The Outfit

This morning, as I was ready to take Sofia to school she casually asked me: “Is that what you are wearing?” … Since I was wearing sweat pants I did not necessarily take it as a complement. I guess I am already embarrassing my 5 year old. So to mitigate her unfounded embarrassment I offered: “I am not even getting out of the car”. She seemed to be Ok with that.

The charity

Certain charity called me last week to let me know they would be coming by my street today and asking if I may have some donations. I told them that yes, I could have some clothes for them. I then put it on my calendar so that I did not forget about it.

I never really had a chance to clean my closet. Yet, I did not want to disappoint them. So last night after a long day at work, coming home to take care of the kids, doing some laundry, and putting the girls to bed, I did a quick scan for things I could donate. I really just wanted to sit down on the couch next to Lionel, but I also wanted to do the right thing.

Among the things I chose to donate was my maternity coat. I have been keeping it because it is a sentimental piece of clothing for me, but obviously I will never use it again and I know it could make a difference for somebody out there. I also chose to donate some brand new shoes I never wore because they did not fit me well. Once I put together two big bags I set them by the door, ready to put them outside this morning before going to work. I knew the forecast called for rain, so I put the bags inside another big black garbage bag, just in case.

This morning I put them outside and left for work. But much to my dismay, when I came back from work they were still there. That's what I get for caring. Next time I will just sit on the couch and get some much needed rest.

The dentist

When I was a child I had to visit the dentist many, many times. I was not big on eating candy, and I certainly brushed my teeth a whole lot. Yet, somehow, as the silver fillings in my teeth attest to, I had plenty of cavities.

To this day I remember how dreadful each and every one of those visits were. I remember the pain of the shots to numb my mouth, to supposedly diminish the discomfort caused by the dentist's work ahead. But what I dreaded the most, and still makes my skin crawl, is the drilling sound of that thing they use to dig in your molars, to make room for the fillings.

Yes, going to the dentist sucked big time, plenty of bad memories for me.

This past Friday, much to my dismay, I had to relive it all over again. Except this time it wasn't me, it was my girl. The dentist discovered two cavities during her last cleaning visit, so we had to go back to fix them and Friday was it. The only appointment we could make was in the morning, which was a rough way to start the day.

After they prepped Sofia they discovered one of the cavities was too close to the nerve, so first they rubbed some gel to numb her mouth a bit. That took a while to make effect. The dentist then came back and gave her one of the shots while I looked on and felt so, so bad. Sofia cried a little and said "ouch, that hurts", but calmed down relatively quick. I tried to smile and tell her it was going to be ok, but who was I kidding. Inside of me I was a mess. The dentist came back a few minutes later for the second shot. This time around Sofia knew what was coming her way, so she was scared, and I was scared for her.

After waiting yet again for the second shot to take effect, they finally put in the filling and, after a very long hour and a half, we got to leave the place. Sofia was tired of having her mouth open for so long, her teeth hurt, and the poor thing still had to go to school. I was completely freaked out and hoping we wouldn't have to go through that again anytime soon.

Blah blah blah

Some days my kids talk so much that I unconsciously tune them out. I start really trying to pay attention, but somewhere along the way they lose me and all I hear is blah blah blah. But even when that happens, they don't seem to care. They just keep talking. Maybe all along they really were just talking to themselves.

The pumpkin

Today I bought Bella a little pumpkin. Sofia really wants to carve pumpkins this year, which we have never really done before, so I thought it would be good for Bella to also have her very own. Not that she would be the one carving it, but still it seemed right for her to have one her size.

When we got home Bella was fussing because she did not want to get out of the car, so as soon as we walked inside I showed her the pumpkin, hoping she would get distracted and would drop the bad attitude. That appeared to work, but not exactly the way I was expecting. Bella approached the pumpkin, and as I was hurrying to empty their school bags I heard it drop down. But then I heard it drop down again, and again, and again. Apparently Bella had decided to play with it as if it were a ball. She was having a blast picking it up and tossing it to the ground as hard as she could.

I asked her to stop but she did not care, so I had to take it away. I don't really know why I was surprised, knowing Bella and her crazy ways.

Teach Me Not

This morning I volunteered at Sofia's school for couple hours. Although I am glad I did it, and will likely do it again, I have to admit it served as a reminder that I did well not choosing to be a teacher.

My job was to work with computers, with two children at the time. I was not sure exactly what I was expected to teach them, so I just showed up. Sofia's teacher told me that there was a website, starfall.com, that teaches phonics to little ones, and that she thought that would be a good activity to do with them. She then went back inside the classroom while I setup shop in the common area where the computers are located.

Once I was ready to go the teacher sent out the first two kids, a boy and a girl. They were both pretty sweet, worked on what they were supposed to, and listened to what I had to say. They had the longest turn of all because I had assumed the teacher would come out and tell me when time was up. This was clearly not the case, as the teacher had her hands full back in the classroom.

The second pair was my very own Sofia and another little girl. When we first arrived to school Sofia had cried when she realized she was not to spend the entire time with me, but ended up calming down and patiently waiting her turn. While she and the other girl were still with me the mom of the other girl showed up. Apparently the girl had forgotten to take her medication and, according to what her mom told her, that would have made for a really bad day for the teachers. Hmmm, I did not even want to know. And since the mom didn't really address me at all, which was awkward, I guess I wouldn't know anyway.

My third set of kids was ... well... a handful. Two boys by the names of ... who knows. When I asked their names I swear they said "I am three" and "I am four". That did not make any sense to me at all, so I asked again. "I am three" and "I am four". That's again what I understood. So I decided to let it go. Heck, I thought, three and four it is, at least for the next 15 minutes.

Four was kind of sweet, but he had no clue how to use the mouse. So patient me tried and tried again to show him how and that he was to only click on the left side. But he never quite got it right, so I had to just take over and click on his behalf.

Three was the little terror. He also kept clicking on the wrong side of the mouse, which caused all kinds of menus to keep coming up. He also wanted to click in places where he was not allowed, and managed to even completely close out of the website one unfortunate time. He also repeatedly pressed the keys in the keyboard even though I told him, also repeatedly, that for this activity we only needed the mouse. So needles to say, I felt compelled to shorten a bit Three and Four's lesson.

My penultimate group was comprised of two little girls, one that kept talking about everything princesses and inquired if she would be allowed to play a princesses game on the computer. She also showed me her sparkly shoes, and was wearing pants with sparkly things on the side. Definitely a girly girl, just like my very own.  The other little girl was sweet, but she also had dried snot on her face, which did not seem to bother her at all. I wish I could have felt the same. Clearly I did not, but being that I was only a visitor it did not feel like it was my place to point it out, fix it, or otherwise mess with it. So I tried to look her in the eye instead.

I do not really remember much from my last group, maybe because by then I was tired and eager to get out of there. I was worried that something urgent may have happened at work while I was exercising my patience and good will with Sofia's little friends.

Overall I am glad I went. Sofia was happy and proud to see me there, and I got renewed appreciation for all the good teachers out there.

Comer. Comer. Comer.

Bella is a really good eater and a very impatient one as well. When she gets hungry she starts repeating "comer, comer, comer", "eat, eat, eat". There is no 5 minute warning. When she wants to eat she wants to eat NOW! If we are not ready by the time she starts asking for food we have to give her whatever is at hand, such as a little pretzel, a chip, or a piece of fruit. Otherwise she starts screaming and whining because truly she just wants to eat. She very much reminds me of me when I was a kid. I don't know if I also whined about it, but I for sure had a very good appetite as well.