Family Tree

Over the Easter/Passover/Spring Break/We’re just closed indefinitely break at Jellybean and Monkey’s school, Grandma Larson came out to help watch the girls. And, while she was here, the girls had a GREAT time. (Grandma, on the other hand, worked. She’s STILL tired out, I think!).

And, because school was closed for sooooo f’ing long (seriously, 8 days. EIGHT DAYS! That is SERIOUSLY f’ing with my girls’ schedule! And they LIKE their schedule. Messing with it MAKES THEM CRANKY) , well, things got a little out of whack. Naps were missed, bedtimes slid around, and sometimes, just sometimes, people got cranky.

Monkey threw some whopping tantrums while Grandma Larson was here. Seriously, messing with their schedule really messes with their heads. That – that or she’s just three. You decide.

One day, she declined quiet time. It had gotten late, she didn’t want to stop doing what she was doing (probably building a fort or otherwise demolishing the apartment), it had been raining all day so she’d been cooped up inside, and she was defiant. She was NOT going to take a nap. I assured her that I wasn’t laboring under the delusion that she would sleep, but she still needed to be in her room, by herself, for quiet time. This did not go over well. It involved yelling. It involved some screaming. It involved some whining (piteously, with a swelling chorus of violins in the background) “no, don’t leave meeeeee, I don’t want to be aloooooone….”, and finally, it involved me being disinherited.

Yes, she officially told me that YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER ANY MORE. Note the abuse of caps? Well, it’s nicer that the abuse of my eardrums – this message was screamed! (my neighbors were very unhappy at this point in time, I’m sure).

So I asked if I could reapply tomorrow. You know, to be her mother again.

Monkey paused (which is funny – ever seen a tantrum just halt?), stretched her index finger up to the sky, shook it at me and said YES……….BUT ONLY TOMORROW!

Why, howdy neighbor!

Monkey's daycare is closed this week. It's "winter break".....not that they didn't just have a break a few weeks back or anything. And not that spring break isn't just right around the corner...but I digress.

Like I said, school is closed and, since it is wicked cold out there (at least cold enough to preclude extended forays, like the playground) we are INSIDE all the time. Ok, not all the time, but enough that Monkey needs to burn off some energy the old fashioned way - by pissing off the neighbors.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when, at 9:30am this morning, a polite young woman clearly still in her PJs knocked on our door to introduce herself and point out that, in case I didn't know this, they could hear every....single....footstep....on.....the....floor...........and................................... my child had been running for what seemed like hours.

Whoops. Nice to meet you. Sorry about the noise.

Oh, and by the way? Next time you start SHRIEKING and jumping up and down because The Bachelor show is, like, omigod, just so amazing? Remember I can hear you too. Snort - the Bachelor. She looked SOOO embarrassed to admit she watched it! Heh.