Reasons Why I Hate Sending My Kids to Daycare

1. They don't sleep at night because they slept too long at nap time.
2. They don't sleep at night because they missed their toys / parents / brother and want to stay up and play.
3. They are sick at least every second month.
4. They are clingy all weekend and every evening, meaning that all my time is taken up with comforting / holding them.
5. I feel like a terrible parent because I don't know things about them anymore or understand them (mostly because they are speaking French).

But, 3 reasons I send them to daycare:
1. My husband is in school, so
2. Someone has to work and
3. Therefore, someone else has to look after my kids.

Now, perhaps if they would sleep and stop being sick and clingy, I could actually not be grumpy and not mind the whole work / daycare thing. Because I really do love my job. A lot. Sigh.

Okay, back to trying to get my sick daughter to sleep for the third hour straight.

Finally some time . . .

I know I've been working part time, but there's been a lot to catch up on (mostly sleep and tidying). I feel like I've kind of caught up, and got over feeling guilty for not doing something "productive" while the kids are at daycare and finished reading "the Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" (Terry Pratchett is one of my weaknesses). Also, I finally got paid enough to buy quilt batting (oh yeah, I guess that would be the real reason). And so I came home after my half day of work today, put a border around this quilt, considered making a second border (and then didn't) and basted this baby.

I never like quilts at this stage, and I'm always uncertain if they're going to come together or not. I'm a little nervous about this one, especially since I used my entire Mendoccino stash on it. Oh well, I'm sure I can find someone to give it to if I don't like it once I'm done.

Happy Weekend.

Two Smart Things In One Day

Ironically, today I was just emailing to Kris, telling her that I don't post over at Clever Mamas anymore because I feel like I just don't know what I'm doing as a parent. And then, I do two smart things in one day. Score. You want to hear them (of course as soon as I write them down they will never work again, but oh well).

Emma is feeling sick today (although this photo of her falling asleep at the table is from this weekend at the Smith's house). At bed time she just wanted to nurse and nurse, and since she's almost two I'm trying to wean her. I went to get her a cup of water as a substitute, and I realized that I had lemons in the fridge. What is more comforting, and gets rid of yuk quicker than honey and lemon in warm water, I thought? So I put a dab of honey, a squeeze of lemon and some warm tap water in her sippy cup instead of plain water or milk. Two sips, one cough, and she was off to sleep. Why didn't I think of that two children ago, I ask you?

Often, my children really are like this photo: they play together pretty well. Although you must know that the contents of two of those bowls were all over the couch and floor as soon as I turned my back to load the dishwasher.

But sometimes they fight, especially the older two. Often it stays at the "you're a poopy head" "You're a baby" level, which is frustrating enough, but other times it degenerates into physical fights. Right now, Andrew has a much longer reach than Aaron, so he can pin him and win almost every time. Aaron is one of those "Bad attention is better than no attention" kind of kids, so he will bug his brother just to get any attention from him when he hasn't seen him lately (like, for instance, when he's been at school all week).

Lately, because Andrew has a loose tooth and is extra grumpy, he tends to loose his temper and pound on his brother a lot. Like, several times a day a lot. Today I was tired of it, and I needed a new solution. So I decided that I would take one lego guy away every time he lost his temper with Aaron. This worked for a few times, until Aaron figured it out. Well, what is more fun than watching your brother's lego guys get taken away because of you? So Aaron started pestering Andrew.

After I took away the fourth lego guy, I got wise to the deal. So I said, "You know what, I am tired of hearing fights and insults coming from this room. You must play over here by the bed, and you must play over here by the bookshelf. You are not allowed to talk to each other until you have something nice to say. If I hear insults or threats coming from the room, I'm moving someone out of the room."

What do you think happened? Silence for a while. Two boys who really needed a little space from each other but didn't know it playing happily in their own worlds. And about 20 minutes later, their two games meshed into one and they were playing together again. And they played together happily the rest of the day.

So I guess not being able to play with your brother unless you can be nice is the most logical consequence for constant bickering. It just took me a while to work it out.

And here is a cute photo of Emma with the crown Aaron got her for her birthday last year, because he loves dress up, so he wanted her to have some dress up of her very own. He pulled it out of the bottom of her toybox and she had fun wearing it the other day. Awww.

Are you still out there?

Ah, dear readers, was it really Aug 23rd that I last posted here?

Well, yes, it probably was. As I had a job interview that week and was then terribly discouraged that I didn't get the job - it was perfect: English and Drama, 12 min. walk from my house, full time until February.

And so I was plunged into the depths of despair.

And a lot of frantic getting-ready-for-our-new-tenant work of the "Oh, we still didn't paint the bathroom? And we have to finish putting up the ceiling tiles, find a fridge, clean the insulation off the walls and floors, paint the entry way, and clean the window wells and bathroom? What? When is she coming exactly? And the children are still home for another week? Who decided this?

And of course there were 7 duotangs (one yellow, one blue, one green, one grey, one white, one puce and two red - okay, not really puce) to buy and a bunch of other stuff.

And I needed glasses and a doctor's appointment.

And my daughter's immunizations were 6 months behind (ahem).

And then after I got all that done, I got a call from the school I interviewed at. They asked if I would be interested in just teaching the drama half time. Plus supervising homework time. Plus, eventually, being in the "Planning Room" at lunch. And because it was reliable work for 5 months and the subject area I have the most experience teaching and 12 min. walk from my house I thought about it for about 10 min and then said yes. Reliable, close part time work is definitely better than another 5 months of helter-skelter all-over-the-city coming-and-going not-ever-knowing work or full time but far far away work.

And then of course I had to start the next day, because school started in two days.

And Andrew started school.

And we went to Prescott for the weekend.

And, um, other than a half-stitched elephant pocket that Aaron has forgotten he wanted, I haven't sewn all week, so not even any exciting photos to show you. Sorry.

But a job with lots of room around the corners for sewing! And another maybe work-in-progress that is still secret for a few more weeks.

Thanks for sticking with me, y'all. Hope all your back-to-schools and fall time ventures are going well (or Spring time for those of you on the other end of the globe).