So Matt worked last weekend, then was out of town Monday/Tuesday. Wednesday he had off, then Thursday worked from 4 a.m. until 8 p.m., and then today "got" to report "later" at 9 a.m., and will be home probably after midnight. Then he has gigs both days this weekend, too. Single parenting is not for wimps. I have lost all desire to play with crayons, wooden birthday cake sets, Elmo cash registers, and above all Little People, especially when the person leading the play time is spiteful and borderline psychotic (In the same 45 seconds: "This is mine. No, this is mine. Mama, don't talk! Mama, play with me! This is MINE. NOT YOURS. This is mine. It's not working! MAMA, PLAY WITH ME.")
Last weekend we did do some art. The thing about art, though, is that we lack supplies. The problem with supplies is that you have to purchase them in such god-forsaken large quantities. I don't want 500 popsicle sticks. I need, like, 20. Also, they're expensive, even when not in large quantities. Either way. We managed to do a little damage:
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| Would you like this on the bathroom wall, too, or just in the kitchen? |
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| The glue went better than I anticipated. |
(Note to self: when bored at night, why don't you cut large animals out of construction paper for painting? Because farting away on Facebook is more fun?)
She's like an art machine. She can churn and burn her way through half a ream of paper in about 20 minutes. But then I have like 30 minutes of clean up that needs to be done immediately, before everything dries and becomes much more difficult to clean... and Picasso would like to play with something else entirely, NOW. I figure we'll buy a nice kitchen table in 20 years.
Monday night we had a friend come over, and then we forced them to hug each other while we tried to take pictures. It didn't work.
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| I am only doing this if you promise to leave on Men's Water Polo. |
Tuesday we braved weather that belongs on the surface of the sun (OK, OK, I know it's not terribly humid here, but the sun feels like it's going to come out of the sky and eat you) and had 25 minutes of fun on the playground before I enforced shade for the remainder of the day.
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| Don't worry, she was wearing a hat 2 seconds before this picture was taken. Why else would she be smiling so big? |
Like I mentioned before, Matt was off on Wednesday. We went running together in the morning down in Mission Beach. Bug now weighs 34 pounds. The stroller itself probably weighs 15? Plus 10 pounds worth of snacks so her yelling doesn't attract the attention of the lifeguards (but maybe that might be her plan? They are quite cute.). Plus the aerodynamics of a sailboat. Basically, it's hard work. And the craziest thing is that the physical work isn't the hardest, it's convincing her to behave herself for 35 minutes. I finally learned this time and strapped her in without shoes, socks, glasses or a hat. Although sometimes I argue that on the really bad runs, when we stop every 30 seconds, it's like I'm doing interval work. Or something.
After the run, we went to tour the preschool at the JCC. We absolutely LOVE the preschool that she's currently in, which is the special program offered by the school district, twice a week, at no cost. The teachers are great, and she has a phenomenal time. She most likely loses eligibility for it at age 3, when the requirements increase to two areas of need, versus just one (her gross motor delay currently qualifies her. In terms of the other areas, she has no cognitive or language delays, and to qualify for vision, she'd have to be nearly blind.) So we are on the hunt for another preschool. It may just be that we switch to our local elementary school next spring (yes, they will most likely kick her out the week she's 3). But we wanted to see what other options were out there.
Her latest eye doctor here (I don't know if I went into detail on him?) raved about the JCC preschool. I figured we'd go take a tour. We liked the school at the Minneapolis JCC, although horrendously expensive, so I had some high hopes.
No.
No.
No.
It was not a preschool. It was a glorified day care. It was complete and utter chaos. I had trouble focusing on what exactly was going on. Bug sort of just stared. The entire JCC facility wasn't as nice as I had pictured in my mind, either. I'm pretty sure the Minneapolis one is larger, AND has a much nicer outdoor pool. We thanked her for giving us the tour, and left.
There is an abundance of fancy private schools in the area, although only a few that offer early childhood education. I figure if we have to apply for financial aid (and I'm hoping our chances are higher given that Matt's taxable income is so ridiculously low) we might as well shoot for the top. I have calls in for appointments to tour a few other ones next month, when classes resume. I'm also considering Montessori, although I currently know pretty much nothing about what a Montessori classroom actually entails. I know it's a pretty specific way of teaching, and I gleaned a few things from friends on Facebook who responded to my open inquiry. For me, it will be all on the feeling I get when I walk in the door. We'll see what the next few months hold! It is super crazy though to think that I have to be on my game now for fall of 2013, as most application materials are due in January.
After our tour, we went home, napped, and then went to the pool. I don't know why I was on this Activity Kick. Well, maybe I do... it's like living in Minnesota and having a nice-weather Saturday and feeling like you have to do EVERYTHING ON YOUR LIST because, you know, it's a Nice Day and these things don't just happen. This was Matt's only day off for the next week+, so I figured I'd cram all the stuff I hate doing on my own into it. So naturally, after swimming, we walked up to Balboa to listen to a concert. I knew it was a bad idea, but I forced it anyway. It should come as no surprise that she was a complete pain in the ass. Perhaps I should have listened to her when she asked to go to bed while I was packing up our dinner.
At this point in the week (we're still only at Wednesday night) she was over-tired. Parenting Fail. She had a decent morning at school on Thursday, but despite looking like complete hell, only took about an hour and a half nap. She went to bed OK, but was up this morning at 5:30 a.m. Holy hell, child. SLEEP.
Today was when I lost it. I hate it when I lose it. She's like a vulture, looking for a limping animal on the savannah. I was the limping animal. She got a sniff that I was at zero patience, and decided to roll out everything she could today that she knows irks me. I threatened. Nothing. Shoes and orthotics were still dismantled within 30 seconds of driving (this adds like a good 5 minutes before we can, you know, get out of the car when I need to run 5 errands in less than an entire day's time), books and toys were purposefully thrown out of the car seat, followed by tears of agony at their disappearance, decisions were not made even though we had been staring at the bakery case for the last 5 minutes, completely holding up the line.
ME: "Do you want a muffin?"
HER: "No, not like muffin. Donut."
"They don't have donuts here, I already told you that [87 times]."
"That one."
"No, we are not having Tiramisu."
"Donut."
"They. Do. Not. Have. Donuts."
"Donut."
"OK, then we're not getting anything."
[Yells incoherently]
"Fine, then you need to pick one. Do you want apple or zucchini?"
"Appini."
"Appini is not an option. Apple. Or. Zucchini."
"Zucchini."
So we get the zucchini muffin, because essentially it was the only thing not labeled as having nuts, and we head next door to Peets so I can get some GODDAMN COFFEE.
We get coffee. We find a seat (inside, much to her, and my, dismay). We sit next to a woman who appears to be doing work. She leaves about four minutes after we sit down. Whoever you were, woman, I'm sorry you had to listen to me over-explain everything happening in a ten-foot radius and my repeated threats to remove the aforementioned muffin for as long as you did. Whatever. Bug is eating the muffin and I'm thinking to myself, wow, that is a chunk of zucchini. Except it's not zucchini, it's a walnut. Way to go, Bread and Cie, for labeling your shit. I guess we can cross walnuts off the allergy list now?
After this we went to the playground. I had a feeling our afternoon would be spent stuck at home, so I wanted to be out of the house as long as humanly possible. AND THEN. I had parked in an end spot in the parking lot, with my right wheels literally hugging the concrete barrier to the one side, leaving what passes for a football field of room in terms of California parking spots between the left side of the car and the painted line. I come back to the car, and some asshole has parked over the line, making it almost impossible for me to open the driver door. OMG. I have zero patience for this. I wanted to yell. I wanted to damage their car. I wanted to leave an angry note. I wanted to hunt this person down. Why on Earth is this necessary? PARK BETWEEN THE GODDAMN LINES. And to make matters worse, there was a carseat in the car, and it was on the same side as our car. How did s/he get that child out? How many more dings do I need in my car before I can lie to insurance and say that there was a freak hailstorm in San Diego? I was no longer a limping animal in Bug's eyes. I was officially wounded, bleeding openly. "Mama yelling. Mama upset. MAMA UPSET. AAAAHHHH Mama upset! Mama upset!"
We came home. She ate. She took a three hour nap (although I sort of hate these naps, because they are unpredictable, and as such leave you on edge the entire time. You don't know how much time you have to do something, like, maybe, write a blog, or take a nap. So you sit, staring.)
I half-assed my way through some Little People (see above), somehow made it to dinner time, fed her, and she's in bed. So now I can sit, staring, some more (or write a blog?).
In other big news, I finally quit my job. Done! Of course now I'm trolling for other jobs. I'd like something part-time, at night, for some supplemental income. Do you know what the application process is for the Gap (and its subsidiaries, I might add)? Ridiculously convoluted. This is not the Pentagon. I have seen the caliber of employee that you have. But be that as it may, I bet I will still somehow NEVER GET CALLED, just like Starbucks NEVER CALLED ME after I applied right when we moved out here last December. So even though I just voluntarily quit (and for good reason, seriously, because despite my bitching about Little People and sass, I do quite enjoy being with her) I still get those Rejected feelings when I apply for something that should be a shoe-in that I never get response on. Maybe that's just human nature.
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