go the what to sleep?

i have to start this post with some woe-is-us stuff: both girls were mildly sick this past week. we're talking just in the range of 100 degree temperatures, snotty nose (amelia), cough (amelia), crappy attitudes (both), lack of sleep (amelia). of course, there was benedryl used, rightly, for the nose situation (i can't deal with snot. gross)...lots of ibuprofen for them, etc.

addy played in her soccer game on wednesday. at this point it hadn't occurred to us to actually take their temperatures to see if they were on some level sick. for several days amelia had been throwing these massive tantrums at night, crying well over an hour over us not using the diaper that she had wanted. of course, we couldn't tell what she was saying in between sobs...sob-talking is the worst thing for parents to understand, right?

so yes, it was wednesday & yet again amelia had been crying for over 30 minutes. screaming, kicking her door, etc. good times. so instead of being a 'good' parent i sit down at the computer instead of trying to console an inconsolable 2 year old...& a neighbor, the same ones who gave me my early mother's day start! & who's daughter also plays on addy's soccer team (their two girls are nearly the same age as ours). anyway, we get this email from her, something about 'maybe you're a better parent than me, but i found this humorous'.

so please, maybe you're a better parent than i am, than wes is. & yes, if you don't like to hear the word fuck used, especially when in the thought of children--don't click on this link. don't...but i think this book (which for some reason i can't link the forwarded illustrated book to here?), so yea, this book just reads exactly what goes on in the mind of most parents. & please, if you've had a toddler/preschooler who wouldn't sleep for whatever reason, you've had this line of thought at least once. am i right? so yes, if you consider yourself a shitty ass parent sometimes, go here. turn on your speakers & feel the online community surround you with a hug.

***

anyway.

we have this problem with bandaids here. the girls use them like stickers. mostly, that's my fault. the first time adeline came downstairs proud of her new body stickers (at a wee age of 18 or 20  months), i couldn't help but laugh. then...it all progressed to not being able to keep bandaids in the house for their rightful use. so i've put a strict bandaid rule in place (yes! the weird rules moms come up with): DON'T USE A BANDAID UNLESS YOU ARE BLEEDING A LOT. A LOT OF BLOOD TRICKLING OUT OF AN OPEN WOUND.

so tonight amelia disobeyed & snuck a bandaid on her recently lotioned body. i let her try to keep it on, it was more humorous to me that way...she would hold her foot (with no obvious open flesh wound), i would ask where is her boo boo, she would point to a new spot. it was quite a conversation going on throughout the tale of the flopsy bunnies. finally, she hobbles into bed, holding the bandaid on her foot. i tuck her in & then calmly remind her that she is not to have a bandaid on unless her boo boo is bleeding red blood. i said her foot might hurt but she doesn't need the bandaid.

maybe it's because i let her cry for 40 minutes before she fell asleep for a nap earlier in the day. maybe it's because 20 minutes into the crying she received a spanking for kicking her door & the closet doors, certainly waking up the napping nannied baby-boy. (i hate spanking. but this child.)

anyway, she looked at me with these huge eyes, her mouth shut very smoothly. after 10 seconds of our stare-off she gave a wee smile & then smoothed her hair back out of her face, saying sweetly "my boo boo is all better now that i'm in bed. my bed makes my boo boos go away!"

sure! i'm taking it.

this stage is so utterly frustrating, their striving for independence...but so remarkably cute. just moments before amelia was trying to shove her head through her pajama arm hole (she chose sleeveless pj's & shorts...our girls have no concept of weather appropriate pj's.i guess this see-sawing weather doesn't help, but. for real, put your hand out? feel the cold or hot? that's your answer. but they don't get it). yea, i just saw the big blue eyes frantically searching around the inside of the pj top, then her nose & a bit of eyes. *sigh* gorgeous & lovely & huggable.

enough! off to the couch for me.