Down day

Today was V's last day with her girls.
It was also the day I found out that my (13 year old, 140k miles) car needs $600 in brake repair, which I don't think we're willing to put in it.  We've been planning to get a new one, but plans may have just rapidly accelerated.

We stayed over Essie and Anne's for an hour and a half after their parents came home, drinking wine and talking.  It was really, really nice.

There have been lots of tears today.  That's my first car sitting out there, parked on the street, with its highly defective brakes (and bald tires, too).  V's plans haven't quite come through as quickly as we'd hoped.  We've been planning a big trip (overseas!) around New Year's, and that might have to be canceled.

Life is sad right now.  But:
We have our house, our two kitties, and each other.  And at the moment, a delicious salad (kale, clementine, crasins, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and Annie's raspberry vinaigrette).  We'll get through this.

We might need some cookie dough, though.

Angels and demons

Today, I was treated to some highlights such as Lilly screaming "No!" at me, twice, in a public place (thankfully with no one else around), her telling her brother "I wanna break your fishie," and her hitting Patrick.  It was the closest I've ever come to cursing around one of them; I honestly just wanted to yell at her to pull her $%&@ together and get over it.

Before lunch, she finally blew my last nerve, and I put her in her crib.  She stayed up there for about ten minutes.  I think it actually gave her a chance to calm down, because she then proceeded to eat lunch with no tantrums.  In thirty minutes.  Thirty minutes!  That's never happened!

Three days until they turn three.  I'm nervous how the next two days will go...

Background

And now we will commence lesson one, Why I Am The Way I Am (With Kids):

Yesterday, I sent a text out to five or so friends.
"Two three year olds, two pumpkins, two paintbrushes, three paint colors, two bowls of water, and paper towels.  No way this could go wrong, right?"

Responses ranged from "I'll be praying for you" to "riiight, let me know how that goes" to "oh god why."

Then came my mother's response: "Ooh fun!!! I miss doing that!!"

This concludes our lesson.

Redo

I got tired of the old look of the blog.  Very tired, as evidenced by the drastic change.  We'll see if this sticks or not; the background at the moment is a picture of Lilly.

And now for dropping a bomb: this coming week is V's last week with Essie and Anne.  We found out Thursday.  In brief, it's nothing she/we did, the girls' mom has been crying a lot, we've been crying a lot.  We don't really know what's coming, but I'm not worried about the job/income side.  These things always happen, and we always get through.  The emotional side has been rough, rough, rough on all of us, though.  We lost two of our little girls.

I'd been waiting to write about it until I could write a more full-length essay getting into my feelings, which I finally did this afternoon.  That cleansed.  Good wishes and prayers for V this week, though, please; the sense of loss is strong.

Thieves

Various things overheard, as I tweak things on the blog, while V is reading her homework:

V, to cat in her lap: I see you staring at me.  Yep, still do.

V, to me: Uh, the cat just watched me underline.  As in, her head craned to follow my hand.

V, to me: She just picked up my pen like it was a bone and walked off with it!

V, to cat: No, you can't have this pen too!  You have one halfway across the room!

And the ever popular: I don't feel like playing with you right now; leave me alone!

For those wondering, no, it usually doesn't feel like we are done with kids at the end of the day.

Firsts

As a nanny, I don't get to see a lot of firsts.  Were I watching infants and babies I would, probably; with toddlers, though, firsts come in the form of places and events - first dentist visit (which I actually was at), first plane trip, first time at the beach.

Today, I watched Lilly take her first pony ride.  V and I took them to an amazing park/farm/playground, with pony and wagon rides, a petting zoo, a giant dairy barn converted into a playplace (which, yes, V and I took just as much advantage of as the kids).  Lilly pet the pony, and when I asked her if she wanted a ride, she said yes.  When I asked Patrick, he said, "I don't like riding the horses."  As if he's ever tried.

It was one of those days that didn't feel like work; a big part of that was having V with me.  It was just us out with our kids on a mostly-pretty Saturday, watching them spazz and Lilly run three different directions in her excitement.

High/low lights

Today at school, Lilly used the potty after snack.  Later, during lunch at home, she told me she had to pee, used the potty again, and came back to continue lunch.  I'm proud of her.  After the family vacation in October, the potty training will get serious, but I'm enjoying this laid-back version for the moment.

She's still on a screaming streak, though, and it only seems to be getting worse.  Both at gymnastics yesterday and school today she ended up separated from the other kids, in time out, because she wouldn't listen and then started screaming when she went into time out.  It's very frustrating.

Tonight, V and I are with her girls (Essie and Anne).  We did a photoshoot with them, but she hasn't loaded the pictures on her computer yet.  I can't wait to see them!  The parents know, so this one won't be a surprise; it's still exciting though.  I'm hoping her photography really takes off.