6:00am Elliott is up and ready to start the day. I try to convince him to go to his room and play quietly for a while but he tells me he can't turn on the light yet. He says he can only reach the one in the bathroom and doesn't want to play in the bathroom. I roll out of bed and stumble to the kitchen to start some water for coffee.
6:30am Bella is up and we are sitting at the table eating Trader Joe's Strawberry Yogurt O's and banana people. Banana people were invented last week. To make a banana person you must first cut a banana in half add peanut butter to the cut part and shape it like hair. Then poke two holes for eyes and a smile for a mouth. Elliott always says "what does he say" and I always say in a weird banana person voice "Ooh no! Don't eat me!"
7:00am We start getting ready for school. Both kids get dressed with assistance. Bella can do it on her own but likes when I help her. We then move to the bathroom where we brush hair and teeth. Bella then goes to the family room to soak her toe in vinegar to help with the toe fungus she has on her left big toe. After ten minutes of looking for Waldo and soaking her toe we gather our jackets, mittens and rain boots and meet at the front door.
7:30am For some strange reason the kids lack of willingness to cooperate when it comes to getting out the front door always frustrate me even though it is the same every day. (Note to self: get over it) We somehow make it out the door and head up the small hill to Sorenson Early Childhood Center.
7:50am We run into Brian, Bella's BFF at school, in the parking lot. I notice his mom a little frustrated with Brian and his twin brother's lack of willingness to cooperate getting out if the car and into school. I wonder how different twins would be. Also, feel comforted that I'm not alone in the daily struggle to get to school and continue thinking about what I can do to make it go smoother. We meet Miss Martina, Bella's teacher, at the line up benches in front of the building and I sign her in. She goes and sits next to Brian and they both have huge grins in their faces. My heart melts a little. She loves school and she loves Brian. I feel really great full for their friendship. Elliott and I walk home very slowly. Because we usually have to walk fast(er) to school, we take a very long time getting home. Elliott asked if he could splash in puddles on the way to school and I told him we had to keep going to get there in time and he could on the way home. When we got to a big enough puddle he asked me to tuck his pants inside his boots so they didn't get wet. I noticed they were already wet so I just rolled them up a bit. He enjoyed splashing in the puddles for about 60 seconds and was ready to keep walking. He has three specific spots he likes to stop and play "statue". Statue is where he(and Bella when she is with us) runs ahead and freezes. Then I come and pretend to notice the statue but am not positive if its a statue or my child. I then tickle him to see if I can make him laugh. This used to work every time but now he can hold back his giggles so I pretend to cry and say I miss my baby. He then smiles and runs at me with hugs. It's the same. Every. Single. Time.
8:00am We arrive back home and I try to start tidying up the house. I notice pretty quick Elliott is needing some more attention and so we compromise. I finish putting breakfast dishes away and he gets out his alphabet work book. He's really focused this morning because he's almost done with the book and when he's done he gets a big blue ribbon. We call the ribbon a Piston Cup (from the movie Cars) so he really wants it. We sit together and finish like 8 pages.
8:40am Nila and Jay knock on the door. Nila's voice sounds a little horse but she is her usual smiley self. She gives her Papa a big hug and then comes to the table and asks for stickers and a coloring book like Elliott. We sit a work together for awhile.
9:30am I start getting the black bean soup I made last night ready for the Staff Appreciation Lunch the PTA has put together. I've made this soup once a week for the last month because everyone loves it. Black beans, acorn squash, sweet peppers, onion, cumin, salt in the crock pot over night and puréed.
10:00am The kids get their boots on and wait next to the garage door while I get the crock of soup to bring. When I get to them Nila tells me Elliott was hitting her in the face with a necklace. Neither of them look upset but I remind Nila to tell him to stop when he does something she doesn't like and to walk away. She says "ok Emmy" like she always does. I open the door to the garage so we can get in the car and start to address Elliott about hurting friends and hitting. He bursts into tears. He's very sensitive about doing things "wrong" and tells me he doesn't want to talk about it and he is embarrassed. I told him he couldn't have a piece of gum because he hit Nila and he continued to cry. I knew I didn't approach that right but didn't know what else to do since the soup needed to be at school by 10:15. I also felt bad because not getting gum has absolutely nothing to do with hitting. It didn't make sense to me. I knew it wouldn't make any sense to him.
10:15am We get to school and the change of atmosphere changed everything. While in the office signing in, Elliott and Nila play great together in the play area. I chat with the office staff for a bit wanting them to have a chance to play nice together for a little bit longer. We drop the soup off in the break room/kitchen and go to peek in on Bella's class. I decided to hurry back outside before they lined up to leave. The one time we picked Bella up inside she was really upset. She doesn't like breaking routine without warning.
10:25am Elliott, Nila and I are outside playing "I spy letters" on the alphabet mat the school kids sit on. Bella's class is always one if the first out. I sign her out and her teacher tells me she was very silly today. I'm glad to here it. We pile into the car and head to the library.
10:30am We enter into the library 30mins before story time starts. Elliott and Bella run to the computers to play games. Nila sits at the computer but still hasn't gotten how to play any games yet. I think she does a lot less screen time at her house. I think that's probably for the best. I even pick up a book about how screen time affects young children. All three of the kids take turns looking for books, coloring, and finding kid CDs before we head in for story time. Miss Linda, the new children's librarian, has been at the library for over 6 months now and all three of the kids love her. She is always full of energy. The kids love her stories, games, songs and yoga. I love it too.
11:00am We check out our books and head home.
11:15am The kids run in and start playing. There is some conflict between Elliott and the girls but nothing too serious. I made lunch while they played. After lunch the kids went back to the family room to play while I put away lunch dishes. Nila comes to tell me Elliott is throwing balls at her. I have Elliott leave the room and start getting ready for nap. Elliott and I have a nice chat in my bed (where he sleeps on Nila days) I feel like I may have gotten through to him today and we might be making progress on the bullying Nila issue. We read a story and snuggled for a few minutes. Then I get up to help get Nila and Bella ready for nap. They both cooperate to my surprise. They both were tired.
1:30pm Everyone is asleep, Including me, with the book I was going to read open to page one.
3:30pm David comes home. I decide not to go to the gym and take a rest day.
4:00pm Christine is here to pick up Nila and the kids all wake up.
My life right now. I wouldn't change it for anything.
