Monday, April 21, 2008

Evening Snapshot

At this very moment, when young children all across America are peacefully sawing logs, only one of mine has yielded to slumberland. The middle one. Her daddy has sent her on her way with a Sugar Plum story, and she's gone.

Caroline, on the other hand, is lolling around in a darkened room, happily crinkling a brown paper bag that she has been carrying around, literally, all day. It's Ian's goodie bag from the party I wrote about yesterday, and would you believe this? She has not extracted a single item from the bag. She promised she would not, and by gum, two years old or no, she's kept that promise (which didn't surprise Eliza at all -- "She PWOMISED, Mom!") The bag is ragged and wrinkled and has been set down only for toileting and bathing times, but true to her word to Ian, "I'm jus' holding it for you." I think she even managed to take it into the library tonight, although she realized at the door that she had forgotten to put back on her underwear after the last potty trip, and at various points during our library sojourn, I'd hear her worried voice carry all-too-clearly through the stacks, "I'm not wearing any underwear!" as Tim tried to shush her.

Ian is poring over his favorite library book, one of many on knights -- such a favorite that we had to drive back over to the library for it after he forgot to bring it to the counter on the first trip.

Eliza and I played a neat reading game today, one which I've used successfully with her brother as well. We drew lilypads with three-letter words on them with sidewalk chalk all over the driveway and she had to be a frog, reading each word before she landed on the lilypad. Then we sort of did our own version of Cranium Hullabaloo, where I'd tell her, "Run to 'box,'" or "Hop to 'van,'" or the like. What I really felt like doing was taking a nice long nap, but since Mary Poppins seemed to be otherwise occupied, it seemed best to bestir myself and my daughter and get the blood moving. But hey, "nap" is a three-letter word, so surely next time, I can work that in somehow ...?

2 comments:

Tracee said...

hehe, cute, working n-a-p in somehow. i admire your stamina, as i would have had them "hop" to the nearest comfy spot indoors, locked the doors and windows and lain down for a bit.

Julie said...

From one mom to another..thank you for sharing a comical moment in public with the kids that made me laugh..although I'm sure thats not what you were thinking at the time:) Love the idea of the lily pads..we draw with chalk all the time...so it's a great change from all choo choo trains..I can't draw much else, I'm suprised he can even pick out the plane that I draw!