Category Archives: Frazzled Working Mom’s Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Halloween Post-Mortem

After two years in a row, I think Chloe’s Cleopatra costume is heading to temporary sabbatical until Sophie is tall enough to wear it. The costume was a big hit and surprisingly enough, we only saw one other girl wearing it even though we bought it at Target.

After minimal wear, however, Sophie’s Daphne costume is going to be permanently retired. Although she wore it to school the other day, Sophie reverted back to last year’s Minnie Mouse costume for actual trick-or-treating. Daphne was too small on her anyway. Fortunately, Papa got some use out of the wig, as evidenced by the photo. And, no, it’s not blurry. He thought it’d be funny to wear Sophie’s tights under the wig. The effect was a little creepy, to say the least.

Halloween Preview

Papa took this photo of Sophie at her pre-K Halloween parade this morning. She was very surprised to see him there and proudly walked the parade route with a smile on her face the whole time.

She’s Daphne from Scooby Doo. She refuses to wear the accompanying orange wig, however. I don’t blame her. It’s too small and it’s made of really cheap and itchy synthetic fiber. Unfortunately, though, the costume just isn’t the same without the wig. I’d be very surprised if anyone knew who she was supposed to be, other than a cute curly-haired kid wearing a pink dress with a green chiffon scarf accessory.
She’s already announced that she’s going to wear her Minnie Mouse costume tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes.

Almost November

The year is winding down and I can’t believe how quickly time passes. My boss just gave his notice today at work, and I’m expecting a roller coaster ride for the next couple of months, at least, if not longer. Not sure what they’re going to do for his replacement.

Happy for him. Not so happy for me – he’s been a great boss and I’ve enjoyed working with him. But life is full of challenges and this is just another one in a long line. That’s what makes life interesting, I suppose. Although I sometimes long for less interesting and more mundane.
Anyway, we’ll see what the upcoming weeks bring. I’ll be doing two jobs for awhile. I keep reminding myself to look at this development as an opportunity. Not sure how successful I’ll ultimately be at convincing myself of that. Time will tell.

Quadruple Play

We had a very busy afternoon. Grammy came over and we all went to the local museum to see an art exhibit. Sophie liked the paintings of the naked people (although she admonished me not to say the word ‘naked’ too loudly). Chloe was interested for about ten minutes and then pulled out a book and waited for the rest of us to finish.

After the museum, we went to a local renaissance fair – a fundraiser for one of the middle schools. The girls played with chain maille and Chloe bought a peacock feather.
From there, it was off to see “Where the Wild Things Were.” I enjoyed it immensely. Chloe liked it ok, but Papa and Sophie were not all that enthusiastic. And finally, on the way home, we stopped at the local haunted house. The owners must spend thousands of dollars every year on decoration and animatronics. Chloe loved it. Sophie was afraid that everything moving was real and would kill her. We reassured her that it was all fake and she felt better after that. We’ll see how she sleeps tonight.

Happy Birthday, Pink Me Not!

Two years today. Two years since I decided to document the lives of Chloe and Sophie on an obsessive basis.

I posted the first entry, about Sophie mistaking cooked Mexican beans for chocolate chips, on October 24, 2007. I’ve written 600 entries since that fateful day, and I’ve had more than 6,000 visits to the blog, most of which are probably just automated web crawlers or the same five family members, but no mind. 6,000 is a cool number.
I can’t believe I’m still writing this much. I’m normally not one to persevere with a project. I tend to get bored quickly and want to move on. But I continue to have this need to write about the girls and when I don’t add their latest news to the blog, I feel like something’s missing from my day.
In the time since I started this project, a lot has transpired. I started working again, Chloe started a new school, Sophie started pre-K, my grandmother died, we elected our first African-American president, the economy tanked…lots of great things have occurred, along with the not-so-great.
But through it all, Chloe and Sophie remain my steady beacons of light. They continue to entertain us and drive us crazy. Here’s to another two years (at least) of documenting their antics on www.pinkmenot.com.

A, My Name is Alice

Chloe reintroduced me to a game from my childhood. Remember taking the hi-bounce Spalding ball and going through the alphabet:

“A my name is Alice. My husband’s name is Alan. We sell apricots. B my name is Bonnie. My husband’s name is Bob. We sell boots.” And on and on and on.
I made it to U. Not in one shot, mind you. Those legs and my reflexes aren’t what they used to be. Chloe made it to E. As we all know, she’s not very coordinated. But she was having fun. And if she has fun, I have fun.
Unfortunately, bouncing the ball under her leg and catching it hasn’t prevented Chloe from failing the first part of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test at school, the shuttle run. Apparently, she wasn’t very good at hitting the target on the floor with the block. Let’s face it, no big surprise there. Let’s hope Chloe can manage the sit-ups and push-ups.

All’s Well That Ends Well

Chloe’s first big 3rd grade project is due next week. She has to create a poster advertising an adventure book, and decided to feature “Artemis Fowl,” her new favorite series.

Needless to say, the first efforts were painful. Chloe repeatedly abused the poster board with her eraser, getting increasingly more frustrated every time she tried to write the title of the book in a way that pleased her.
So after about 45 minutes of hemming and hawing, throwing pencils across the room, and abusing the poster board with her eraser, I told her to take a break from the project and turn back to it later on. She finally made her move this evening, and came up with a great idea. She sketched it out and should have no problem translating it onto the poster board. And she was proud of herself, too. As well she should be. Go, Chloe, go.

T-Rex’s Last Name

“Mom. I have a secret. But it has a bad word in it.” “What is it Sophie?”

“I know the t-rex’s last name,” asserts my funny 4-year old. “What’s the t-rex’s last name?” I ask.

“His name is T-rex Stupid. But shh. It’s a secret. And you can’t tell my teachers.” “Why is the dinosaur’s last name Stupid?” I ask.
“Because dinosaurs were stupid. And they ate people.” “Stupid isn’t a very nice word,” I respond. “But you’re right, Sophie. Dinosaurs were not known for their wicked intelligence. They’re brains were very, very small.”
“I know. That’s why his name is T-rex Stupid. But don’t tell my teachers.”

Sophie’s New Friends

Sophie made some new friends today. Not of the people-kind, however. Her new friends consist of Horsie and Doggie. They played Duck, Duck, Goose with her and enjoyed themselves very much. She made them comfortable for their naps and gave them lots of hugs.

She even got a little upset when Horsie apparently told her that they didn’t need her anymore. I quickly cleared that up. Horsie and Doggie both confirmed that they loved Sophie very much. They just didn’t need her to pay attention to them while they were napping. Sophie felt a lot better after hearing that. She’d been concerned that the friendship was going to be very short-lived.
Horsie and Doggie are still with her. Sophie feels a particular connection with Doggie who loves ballerina books, just like she does. I’m very happy she has such good friends.