That's one heck of a tea party!
If you are ever so privileged to be invited to one of Peanut’s tea parties, above is what you may encounter.
She is mindful to ALWAYS set out a tablecloth. In this case, the tablecloth is one of Ringo’s PBK stroller blankets. In the lower right corner, she has set out the fake “flowers” for her party, too.
There is plenty of reading material: the latest edition of Princess magazine (yes, there is a Princess magazine), Curious George Opposites, Dr. Seuss, Pat the Bunny.
The lone maraca in the big teapot for one’s musical musings.
I have yet to give her water or juice for tea, but she does come into the kitchen asking for crackers for her tea party.
My mind wanders. It wanders a lot. Given my somewhat lengthy, but beautiful, commute, (yes, a commute can be beautiful), my mind wanders a lot on my way home.
And 9 times out of 10, my mind wanders to Lucie.
Even though I have 2 kids running amok – well, one is dancing and prancing around like a prima ballerina or showing off her impressive yoga skills and the other is crawling, bear walking, and pulling himself up to standing like no tomorrow, while dealing with 4 teeth coming in – the house still feels empty. Something, someone is missing.
It’s amazing how the absence of one family member leaves this huge void.
When the doorbell rings, I still anticipate the barking that accompanied it.
When Peanut is blowing bubbles outside, I wait for Lucie to come up running, trying to eat as many bubbles as she could.
When I’m chopping up chicken, shredding pork, or braising beef, and a piece drops to the floor, there’s no one there to clean up after me.
I miss walking the neighborhood (though I don’t really need a dog for that) and guaranteed walks in the parks on the weekends.
To date, Peanut is taking it all very well. Every now and then she’ll tell me that she misses Lucie. And I can finally respond back to her without crying.
Peanut, the other day, found a Lucie hair weaved into her car seat. She showed it to me and, instead of flicking it away as she usually would, she tucked it away safely into the cup holder of her seat.
Let the tears commence.
Peanut has this friend, who is no doubt, a girly girl. She only wears dresses. Only dresses. Her mom told me that on the colder days convincing her to wear even leggings under the dress is a battle. I remember thinking at the time, am I glad that Peanut doesn’t have a problem wearing pants.
That was but months ago. And now…
Getting Peanut into anything other than a dress these days is a battle. You know summer in SF is pretty cold and all she wants to wear are her summer sundresses. So, 7 days a week, she’ll leave the house wearing her sundress, a tee shirt of some sort under the dress, either tights or pants, a cardigan, and a jacket. It’s as coordinated as I can get it, but there are some mornings where she’s just one hot mess.
She’s also very smart, too. For example, the other morning she wore one of her most favorite sundresses. The issue I had with the dress was that it was the same dress she wore the day before. I asked her politely to change the dress. “But mommy, it’s not dirty.” Oy. Back and forth we go. I give her two other options, no, not good enough. The whining ensues and tears are rolling down her cheeks. Then, surprisingly, I just had to look at her, no emotion, no reaction, she takes off the dress, chooses option number 1 and says, “Mommy, you can wash this now and then later I can wear it.” Finally, eventually…I WIN! Sometimes, I just wish that she would understand that it would be SO MUCH EASIER if she just did what I ask her to do.
The upside to all this:my mom finally has the girly girl she’s always wanted.
a mind like an elephant
(Apparently, elephants have amazing memories.)
I think this a generalized statement for all kids. The Husband and I are slowly realizing that we can’t get much by Peanut. She remembers a lot!
A while ago, we made a trip up to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. While in the habitot area, Peanut made “friends” with another girl her age, Mackenzie. They played and played in the indoor area. Peanut was so attached to her, that where Mackenzie went, as did we. So attached, that Peanut started bawling when we left Mackenzie for another exhibit.
Ever since then, Peanut tells me that she wants to go to Mackenzie’s house to play. I have to explain to her that we don’t have her phone number, so we can’t call her (to arrange something). Peanut, then, smartly suggests, that we go back the museum and maybe Mackenzie will be there.
It doesn’t stop there, though. Peanut knows her birthday is coming up, so she asks me if I’ve invited Mackenzie. Again, I reply that we don’t have her phone number, blah, blah.
I just hope that she doesn’t become one of those stalker-types.
(image borrowed from the Oregon Zoo)
After thinking more and more about the category “Weighty Wednesday”, I decided to change the category to “Fitness Friday”.
WW, for me, implied that a heavier weight isn’t a good thing and far be it from me to promote an unhealthy body image. So I’ve changed it to Fitness Friday. Better fitness, I think is something that everyone can get on board with.
Anyhow, the running program has been on hold since last week. I wasn’t feeling all that, so I took a break, recovered from a workout that left me with a major neck strain (or I just slept wrong 3 nights in a row), dealt with a minor sinus infection and got healthy for a Thursday workout that has my laterals sore.
Chill song of the week:
Since no real run was to be had, here’s an old (already?!) favorite “chill” song of mine.
If you’re just tuning in, Peanut will be starting her 2nd year of PreK at a new school this Fall.
To get her a bit acclimated to the school, we enrolled her in a summer camp for PreK students at her new school.
Her first day, she was SO excited! Excited for her new lunch box, excited to bring her yoga mat and even more excited that the school had a playground! We entered the building and The Husband and I were surprised to see her climb the stairs and walk the halls like she owned the place. Once we got her settled in the classroom, it time for us to wish her a bonne journ̩e and head out. I was expecting tears & tantrums Рfrom her, naturally Рand got none of that. The Peanut saw us to the door of the classroom and gave us besitos.
Phew, maybe the transition won’t be so bad after all?
The week came and went and it was time to prep for “big girl school” (as Peanut likes to call it). She’s still excited – I think getting her involved in helping me with her lunch box contents, helps – as does putting snazzy new labels (pink princess ones, of course) on her stuff. Last night, I was cutting up oranges for her lunch and I ask her if she likes it at her new school.
Peanut: “Yes, mommy. But there are no friends for me there.”
Me: “What do you mean there are no friends for you? There are lots of kids for you to play with.”
P: “No kids wanted to dance with me last morning.” (Last morning = last time or yesterday or last night, etc.)
Me: “Well, if the girls don’t want to dance with you, you can dance with the boys, too.” (I’m sure The Husband will LOVE that bit of advice.)
P: (thinks about that for a bit) “Maybe.”
I remind her to not be so shy next time and to have fun. Now, while I am excited for her to be in a bigger classroom with more children her age and to experience all new things, the mom in me is starting to worry. How does your heart not break into a jillion pieces when your preschooler tells you that “there are no friends for (her)”? At that point, I wanted to keep her at day care forever. But, seeing since I can’t do that – I had to reassure her that she’ll find friends like the ones she has had at her old school.
Sigh…