I hear myself everywhere

Just spent the weekend in NYC with husband. It was our first weekend away without Zoë in at least 2 and half years and it was truly wonderful. I could go into lots of romantic details, but I won't.

Instead I will go into listening to all the other parents and kids I saw. NYC is definitely a melting pot and I saw parents of just about every description and the thing I noticed is that all parents (myself included) say the same things! I couldn't help but giggle every time I heard a parent say, "Are you listening to me?" or "Pay attention" or "I told you to stop that." Frankly, it made me feel so much better to hear those same phrases that spill out of my mouth repeatedly on a daily basis. At least I am not the only one. And it wasn't just the exact phrases, it was the same tone of voice. I try to be a very conscientious parent, but sometimes it is hard to know if what you're doing is right. I'm not saying that just because everyone else is doing it, that makes it right, but it does make me feel better anyway to know my child isn't the only one who needs to be told these things.

Questions about Easter

Zoë: Where does the Easter Bunny live?
Me: At the North Pole of course.

Why is there so much Easter candy in the store -- doesn't the Easter Bunny bring the candy in baskets?

Yes, the Easter Bunny brings baskets for little girls and little boys. Grown-ups have to buy their own candy.

Does the Easter Bunny know Santa Claus?
Of course, they both live at the North Pole.

Yes, but the Easter Bunny lives underground at the North Pole and Santa lives in his village and all the elves are like his children. Right?
Right. And the Tooth Fairy lives there too.

Spring Fever

I feel like I am suffocating in my office. It is so stuffy and quiet! No more so than usual, but now that some nice weather is here, I just want to be out wandering around and enjoying it. I couldn't be happier that Zoë's daycare is closed tomorrow for Good Friday so I am forced to take a day off. I have not accomplished one thing of note this entire week.

All Partied Out

Yesterday we had the third and final party in an almost month-long celebration of Zoë's 4th birthday. Yesterday was the kids party and I think it came off pretty well. Aside from the glitter glue myniecee got in her eye (and all over her face and the wall, the floor, the table, etc.) there were no tragedies. Poor Sophia was still glittering when she left the party, but it didn't seem to slow down her good time. I think Zoë had a ball and she got some good presents too -- including a complete trunk of Princess play shoes. What a great idea that is.

Many members of my family have birthdays this time of year so there has really been a lot of celebrating lately and a lot of cake. With Easter and Passover impending, the celebrations show no sign of stopping. More cake! (Followed by many hours at the gym to pay for it all.)

Babysitter

We went out to dinner tonight and had a babysitter for Zoë. The babysitter is a very nice girl who works part time at day care. She is also a college student and Zoë just adores her. As young as this girl looks to me, and as long as it has been since I've actually babysat, it still cracks me up to be the "grown-ups" going out and not the babysitter in this scenario.

Strange Creature Found in Family Room

She's ready for a flying underwater mardi-gras adventure!*


*Thanks to JKo for that excellent description.

Mission: successful

I feel like it is some kind of triumph that I went into a Toys R Us store on Saturday and managed to purchase the exact booster seats I was looking for. I didn't even have to wait more than 10 minutes at the customer pick-up counter. The gods were smiling upon me.

Zoë's 4 year check up was this morning and she came through with flying colors. 100% healthy and completely precocious. Not even a flinch at the finger prick and very short-lived tears after the two shots. I was really impressed with her. I think the fact that we didn't tell her she would have shots until the last minute really helped because then she didn't have a chance to build up anxiety.

I have a cold

Did you know it is nearly impossible to sleep when you can't breathe through your nose? I've lately discovered that fact.

I can't remember being quite this stuffed up before. I'm not a big fan of taking cold medicine because it leaves me feeling so completely out of it no matter how non-drowsy it claims to be, but I think I may have to break down and buy some.

The thing that really annoys me is that I have been well all the cold and dreary winter long and now that some beautiful, sunny, warm Spring weather has finally come our way, I'm feeling rather crappy and not much like getting out and enjoying.

Oh well. I should probably find something real to complain about.

Big plans for the weekend include buying a booster seat for Zoë! Bye-bye old car seat, my little girl is growing up. Zoë is not the only one excited about this.
I've chosen this one:
Graco Turbo Booster
I'm sure buying a booster seat doesn't sound like such a big deal, but every time she grows past some piece of baby equipment (like the high chair, bottles, etc.) I feel it is a milestone of her growing up. What everyone says is, in this case, actually true -- it goes by so fast!

Birthday party hell

This past Saturday I took Zoë to one of her daycare classmate's birthday party. It was at a kid's music class place in Wilton. It started off well. The kids all sat around in a circle while "Robert the Guitar Guy" played music and used puppets and silly voices. Zoë was very into it and she was her usual boisterous self and a bit dominating in the area of answering questions or offering suggestions when Guitar Guy asked for them. Nothing that she was doing was aggressive or out of turn, however. She was just very involved and hasn't learned to contain herself.

Then, at one point all the kids were supposed to be sitting up and Zoë pointed out that two of the little boys were still lying down. Guitar Guy turns to her and says, "Zoë you know what? Your job is Zoë." And it was in this nasty tone of voice. Thank goodness my daughter came back with this, "My name is Zoë, my job isn't Zoë:."

And thank goodness that she isn't old enough to have been embarrassed by a comment like that. I wanted to throttle the guy. He is neither her parent nor her teacher and had no right to speak to her that way. It was a birthday party! A few of the other mothers commented on how inappropriate they thought he was which made me feel better. I am still in the middle of composing my nasty email to "Robert the Guitar Guy".

The Food Channel

Is it just me, or does it seem completely counter-intuitive to watch cooking shows on the food channel while working out at the gym?

It's good to be home, but...

it was kind of nice to be away too.

I just got back from a quick business trip to Boston and the best part about it was going out for drinks last night and not having to worry about getting home, or driving, or getting up the next day, or even paying. It felt a little like my old single days and it was fun.

It also didn't hurt that my hotel was quite nice -- The Westin at Copley Square. The rooms have modern decor and they have what they call the "heavenly bed." I am happy to report it lived up to its name. I slept dead center in that heavenly bed and was very happy not to have to share it. We were discussing the beds last night and I commented that when you're single and you walk into a hotel room and see a bed like that you wonder who you can get to join you in it, but when you're married with kids, you look at a bed like that and smile knowing you get it all to yourself.

The girl turned 4

With much fanfare, cake, and almost a dozen balloons, Zoë turned 4 yesterday! She wore a crown all day that said "Birthday Girl" and she loved every minute of the day. It was the first year she really got into celebrating her birthday and really understood that all the festivities were just for her. I had to sing "Happy Birthday" multiple times.

First question when she woke up this morning:
Mom, when will I be 5?

7:30 AM Sunday

Zoë had just crawled into bed with my husband and me and we were snuggling. It was delicious. Then sitting up a little Zoë notices a box of Reeses Pieces sitting on my nightstand. She instinctively seemed to know it was something good.

Zoë: Mommy, what's that orange box?

Me: (trying to think of a plausible fib, but coming up empty and finally admitting) It's candy.

Zoë: What kind? I never saw that before.

Me: Reeses Pieces.

Zoë: What do they taste like?

You gotta give the kid credit for cleverness!

March madness

Despite the fact that March is the month in which my beautiful daughter Zoë was born, I think I am starting to hate this month -- maybe even moreso than February. February doesn't make any false pretenses about itself.

Things I hate about March:

1. The changeable weather. One minute it is 65 degrees and sunny and you're taking off your coat and the next minute it has dropped 30 degrees, snow is expected and you're wondering where you left your gloves.


2. Shopping for clothing is impossible. All the clothes and shoes in the stores are all for Spring -- Spring somewhere a lot warmer that is around here. Try buying your almost 4-year-old a party/Easter/Passover dress when everything they have is shortsleeved or sleeveless. You just can't count on it being warm enough for that kind of thing.


3. St. Patrick's Day. No offense to the Irish, but come on, this is a day that has gotten way out of control. It has been completely "Hallmarked." Next thing you know people are going to start buying St. Patrick's Day presents. I'm all for a green beer or a green bagel, but I think we've really entered the land of overkill now.


4. March madness. I am a basketball fan, but who can keep up with all those college teams? It's just an excuse to go drink beer -- as if the world needed another one of those.


5. Spring Break related news stories. Enough already. We all know just how drunk you can get in Cancun.

Do I sound like a total March Grinch, or what???

Bored

I am so bored today. It's not like I don't have work to do, but I just can't bring myself to do it because it is just so boring. I am in a complete funk and just want to go lay down somewhere and watch Dr. Phil or something. Sigh. I've even tried playing my favorite online game, Text Twist, but I think that has only made things worse. I want this day to be over now. And damn the fact that it is only Tuesday. I really have no idea how I am going to get through the rest of this week.

Mom, I need you!

Around 8:45 this evening (about an hour after she is supposed to be in bed and sleeping) I hear Zoë call out "Mom, I need you!" Usually the delay tactics are more along the lines of "I have to potty" or "I'm thirsty" so I went up to see why it was that she needed me.

"Mom! I looked out the window and there are kids playing outside in the middle of the night!" Her eyes were completely lit up and she looked at me expectantly. "I saw them outside," she repeated.

I explained to her that those kids outside are older and older kids are allowed to stay up later.

"Mommy, when I get to be 8, can I play outside in the middle of the night?"

Of course I said yes. What else could I say???

Conversation with Papa

Zoë: Papa, you need a wife.

Papa: I agree. I'm working on it. I'd like to have a wife.

Zoë: What will you name her?

Book club

Just got home from my book club. This month's selection was "My Name is Red" by Orhan Pamuk. To be honest, I hated this book. The only other person who openly admitted to hating it, decided not to even come to the discussion because she couldn't even finish it. It was a struggle for me to finish it, that's for sure. And I cannot figure out what the others saw in this, let alone anyone else who's enjoyed this book. I honestly think that, as is the case with some really inscrutable films, people claim to like this book because they don't get it at all and figure that if it is so hard to understand, it must be good. I am not afraid to admit that I didn't get this book and I really don't want to.

Happily, next month's selection is "Jane Eyre."

The Wizard Voz

We just spent our half a snow day watching The Wizard Voz. Twice. In a row.

Yes, of course, I mean the The Wizard of Oz, but Zoë insists it is "Voz" and who am I to argue?

Isn't it interesting how young kids aren't sure the movie will turn out the same way it did last time? Maybe this time the Wicked Witch won't get melted and Dorothy won't get back to Kansas. Repeated viewings are necessary just to be sure. I guess that explains how I could stand to watch repeats of The Brady Bunch night after night when I was a kid. We didn't have a DVD player or even a VCR back then.

I'm taking my toys and I'm going home

If I could have said/done that today I would have. I would have gone home and had a good sulk.