When life is like a Calliou episode

Calliou, for those that don't know, is a children's cartoon about a bald Canadian 4-year-old who whines a whole lot. He has a mom who wears mom jeans, a tremendously dorky dad, and a bratty little sister named Rosie. In this case, life is like the episode where Caillou goes to the strawberry patch with Clementine's family. If you're not lucky enough to have seen this episode, I won't ruin the suspense.

We spent a thrilling day at Ikea, and while there the girls got their faces painted:

Exhibit A

 When we finally got home, J and I flopped on the couch in exhaustion and tried to pretend the previous 6 hours hadn't happened. From upstairs where the girls were playing, we heard water running. This is never good.
 
We called up to see what they were doing but got no answer. And then we heard the scream. We both ran upstairs to find Big A wearing only underwear, with bright red drops of blood running down her chest and streaming out of her nose. Trying not to panic, I laid her down on my lap and began to wipe up the blood while at the same time trying to figure out what had happened from a sobbing Big A. I was internally panicking at the sight of so much blood, but trying to remain calm. (This seems like a fine time to insert the story about when I was little and my big sister clocked me in the nose with a baseball. I ran inside with a bloody nose and my mom promptly ran outside to get the neighbor who was luckily a  nurse.)

Unfortunately, none of my neighbors are nurses so I didn't have that option. As I mopped up Big A and mentally prepared for a hospital visit, J went to investigate to try to figure out what could have caused the accident. Big A kept insisting that she had not bumped her nose and said she was just washing off her face paint and started bleeding. Suddenly J called out from our bathroom, "That isn't blood, that's face paint."

Big A immediately stopped crying and we all started laughing. The big drops of red "blood" suddenly turned benign and we cleaned up quickly - crisis averted.

And just so I don't leave you hanging if you haven't been so lucky as to see that Caillou episode, Caillou falls on the strawberry patch and gets a bloody knee. Or so everyone thinks -- turns out it was just a smushed strawberry. Haha. I just love when life imitates "art."

Stay tuned for the "big girl room" reveal!

What's been on my mind

iPhone mania: I finally entered the smart phone world with my very own iphone. I love it so much. I immediately downloaded a million apps and it totally appeals to my obsessive personality. More lists to make, more ways to check my budget, even a fitness app to enter in my food and exercise. Love. The girls are also enjoying playing games on it, and it amazes me how quickly they’ve picked up how to use it. They also have been calling their play phones iphones. I predict that by the time they are 12, we’ll be paying for the a 4-phone package. Eek.

Speaking of all that, it really makes me wonder what it will be like to be a kid/teenager in today’s world. Whereas home used to a refuge from the big bad world, it is now connected with the multitudes of technology available. Remembering what I do about the cruelty of youth, I can only imagine how much it would sting to be left out of a party and then see photos on Facebook, or to have a frenemy “drop you” from their friend list. I have to put it out of my mind before I hyperventilate.

Kindergarten: Its been looming over me for many months, and now it is August, and in 25 more days, my girl enters the real world. I am confident that she will do fine, but it still scares me a bit. See above re: cruelty of kids. Luckily, my Big A has proven to be an independent spirit who doesn’t get bogged down in doing what everyone else does. Her “I don’t care” attitude (which you really can’t fake) has proven to attract lots of admirers. She’s not a center of attention type girl, but I have no doubt she will find a nice group of kids to be friends with. I just have to remember that.

Potty-training hell: Ugh. For a kid that has met all her milestones ahead of schedule, it really sucks to be behind on a big one like this. Little A successfully used the potty three times to earn a Baby Alive doll, then promptly stopped doing it. She will sit on the potty if we make her, but nothing happens. I know it will happen when she's ready, but this momma is ready to put the diaper days behind her! 

Summer: After a short beach hiatus due to some commitments at home, we’re heading back to the beach this weekend...and for several of the next ones. So although it feels like summer is screeching to a close, we still have some sun and sand left to experience, and I plan to enjoy it to the fullest. My varied childcare plan this summer is drawing to a close as well, and I’m a little happy about that. Its been a nice break for the girls, but a bit hard to keep track of with every week being different. The consistency and routine of school will be a nice change. And I’m sure my house will stay a lot cleaner.

So that’s about where I am these days. Poring over my phone, working on making my tan last for the year and soaking up the last rays of summer. I foresee some big changes coming up this fall so stay tuned!