I’ve written quite a bit over the last six months about my two wonderful, loving, often challenging girls. Let’s face it – Chloe and Sophie are terrific kids, but they are known to drive us crazy at least several times a day with their demands, their temper tantrums, their unchecked emotions…
All posts by Pink Me Not Mom
Hi, Poops!
As soon as I walked in the door this evening, Sophie enthusiastically greeted me with a huge grin, a huge hug, and a loud, “Hi, Poops!” And then she laughed and laughed.
She really is a happy kid. Although she has taken to screaming when she doesn’t hear what she wants – a ploy learned from her big sister, of course.
Spring has sprung. The leaves are awakening, the flowers are blooming, and the weather was beautiful today. We took a walk after dinner and it was lovely.
Chloe on her scooter and Sophie on her tricycle. Both have mastered their respective modes of transportation – and I was particularly impressed to see Sophie pedaling away (it’s one of those toddler trikes with a handle in the back that the adult can control) – something she wasn’t able to do about a month or so ago.
Our walk put me in a good mood – I am so happy that we can now officially look forward to warmer, sunnier and longer days. And our swim club orientation is in a couple of weeks, which is very cool, indeed.
Back to School
I volunteered at a high school career fair tonight, in order to convince a bunch of teenagers that a career in marketing was the coolest thing ever.
I don’t remember the last time I set foot in a high school. But it was a long, long time ago.
Anyway, the kids were entitled to receive extra credit if they “interviewed” a certain number of professionals. They had a bunch of preprinted questions, and they pranced around the gymnasium going from table to table in order to get their homework done as quickly as possible.
I went with some colleagues, mostly lawyers, who were extremely popular with the kids. Was it because of the cool swag I had brought along, or were these young ‘uns legitimately interested in the practice of law? I’m pretty sure it was the former, because the sonic rocks, stress balls and baseball caps were gone well before the end of the fair.
It was interesting to watch the kids in action. The boys had no qualms about simply grabbing the toys, and they often grabbed more than one, without asking. The girls refrained from being greedy, would choose one giveaway and politely thank us. And this was the way it played out almost every single time.
As I was observing the kids, I thought back to my days in high school. And I had always thought that my friends and I were pretty mature. But now that I’m bumping up against 40, I realize how young we must have seemed to adults back then. How awkward. How silly.
And this is what my husband and I have to look forward to with Chloe and Sophie. It was a warm day today, and many of the girls were wearing shorts that were way too short. And the boys were wearing clothes that looked simply ridiculous – too baggy, too big, too thuggish.
The bathrooms were just as I had remembered them, though. Cigarette-stained toilet seats, musty smell, ugly tiles. The only difference was that when I was a teen, flushing the toilet wasn’t automated. Now, apparently, it is.
Chloe now watches old episodes of “Saved by the Bell.” What a dumb show. I can’t believe it was on TV for four seasons. So many mullets! And Mario Lopez! And Elizabeth Berkley pre-“Showgirl” infamy!
“Zoey 101” isn’t that bad, actually. Jamie Lynn Spears’ character is smart and good-hearted. There are a lot of worse shows for kids out there, I suppose. And there’s nothing funnier to Chloe than watching a kid jump around like a maniac with a rat in his pants.
Hillary and Barack are debating tonight. It’s likely to be Hillary’s last chance to build up support. It’s not looking good for her. Barack seems impermeable to criticism. Kind of crazy. I’m disappointed (not just because I donated quite a bit of money to her campaign). Assuming he makes it through to the nomination, it will be interesting to see how he fares in the general election against that old geezer McCain.
The Circus
My husband and I decided to surprise the girls with an excursion to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey Circus the other day. We rarely succeed in the surprise thing, but this time we managed to keep the lid on it until we arrived at the parking lot, where there was a big sign that said “Park here for circus.”
Oh My God!
No, that exclamation is not because my girls did something amazingly incredible or amazingly stupid. No, those words came directly from Sophie’s mouth.
It’s her most recent favorite saying, whenever she makes a new discovery or sees something that bothers her. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” Over and over and over. Pretty soon she’ll be sending herself text messages: OMG! OMG! Over and over and over. But for now, she’s limited to expressing herself out loud.
Sophie wore a skirt for the first time in months the other day. She was very proud of her new look – and asked to view herself in the mirror. When she saw her image, she smiled. Broadly. Gleefully.
I guess the skirt thing goes hand in hand with the Barbie obsession I wrote about the other day. Come to think of it, however, she hasn’t asked to play with them since Saturday, so maybe the fad is on the decline. One can only hope.
In the meantime, my big girl is wearing lip gloss every chance she can (while hoping I won’t notice), and my little one outfits herself in sunglasses and skirts, and proclaims her favorite color is pink. Oh my God.
Oh, the Horror!
Sophie has discovered Chloe’s old Barbie dolls. It’s appalling. But I’m going to keep as calm about it as I can. If all goes well, Sophie will know (and will be repeating to others) that I don’t approve of that ridiculous doll. But for now, I’m cool.
She wanted to play “dolls” earlier. That’s her newest thing – to play dolls. Where she got that from, I have no idea. Perhaps from Monday visits with her friends at her babysitter’s house. I’ll have to find out if the other little girls talk about playing dolls. It’s certainly not from Chloe.
I tried to keep the Barbie episode lighthearted – the Ken and two Barbies danced and shook their booties to a silly made-up song. But inside, I was a wreck. She’s a girly girl. Her favorite color is pink. She has taken to looking at herself in the mirror when she’s wearing a skirt, admiring herself and exclaiming, “I’m beautiful.”
Have to give her credit – she’s developing a good self-image. And it certainly is endearing when she says, “Look in miwah…I’m bootiful.” But Barbie? I’m thinking it might be time to inaugurate the fireplace. It’s a little late in the season, but I’d wager that Barbies make great kindling.
Muscle Shirt Fatigue and Webkinz Crime Part II
I know, it’s been a week of these muscle shirt photos, and you’re all (that is, all 5 of you who read this blog regularly) groaning every time you see a new photo of the girls in their new pajamas.
Continue reading Muscle Shirt Fatigue and Webkinz Crime Part II
The Toilet
Sophie is getting better and better using the toilet. In fact, she’s dry most of the day now. And she tells us in advance when she needs to go.
Chloe was less interested in making the potty her friend. She was well over three years old before she started to get comfortable with it. And yet, for all their differences, Sophie has a lot in common with her sister when it comes to the toilet.
When Sophie sits on the throne she likes to get naked. That’s odd in of itself, except that what’s stranger is that a few years ago, Chloe used to do the same thing. It must be in the genes (not my genes, but maybe their Papa’s).
Sophie also likes to spend an inordinate amount of time on the toilet. Waiting and waiting. Even after she’s already done her business. She stays glued to the seat, while we’re twiddling our thumbs waiting to be able to wipe her butt.
She’s wearing real underwear (Dora the Explorer, of course) over her training diapers now. She will be completely trained in time for the pool club this summer – I know it. I just hope we don’t spend the summer in the pool club’s bathroom…
A Whale of a Time
These muscle shirt photos crack me up. The girls look so funny in them.
Anyway, Chloe and Sophie made their daily pilgrimage to visit our babysitter in the attic after dinner (our babysitter sleeps over a couple of times a week). They do this every night she’s here – and they proceed to spend time running around the room, jumping on the bed, pretending to fly (not such a great thing to encourage in Sophie’s case, since I don’t think she really understands that people can’t fly. We wouldn’t want her to test it out from a perch that’s taller than she is) and having pillow fights.
But they were having so much fun tonight – they were euphoric, really. Simple play, simple fun. Care free and happy.
And Sophie is a really good jumper. We have a little ottoman in the attic, and she jumped off of it and landed on her two feet every time. Chloe never did things like that when she was Sophie’s age. Sophie is much more of a risk-taker than her big sister, who has always been cautious. It’s a first-born thing, I think.