neck?" etc. Then she transferred me to the appointment line. But here's the thing. She didn't tell me why we needed to make an appointment, and I didn't think to ask until the appointment lady picked up (I couldn't have made an appointment then anyway because all they were scheduling then were morning appointments and Pete is on a field trip and won't be back until lunchtime). Oh! So I apologized and hung up and called Husbandguy who was very nice and seemed to be thinking straighter than Low-Blood-Sugar Bad Mom and he said, "Call the nurse back," and didn't say, "Duh!" And I did (call the nurse). But first I made myself some chocolate milk, which helped a lot.

So Pete's got an appointment this afternoon with her actual doctor, not just whoever is first available, and it is early enough that she might even get here before Ginger (she might not if she was coming on the bus). DH is going to take her. DH and I are thinking that it's probably nothing because we're her parents and don't want it to be something. I'll let you know what they say.

Oh! I just remembered something that might be important! I have to call DH and remind him to mention her sleepwalking...

Death-Ray Robots from Outer Space

Tonight Pete is having her first sleepover here. She's slept over at someone else's house and had a "sleepover" with her cousin at The Grandpa's house, but we've never had a friend stay here all night. Um...

This particular friend, Ginger, is someone Pete frequently clashes with. For some reason they are very competitive with each other. Pete has a tendency to be mean when she's annoyed, which obviously hurts Ginger's feelings. And Ginger is prone to tattling on Pete, which can also be hard to deal with. So we've talked to Pete about being nice to her friend, and if Ginger feels the need to tattle, we're going to be sure we have the whole story and help the girls deal with it themselves. And we're not going to play board games. That's a good game plan, right? Plus, kids are always different when their parents aren't around.

I do want Ginger to have a good time, for sure, and also I want to get some sleep...

Wish me luck!

Finally! A Real Lesson!

So, in the past month, Pete has had three new swimming teachers. The first was because school started and she couldn't keep going at 10:00 on Monday morning. The second was because the first new teacher hurt her ankle and had to give up all her classes. Apparently when they give a child a new teacher they don't bother to tell the teacher what that child already knows because those two teachers had Pete swimming at a level she passed mid-summer. I encouraged Pete to speak up for herself, and she did once, telling new teacher #2 that she didn't need help floating on her back, but it didn't make a difference.

Last night, though, Pete started with another new teacher. It was our choice to switch again because we were having trouble getting to her class on time. And I am SOOOOO glad we did. Her newest teacher had been at Family Swim Night last Friday and had seen Pete swimming and had been very impressed and apparently remembered. Husbandguy, who took Pete to her lesson, said the teacher had Pete and her classmate swimming pretty much the whole width of the pool, which she had been doing during the summer but hadn't been challenged to do in a month. And DH said she did "awesome." That's really what he said. And Pete seemed very proud of herself.

Hooray for the new teacher! Hooray for Pete! Now we're finally getting Nana and PopPop's money's-worth again.

We Lost the Battle

Pete has been trying to grow out her bangs. It was my idea because I think she's prettier without them, and I never wanted them cut in the first place. She went along with it mostly because I'm her mom, I think. They had gotten to that awkward length where they're just in the way and you have to pull them out of your face with a headband or a barrette or a little pigtail. Pete is has a hard time leaving things like that in her hair and not playing with them. Then one morning, I told Pete to go brush her hair and get a hair bow or a headband or something to put in her hair, and she said, "[My teacher] told me I'm not allowed to wear anything in my hair anymore." !! Poor kid! Poor teacher!! So we cut them. Her teacher was relieved. I guess Pete will have bangs until she's old enough to decide to grow them out herself. But she did agree to grow out the rest of her hair so she can wear braid and pony tails and stuff.

It's Not Like It's Hard Work

I had planned to make barbecue beef in the crock pot yesterday but totally forgot about it until lunchtime. I still could have done it, but it would have had to slow cook on high and I want to slowest cook it on low. So we ate leftovers, which we needed to do anyway, and I planned on doing the crock pot thing today...

Okay, I know the little time stamp at the bottom of this post says it's only a little after 10:30, but really it's almost noon. And guess what's cooking in the crock pot. NOTHING!! Jeez! What's the matter with me? All I have to do is put Pete on the bus, then come inside and throw the meat and some sauce in the crock pot, plug it in, and turn it on. Nope. Can't do it. Apparently it's too much work to remember it.

I think I'll cook it today anyway while I'm thinking about it. Then we can eat it tomorrow and I won't have to remember anything.

Pete Says:

The day of Pete's second birthday party, Pete's mom had to step over Pete, and when Pete's mom tried to step over Pete, Pete's mom's foot slipped on a slippery rug and Pete's mom fell on Pete! Sat on Pete's head! Of course Pete cried, and Pete's mom cried. In fact, Pete's mom was inconsolable. It was terrible. Pete wasn't hurt, just scared. Pete's mom wrenched her back and shoulder trying not to fall on Pete, but mostly Pete's mom was crying because she had fallen on Pete! Pete's dad calmed Pete and then took Pete to the potty. While Pete was sitting on the potty and Pete's mom was still sobbing, Pete's mom heard Pete say, "Mommy bonked my head!" which made Pete's mom cry harder. Pete's dad suggested to Pete that maybe Pete could help Pete's mom feel better and sent Pete's mom into the bathroom where Pete was still sitting on the potty. Pete looked worriedly at Pete's mom who was still sobbing. And Pete's little face showed how concerned Pete was. And then Pete had a thought about how to fix it. And Pete said, "You... You want to bonk Daddy's head?" And Pete's mom learned that it's difficult to cry when you're laughing.

Hey! Wait a Minute!

So, on Saturday, we let Husbandguy pick where we had lunch and ended up going out for pizza at a place with lots of TV (so DH could watch football). While we were there, a couple came in. They might have been students from the university; we were close to there. I didn't notice them really at first, but after they'd been there for a while, I noticed that the lady was very pretty. So I said to DH, "That lady is pretty," and he said, "Very pretty!" right away without having to look around or think about it or anything. Huh?! I'm not a jealous person usually. The whole time DH and I have been together, there has only been one woman who made me even remotely jealous, and that was because he treated her the way he treated me when we were first dating (without all the kissing and stuff - he just payed attention to her), but even then I wasn't worried - just jealous, you know? And we often comment on pretty ladies we see. But his answer this time, and the quickness of it, totally caught me off guard, and I think I might have felt a little jealous! I don't mind if DH notices and appreciates pretty ladies. It would be unreasonable for me to expect him not to. He's got eyes. So what was my problem this time, then? It was weird. I didn't like the way it felt. So I told him. And he laughed at me. And I laughed too. She was very pretty.

My Little Celebrity?

When I picked Lulu up just now and we were walking out of the building, there was a lot of waving bye-bye and chin patting (Lulu's version of ASL "thank you"). Not from other children or parents. Sure several people told us goodbye, but for the most part, it was Lulu. Acknowledging her people? "Goodbye. Goodbye. Thank you. Goodbye. Thank you. Thank you. Goodbye."

Then, when we got in the car and I gave her the sucky (pacifier, pacie, binky, nuknuk, you know) I had brought for her, she thanked ME. Totally on her own, unprompted. It was cool.

I'm Thinking About It...

This morning, one of Lulu's teachers was among the people taking kids out of the cars in the drop off line. I walked Lulu in as usual and it was a repeat of Wednesday; she was mostly okay with being left with her other teacher and all the other toddlers. All I do now is hand her over the gate to a teacher and kiss her goodbye.

On the way out, I stopped and talked to her teacher outside who told me that one or the other of them (her teachers) would always be out there helping, that they just hadn't been doing it yet with everyone being so new and everything. So it is possible that if I go through the drop off line, one of her teachers will get her out of the car. It is also possible that her teacher will be escorting some other kid into the building and someone who is a stranger to me and to Lulu would be getting her out of the car...

Remember? I said I'm not going to do it yet? Yeah. Me too. So I'm thinking about it. But also not really. She's too little to be old enough!

Here's a problem, though. If I drop her off in the car line and then if I pick her up in the afternoon line when they start that later in the year, I'll never get to talk to her teachers, really, and I think it's important that Lulu's mom have a face and not just be a car and that Lulu sees me interacting with her teachers too.

Yeah, preschool is Lulu's space and she needs to learn to be independent and everything, but she's not even two!

And Then There Was Blood

Poor Lulu had a stinky diaper, which she doesn't like, at an inconvenient time for changing (it was time to meet the bus) and didn't want to put on her shoes but did want to go outside and so wound up crying in the door while Pete and I waited for the bus at the top of the driveway. And her nose is running like crazy so she threw up (snot makes her do that) all over her shirt and mine when she finally did get outside. And Mommy keeps putting that stupid "hat" on her (that's what she calls the tiny pigtail I make on the top of her head to keep her hair out of the snot) even though she keeps pulling it out. And then she slipped in the bathroom and bit her tongue or her lip or something and there was all this blood. Fortunately she didn't get any on her second shirt of the day (or mine), but she wouldn't let me look in her mouth to check for missing teeth (she did finally - they're all there). And I had to call Husbandguy then so he could commiserate with me about how hard it can be to have a toddler sometimes.

Whew! It's just barely 9:00! What's next?!

The Good and the Bad

The good was that there was no disagreement among the people at my committee meeting last night. We were all on the same page.

The bad was that my committee consisted of me, a 5 year-old, a stuffed elephant, and a stuffed chihuahua.

Now I need your help. I finally heard from the other people who were supposed to be there last night and they want to reschedule. I need their help so I don't want to chase them off by telling them how I really feel, but I want to let them know how inconvenient and annoying it was that I drove all the way to the school and waited for them and they didn't show up. Moomie suggested that I make it part of scheduling the next meeting. Something like, "If you can't make it this time, please let me know ahead of time..." What do you think? Leave comments!

A Committee of One?

I have my first PTA committee meeting this evening. So far, I just have one other couple who has said they would like to be on my committee, but they haven't confirmed that they'll be at the meeting. How long do you think I should give them to show up at the meeting before I give up and come home? I'm thinking 15-2o minutes should be enough. Ooohh! I hope they show!!

Not a Wet Eye in the Place

She didn't cry this morning. She did say, "Mama?" when I handed her over to her teacher, but it was more of a question than a plea. I said, "I'll be back to get you later," and she seemed fine. Didn't cry at all or try to climb back into my arms when I kissed her or anything. One of the other little girls called, "Bye-bye!" after me the whole way down the hall, but Lulu allowed herself to be swallowed up by preschool. Now I really miss her!

Pete Says:

Once, when Pete was less than 2 years old, Pete's daycare teacher thought Pete had a stinky diaper and started changing Pete only to find that Pete was just wet, if anything. Pete's teacher asked Pete if Pete had gas, and Pete said, "No. Only Mommy."

Pete's mom loves that story even though it does make it sound like Pete's mom is stinky to be around.

Hay-Coooohh!

Lulu likes to pick up the acorns in our yard. This morning after the bus took Pete away and Lulu and I came back inside, I noticed that she'd brought one with her and abandoned it in the middle of the floor of the living room. Since she wasn't anywhere near it and I prefer that things like that stay outside, I picked it up and tossed it out the front door. Lulu, who was in a completely different room so there was no way she saw what I was doing, came running out crying "Haycoh! Haycoh!" like I had just thrown her best friend out the door. What's that about?!

Then she got annoyed because I folded up one of the baby doll strollers and put it away. I left the other one out!

What's with all the kid-ness? Where'd my baby go? I told her the other day, when she was refusing to eat the applesauce that she had asked for, that she's not old enough to be 2 yet.

And she has learned (from her sister?) to pretend to cry! It doesn't work any better for her than it does for her sister - except maybe if VW is around...

It's cool.

Temptation

This weekend I made yellow cake cupcakes, which I frosted with store-bought chocolate frosting that I had on hand. I didn't use all of it, though, and now there's 1/3 of a tub of frosting in my refrigerator. It's not enough to make more cupcakes, but if it doesn't get used up, it'll just get thrown away next time we clean out the old stuff in the fridge. Any suggestions for how to use it up? So far, I've spread it on strawberries (because then it's healthy, right?). And I've considered knocking it off one spoonful at a time... What would you do with it?

Don't Buy Tickets from Ticket Brokers!

We need to put ticket brokers out of business so that regular people can get Hannah Montana concert tickets at box office prices. If we don't buy our tickets from those jerks who buy up all the tickets just so they can resell them, then they'll be out all that money and have to go out of business* and won't be able to disappoint little girls. I was online with Ticketmaster at noon on Saturday because that was when tickets were supposed to go on sale, and and there wasn't even a single seat available. A quick web search came up with message boards full of posts from other parents who had the same experience in other cities. Another quick search came up with those missing concert tickets on sites like eBay and other places for 2x to 60x the original price. Sorry Pete, I can't pay $4000 for you to go see a 14 year-old (13 year-old?) in concert. We'll wait for the DVD.

*This is very similar to my plan to get rid of telemarketers...

Emergencies

Someone recently forwarded me an email. It was all about a campaign to get people to have a contact in their cell phones labeled "I.C.E." (In Case of Emergency). Here are my thoughts on that:

1. It is a REALLY good idea to have your emergency contact clearly labeled in your cell phone (and written down in your glove box/purse/wallet/etc.),
2. but if I hadn't read that email, I wouldn't know, when looking through someone's phone for who to contact in an emergency, that "I.C.E." meant "In Case of Emergency" and might pass it by if the person didn't look like their emergency contact would be a rapper.
3. Husbandguy and I have emergency contact information in our phones. We've labeled them "Emergency Contact." Way simpler. Little question who that is, really.

I.C.E. is a good idea if we can be sure that everyone who might be helping out in an emergency has heard of it. For now, though, I'm keeping mine the way it is. And you should be sure you have your emergency contact info available to someone even if you can't give it to them yourself.

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Also, we talked to Pete this weekend about what to do if she is in an emergency at home. PopPop is babysitting for us later in the week. I wanted to be sure Pete knew what to do if something happens and PopPop can't call for help. So I showed her how to call DH on my cell phone even though she doesn't know his number. She apparently already knew how. I made sure she knew our address and that "address" includes street name and house number. Then we talked about how to say "help me" in Spanish in case she had to run to the neighbors' house for help. She already knew that, too (thank you, Diego). And then we talked about what to do if there is a fire. Now she knows it's okay to break her window to get out if there's a fire (she reminded me that it's not okay normally), but only if the fire isn't in her room and after she has closed her door to keep the fire out (and her sister in if possible/necessary). I worry a little that we've given her too much to think and worry about. I think we freaked her out, but she seemed to feel better after I reminded her that her dad and I have lived here for longer than she's been alive and we've never had an emergency and I reminded her that the grown ups would do all the thinking and rescuing as long as they could. Now though, if we can't, she knows what to do.

Husbandguy Said:

This weekend, Husbandguy was watching football and he said, "[Some receiver on the Panthers] couldn't catch a ball to save his life!" Seriously. Pete called him on it. She asked, "Why did you say that about 'saving his life'?" She seemed worried. Was the guy going to die? Right there on TV? With everyone watching? It wasn't interesting enough to convince her that football is worth watching, though.

Sorry I'm Late

I had to go to Pete's school for a little while this morning and help out. I like doing that. It feels good.

This & That

This morning, my Lulu actually asked to go to school. We were waiting for it to be time to leave, and after we finished reading Time to Pee! by Mo Willems (she picked the book - "PEE! PEE!" she said), she went and got her dog and marched over to the front door and started banging on it saying, "Cool! Cool!" She was ready. I told her it was too early and that if we went then we'd have to go through the drop off line, except I called it "car pool" because that's what Pete's OLD school called it and it's stuck with us. Then she started asking to go to the pool... Of course, when we got to her classroom (we weren't the only ones walking in today - there was one other family), she wailed, "MaaMaaaa!" in that heartbreaking way that makes you want to snatch her back from the teacher and take her to the park and out to lunch and rock her afterward while she takes her nap. But I was strong. I went grocery shopping instead. The whole time I was shopping, I had the echo of her pitiful cry ("MaaMaaa!") ringing in my heart.

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Want to hear something I found creepy? And cool in a way. On the way home from the grocery store, I saw a big black bird sitting on someone's chimney. I slowed down to look (it's okay - I was in our neighborhood and there wasn't anyone else driving right then) because I thought it might be a falcon or a hawk or something. It was too big to be a crow. Guess what it was! It was a VULTURE! Seriously! For real! It was creepy, with the weather being all grey and gloomy today and there not being anyone else around. Ooooo! Imagine, if my life had a soundtrack, what the music would have sounded like right then!

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Husbandguy actually wrote an ampersand the other day. You know "&." Not a plus or that funny E thing with a line through it or the word "and." He wrote "&".

Lyrics

In "Best of Both Worlds," Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana sings, "Without the shades and the hair you can go anywhere." When Pete sings along, the lyrics are different, though: "When I'm shavin' my hair you can go anywhere!"

By Lulu

Everyone with a toddler in preschool has a version of this, but I don't care. The brush strokes look slightly teacher-assisted, but I don't care. Lulu proudly showed off her painting of "BahBah" on the "cooel buhs" to her sister and to her dad and to me so clearly she doesn't care. It's the coolest yellow school bus painting I've ever seen!

That Was Weird

Apparently I missed a memo. Lulu's preschool has a drop off line in the morning where, if you want to, you can just pull up and someone will get your kid out of the car and take him/her to his/her class. That starts about five minutes before the hour and finishes at quarter after. The parents who want to walk their kids to class are supposed to wait until the car line is finished before crossing the street and going into the school. That's what I thought, anyway, and since Lulu is so little, that's what we did this morning. Except we were the only ones in the whole school doing that! And all the other kids in Lulu's class were already there! Did they go through the drop off line? Am I the only one who thinks that it's just mean to put your one year-old through being taken out of her car seat by a (virtual) stranger and dragged away screaming while Mom drives blissfully off to bonbons and blogging? What's the deal? I'm not going to be dropping her off in the car line. It's just not going to happen anytime soon. Maybe eventually, but, good grief! She's only been going there for a week! And she's only ONE! Oh well. I don't care if I'm the only mom walking her kid into the school. I love my Lulu and that's that.

A Very Special Pete Says

This morning Pete said this:

"Mommy! I can't get [Lulu] to stop dipping Daddy's brush in and out of the toilet!"

How Smart Is My Baby!

I'm going to brag for a minute. My little Lulu, who is barely fifteen months old, was running after me earlier yelling, "Tahgah! Tahgah!" and when I turned around to see what she wanted, she was holding up a piece of yellow paper that was a triangle shape! I'm 99.99% sure she was saying triangle. Especially since just a few minutes later she was looking at a hole in the side of a box and very clearly said, "Circle!" Also, I know she knows hearts and stars. I don't know how she learned those shapes, exactly, or why they were the first she recognized. We don't drill her on shapes or anything. She just seems to remember when we show her. My baby is brilliant!

Yuck!

This morning I had a cup of coffee that I had just barely started drinking. It was my second cup, but it was new. I didn't get to finish it, though, because when I turned my back, Lulu picked up Pete's comb and stirred my coffee with it. Ew!

Pete Says:

This weekend, Pete's mom was making something in the kitchen. Pete asked Pete's mom what Pete's mom was making, and Pete's mom said, "Cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow." Then Pete said, "Is tomorrow Christmas?!" because that was what Pete's mom made for breakfast last Christmas. Then Pete told Pete's dad about the cinnamon rolls and reminded Pete's dad that Pete's family ALWAYS has cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas (at least for the past 1 year(s)).

It Was Husbandguy's Fault Today

I was doing good on time. I was goofing off all morning, but when husbandguy, who stayed home today because I got sick during the night (long gross story - I'm not sharing) even though I'm fine now and he didn't have to... anyway, when he got up from the TV to make himself some lunch, I noticed that it was noon and made myself some lunch too. I sat down with him and watched a little TV and next thing I knew: IT WAS TIME TO BE AT LULU'S SCHOOL FOR PICK-UP! What's wrong with me?! I did it again (see here and here)! She's only been to school three days, and EVERY DAY she's gone, I've almost forgotten her! Well, not really. I couldn't really forget her, but you'd think I'd be watching the clock until it was time to get her, and clearly I'm not! Fortunately I haven't been the last parent to pick up their kid yet. I'm going to have to set an alarm, I think!

Note to Meme & the Grandpa

Pete's been trying to reach you. Happy belated Grandparents' Day.

Beautiful Girls

So we went out to dinner this weekend, and a lady stopped to say how beautiful Lulu is. This happens a lot (people don't usually notice Pete at first when Lulu is there, but they always say how beautiful BOTH our girls are when they do notice her - when Lulu's not there, Pete gets the attention so we know they're not just saying that - plus, I know it's true and tell her all the time, too). The lady started talking to Lulu, who was eating macaroni and cheese, and Lulu was pleasant and smiled... Until the lady asked if she could share her mac & cheese. Poor Lulu! She sooooo did not want to share it. But I think she thought she might be supposed to. She sat Really Still with her Eyes All Big, looking worried. It looked like she was hoping that by being still, the lady might not be able to see her anymore and would stop asking for her food. After a minute, her dad and I let her off the hook by saying, "It's okay. You don't have to share." She looked relieved and shoved a handful in her mouth and the lady laughed and said something nice so Lulu would know it was okay and then said goodbye. It was really cute.

I Did It Again!

I got busy with my stuff and I almost was late picking Lulu up AGAIN! I was sending out my PTA survey for review (a thing I'm not sure I have to do but am doing anyway because I'm not used to having autonomy, aside from at home, and even then not really because - who're the bosses, really?), and when I first checked the clock, I had 20 minutes, but when I looked again, it was Time to Be There! Oops! It looked like I was still one of the first parents there, though.

And when I got there she was wandering around looking content. And when I called her name, I think she heard me but not really and definitely didn't see me and she started to cry and went to her teacher! Yay! She's comfortable there! Then she saw me and bypassed the Teacher Comfort. Again: Yay! She still loves me best! Of course. I wasn't really worried about that. But what mom doesn't like to have it confirmed from time to time?

Lovey Lulu! I like her a lot.

My Meeting

When I worked in Big Bank Land, I didn't like meetings because... well, do you like meetings? Really? This morning, though, I had a meeting (that I scheduled) with the principal to talk about the upcoming year and what we wanted to do and everything. I was nervous. Because I am always nervous in new situations. And because she is The Principal, you know. THE Principal. And now it's over, and I am not nervous anymore because it went great! But I have a ton of things to do. But we agreed that one of the things I was trying to do would be too much for this year and it has been tabled in favor of several smaller things. I'm so excited.

Another thing about Big Bank Land: The work that I was most proud of and that I really enjoyed doing was the stuff that was outside of my job description, you know, special projects. Like creating things and planning things and stuff. I realized in the car on the way home from my meeting that this PTA thing that I've taken on and that has been worrying me a little more than it should be, I think, is full of those types of things. Today I have to create a form and a parent survey and plan the first morning coffee and investigate spaghetti dinners. Just imagine what they'll say when those things are finished and are wonderful! "[Mommy's Nintendo] did that! Good job, [Mommy's Nintendo]!"

And then that part of me that signs me up for stuff that other part of me doesn't think I can handle can say, "Ppbblllttt!" to the other part and I can do something even more wonderful for the next time.

Resolution

The bus picked Pete up this morning.

She's Home!

Lulu had a good day, according to her teachers. She cried when I left, they said, but then she was fine after that. She ate her snack and her lunch, including all the blueberries I packed for her; she ran around the playground and even went down the slide; and something else I can't remember. And then, when I poked my head in the door at pick-up time, she cried again so I cried too, but we both stopped as soon as she was on my hip (she kept up that hiccuppy thing that kids do when they're crying hard - I was okay). And in the three minutes it took us to drive home, my baby fell asleep. Now she's napping. Hard.

Don't tell Lulu, but I almost was late picking her up! I got caught up in some PTA thing I was working on and the next thing I knew it was time to be At The School! Oops! Thank goodness it's close by! It looked like I was still one of the first parents to get there, though, so no harm done.

I missed my sweetie!

One More Thing About Lulu's School

Her teachers gave me this little present. The tag says:

"Dear Parents,

Thank you for entrusting your child to us. We promise to do our best everyday to be your child's companion in learning.

After you have wiped your tears, make yourself a nice warm cup of tea. Put your feet us and relax. Then hold the cotton ball in your hand. The softness will help you to recall the gentle spirit of your child.

We will work alongside you this year to help your child grow."

That's just mean!

She Wrote Back!

My piano teacher from 100 years ago! She wrote back! It's totally cool! Her oldest son is 21. I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that I remember him as a baby and now he's 21. Did I take piano lessons that long ago? And he's a glass-blower. How cool is that!

Boo Hoo! Little Lu Has Gone to "Coo"

I miss her already. I just dropped her off like five minutes ago. And here's the thing. I feel like I played a dirty trick on her because she was playing with Elmo when I left and she didn't notice that I was leaving so at some point she's going to look around and see that Mom's gone. I avoided having to hear the heartbreaking cry, but it breaks my heart that it's going to happen and I won't be there to soothe it. I hope she's not scared. Maybe she won't mind as much as I think she's going to. There are lots of other children there with her. Maybe having tiny playmates will help distract her. I'm going to bring lots of tissues (and her sucky) when I pick her up, though, because if she cries when she sees me, I'll cry too, for sure. At least her dad will be taking her on Friday...

Pete Says:

Sorry. I don't have a "Pete Says:" today. Everything Pete says is so cool I couldn't come up with one thing for this week. I'll try harder for next week.

Oh! Pete spent Pete's allowance that Pete had been saving all summer on a Li'l Kinz chihuahua. Then Pete's dad bought Pete's mom a WebKinz elephant. It's hard to say who's more into it all, Pete or Pete's mom. But now Pete's dad can't complain about how much time Pete's mom spends on the computer because Pete's dad is an enabler.

I Actually Sent This One

I would like to register a complaint against the driver of bus **** in the morning. It is an understatement to say that I am angry. I am LIVID.

My daughter, [Pete], is supposed to be picked up every morning and transported to [her school]. This was supposed to begin LAST Wednesday, August 29. We have been at our bus stop, which is in front of our house on [our street], every day from 8:15 until 8:40 since the 29th, including this morning. The bus HAS NOT come. I am certain that we are waiting long enough because when we arrive at the school to drop [Pete] off, bus **** is frequently already there. This morning, it was leaving when we arrived.

[The AP at Pete's school] has spoken to the driver and to his supervisor. The driver claims that he is driving the route that would include our stop, but this is not possible because if he was, I would not need to drive my daughter to school.

The driver of bus **** in the morning appears to be dishonest and incompetent. I understand that there is a shortage of bus drivers this school year, but I would recommend replacing him. I fear for the safety of the children he does manage to pick up.

Maybe I'm a Cliche, But...

I don't like football. It bores me. I do get a kick out of the whole Appalachian/Michigan thing this past weekend. Although I didn't watch the game...