In my shoes

Tomorrow Lionel and I are exchanging our Monday routine. I need to be at work early, so he is taking the girls to school and I am picking them up. He normally does take Bella to school couple days a week, but he does not even feed her at home. He just packs her breakfast and off she goes.

His morning routine does not include ensuring they eat without getting up twenty times, fighting with each other, or going upstairs to play instead of brushing their teeth. No worrying about them getting food all over themselves, making Sofia's lunch before you make your own, or feeding the dog.

I do enjoy spending that time with the girls and I do everything for them with much love, but there is no denying that it is not stress free: It is hard work! It is not the same to just get up, get yourself dressed, and head out the door.

So as I was thinking about tomorrow morning, and what I have - or DON'T have - to do, one clear evil thought crossed my mind: "That will teach you Lionel. Good luck to you!".

Daddy time

Spelling Bee

Sofia is doing great reading and writing, "sounding out" words she doesn't know. Granted, she may be a long way from becoming a spelling bee, but we all have to start somewhere.

Work Life Non-Balance

Lately I've been once again working a lot ... way too much. I haven't had time to write and I haven't had time to relax. It is past midnight on a Friday night and I just finished checking my email for the week. It sucks to be working this late, but at least now I can shut my computer down and put it aside for the next couple days. That should give me a bit of a break.

De colores

This Saturday Gabi, the girls, and I went to a puppet show at Playhouse in the Park. The weather was really nice, so after the show we walked to a playground that was right next door. As we were leaving we noticed a very colorful wall, and decided to take a few random pictures just for fun.

Pillow Pets

For the last few days, while Lionel was away skiing with his Dad, Sofia slept with me. One day she even helped me make the bed. Not only she used our pillows, but she also added her and Bella's pillow pets.

Return to me

It has been a while since Lionel has been gone for more than a couple days, and we miss him, and we can't wait for him to come back home. I knew that being without him would make the logistics around here somewhat hell, but I did not expect to miss him so much. I guess it is a good thing to have a little reminder of what our lives would be without him. Makes me appreciate him even more, even though I don't always say it to his face.

Best Friends Forever

I just finished reading "Best Friends Forever", the first non-work, non-kids book I have read in a very long time. I really only had time to read it at night, and even though by the time I get to bed it is really late, I often found myself not wanting to put it down, and telling myself "maybe just one more page". Now it's done, and I'm going to miss it, but hopefully I will find another good one soon.

Ouch

Today Sofia's school was closed, but of course I had to work. So I worked from home. Poor Sofia managed to entertain herself for a while, but eventually went to my bedroom and fell asleep right before lunch. She said she was tired, but I think she was really bored. After a quick lunch I had to sit down and work again, but I promised her that after picking up Bella the three of us could play.

At around 4:15 I called it a day. At 4:30 we had an appointment to sign her up for her summer camp, after which we went to get gas, to the car wash, and finally to pick up Bella from school. By the time we came back it was probably close to 6:00pm. They wanted to play outside, so we went to the backyard for a few minutes and played in the swing set. After that it was shower time, time for dinner, and finally, after a very long wait, time to play.

The three of us went upstairs and Sofia said to me: "Ok, so we are going to pretend that I am the mami, and you are the sister".

"Ok", I said, not quite foreseeing what came next. As I sat down on the floor, and she positioned her plastic computer on top of her bed, Sofia said to me:

"We are going to pretend that I am the mami, and I am working, and you can't interrupt me. I am going to work for a while, and in the meantime you can play by yourself".

She was not using a mean tone, but she did not have to. It hurt all the same.

Double Standard

Earlier today Sofia and I had leftover pizza for lunch. After we ate there was a small piece left so I thought about giving to the dog, but decided against it because it was greasy and as such not good for him. What's wrong with that picture?

Heart

My Dad had a follow up appointment with the cardiologist today. I would have liked to, but unfortunately I was not able to go with him. Even worse, I was so busy all day that I did not even have time to give him a call afterward to see how it went. But now it is too late. He is in bed, so I am going to have to wait.

Picking Favorites

Every night, when Sofia is already tucked in and ready to fall asleep, I ask her what was her favorite part of the day. I've been doing that for a while. I don't remember where or when, but once upon a time I read that if you just think about it you might realize that no matter how good or bad of a day you have, there is always something to be thankful for.

Sofia may not be old enough yet to have really bad ones, but I like hearing about her favorite parts of the day. Sometimes she has trouble picking just one, and sometimes - my favorites by far - they have to do with spending time with us.

The odd one out

Today I've been kind of down and a little bit grumpy. This is unusual considering it is the weekend, it is warmer than it has been in months, and it is a beautiful sunny day.

The tone of my day was initially set by the novel I've been reading. It was a sad chapter for the protagonist of the book, one of lost love for somebody who had hardly known friendship and  love at all. But the real downer for me came after breakfast, as I was going around putting the laundry away, and doing other household chores.

I was in Bella's room, which faces our backyard, when I heard kids laughs coming from the outside. I looked through the window and saw some of the neighbors, as usual, running around. Of course, I thought. There they are again, playing around while my Sofia is by herself inside the house. It does not help that they like to run around in the cold and the mud, while my Sofia is more of a girly girl. But the main thing I'm afraid of is that one of them has "black listed" her, and asked the others not to play with her. Every time I see them out there it reminds me of the birthday incident, when not only she was the only one NOT invited, but one of them actually told her that right to her face. And to think that when she sees them, she says they are her "friends".

Give me a break

Today I did something really nice for myself. Lionel and Sofia went skiing in the afternoon but Bella and I stayed behind because she is still too small for that. The house was a mess from all the stuff the girls misplaced throughout the week, so I could have chosen to stay and try to put everything back in its place. Instead, Bella and I went to my parent's house. There they fed us without us moving a finger and let us spend the afternoon with them. After lunch I was so tired that I grabbed a blanket and curled up in bed. Bella wanted to play with me, but at the end she played with my parents while I stayed curled up and fell asleep. I really needed a break, so taking a nap instead of cleaning was the nicest thing I did all day just for myself.

San Valentin

Sofia's school is closed Monday, so she had her little Valentine's Day party yesterday. They all got to wear their PJs to school, bring a pillow, a blanket, and two books to share with their friends.

She decided that she did not want to take the books, but she was excited about doing everything else. She took her favorite pillow - a pink and purple unicorn pillow pet - and her very special blanket, the one she carries around the house all the time. The whole point of the pillow and the blanket was that they could lie down during story time. They also got special treats, and got to hand out their valentines.

The party was in the morning, as soon as they got to school, so I was able to stay with her for a little bit Vs just dropping her off and heading back home. She was happy to have me there, and I was happy to be able to share her special day.

To work or not to work

This morning, as Sofia and I  were coming back from Bella's daycare and on our way to her school, we drove past our health plex where we play tennis and she takes swim lessons. All of a sudden, completely out of the blue, she asked me: "Mami, how come some people have time to go to the gym during the day on a school/work day?" 

Huh? I was for sure not ready to answer that. The first thing that came to my mind was those clearly wealthy ladies I see there playing tennis all the time. They have the perfect outfit, the perfect gym bag, super expensive cars, and - even though that is a gym after all - the perfect makeup as well.

"Well ... some people have a lot of money and don't need to work", I said.

I obviously heard myself as I was saying that but it was too late. I couldn't stop. It was already out there, so I couldn't take it back. Way to go mom! You better have something else to add. 

"ALSO.... some people chose not to work because that is what works better for them. But when they do that it means they have to make sacrifices", I added. Seriously?!? Do you now want to sound like staying at home sucks? Because more than once you've thought that staying home would be just fine. 

"For instance, if they don't work that may mean that they don't have money to go on vacation, or go out for lunch, or for tennis lessons", I said. Then again, that may not be necessarily true. Some people don't work and probably spend way more than me. Oh well, she doesn't know that. 

"And what do people do if they want to go on vacation but they don't have money?", she asked in reply.

"Well, that's easy. They don't  go anywhere", I said. Good job mom. Short answer. Short and sweet. Short and sweet.

At that point I was just waiting for her to ask why wasn't I one of those wealthy ladies, and why didn't I just stay home, and why in the world did I have to go to work. But she didn't. Either the thought of no tennis and no vacation made her not to even want to go there, or she got tired of getting half thought out responses and decided that simply listening to the radio was a better bet.

Mocos

And once again I spent another week coughing like crazy, blowing my nose, sleeping badly due to a stuffy nose and a scratchy throat, and taking prescription medicine that so far is not doing much for me. Thank you winter, once again.

Blah Blah Blah

Bella has been talking a whole lot more just in the last few weeks. She has been into singing for a while, but now she can clearly say most of the words of her favorite songs: "Happy Birthday", "The wheels on the bus", and "Bingo". She can also say whole phrases clear as water, and use them very appropriately in the right context.

I love hearing her precious little voice.

Boys will be boys

The other day Sofia told Lionel there was something he couldn't do because he was a boy.

"How do you know Dad is a boy?", I asked.

"Seeeeriously? Do you reeeeally want to go there?", said Lionel, clearly annoyed.

"So ... how do you know?", I repeated, not knowing exactly what she was going to come up with.

"Because he has short hair, and does not wear dresses, and does not wear earrings, and does not wear lipstick", Sofia clarified after rolling her eyes.

Hmmm. Obvious reasons for sure. At least for  a 5 year old who has yet to see the world.

Perfect Match

It appears that all the moms I know agree on one thing: Even at a very early age girls have an opinion about what to wear. What about boys? Well, they truly don't seem to care.

Sofia has been choosing what she wants to wear for a very long time. Even Bella - at two years old - fights me when I am trying to put on something she does not like. "Not that one", she says. She then whines, throws a tantrum, and does whatever she can to prevent me from getting her dressed. Eventually I give up and go get something else. Something she approves of - of course - if I don't want the fight to start all over again.

This morning I asked Sofia if she wanted to wear a red dress. "No, because I don't have red shoes", she categorically said.

"You could wear the black shiny ones. Black and red look really well together", I said.

She quickly and finally replied: "I don't think so. They have to be red. I better wear something else".

Two and two together

Sofia: "Mami, let's play house. We can pretend that Bella is you baby and I am her sister".

We are not alone

This afternoon one of my meetings got rescheduled. Two of the guys that were supposed to attend canceled last minute on me. One of them sent me a quick note saying "Sorry for the late notice.  I have some unexpected childcare issues to deal with". He probably though I was annoyed with him, but truth be told I was just happy that on a day like today I was not the only one of my coworkers having to juggle work and parenthood at the exact same time.

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