School's out for Summer!

Today is the last day of preschool before summer. Although as a child I always thought that the last day of school was such an exciting event, I find that I am definitely a parent now. The last day of school is a little bit terrifying. It means I will have both children with me for any errands, grocery store trips, doctor appointments, etc. It means every single day of the week with questions like, "Mom, where are we going today? What are we doing? Can I watch more TV?" as I scramble to come up with activities and also try to find 5 minutes peace (do you remember that book from our childhood? I finally get it now).

     And most of this week I had my grandmother here. I love my grandmother and it was a really huge treat to have her come visit and spend some time with the girls. But, having her here meant that my last week of school was dedicated to her and not to trying to accomplish an entire summer worth of errands and to-dos in a matter of days. 

     Alas, that means that the summer will actually have errands and grocery store runs and whatnot with both my kids in tow. Which already has me thinking, "how do mothers with more than 2 handle it?"

     It also has me very open and willing to start a rotating playgroup with any and all of my other preschooler moms.

Toilet seat

So, today this happened...

My baby was wandering the house, as normal, as I was getting things ready to head out the door. My grandmother is in town, so we were heading out to the toy store. So I was going through the exit routine, which includes going to the bathroom, packing the diaper bag, getting a bottle ready, etc... anyways, after a few moments I noticed that my baby wasn't underfoot - in fact, at that second I heard her cry out in a "I'm kinda stuck, or bored, or kinda want some attention" way. I want make certain that you understand this was NOT a cry of distress or pain.

     And off I went to investigate. Apparently I had lost her back at the bathroom stop on the exit routine. While I had continued on, she had stopped to investigate - normally this means the toilet paper roll. This time though, it meant the actual toilet.

     I found her sitting in the toilet - and I mean IN the toilet. She had climbed inside the toilet and was perched, kinda of squatting with her socks and shoes in the water in the bowl with her hands on the seat and her head peering out from under the lid (granted the lid was more like on her shoulders than the top of her head).

She has never done something like this before. NEVER even close!

     I was in such shock and heard that split second inner chastisement of "bad mommy!" so I quickly pulled the sopping wet child out of the toilet. Then I realized that I really should have taken a photo first. Because as soon as that inner voice was quiet, the laughter began. Absolutely hilarious. So this is a post-toilet seat adventure shot, and I promise that if there is a next time, I'll be sure to snap a quick photo before rescuing the adventurer from her watery predicament.

And thank goodness the toilet was clean!

All she wants to do is walk

My beautiful and adorable 1yr old is now a squirming screaming walker. She's been walking for a while now, but it's gotten to the point where she really doesn't want to do much else. She certainly doesn't want to sit still in my lap or on a changing table.

     I knew this day would come, and she was older than my first daughter was when it started. But man is it frustrating. It makes the diaper changes a fight that's no fun for anyone, and makes car rides and plane trips a bit more tricky. Thankfully we don't have any of those planned for a few months anyway.

     So now that summer is coming, we're going to be spending a huge amount of time outside walking wherever we can until mom (me) gets too hot and demands that we all go inside or to the pool. And until then, I apologize if you are within earshot when I refuse to let her walk around and she screams. 

Diapers over Ice Cream?

Sometimes the logic of a preschooler surpasses adult understanding. No, I am wrong - it seems almost ALWAYS the logic of a preschooler is beyond the comprehension of an adult or parent. Take this for an example...

     We have a running bribe (let's call it what it is, people) that if my preschooler goes poopoo in the potty, then we will all get in the car and head over to the ice cream shop for an ice cream cone. Seems like a pretty awesome incentive to me! However, she doesn't seem very swayed by it.

     In fact, as she was handing me a diaper last night, I reminded her that she could instead choose the potty over the diaper and we could all go get ice cream. She cocked her head to the side as if considering this proposition, and then stated, "nope, I don't like ice cream that much."

     Huh? She LOVES ice cream! I can't believe that the security blanket that is a diaper is so much stronger than having an ice cream cone complete with sprinkles on a warm spring evening. huh? I just don't get it.