If you haven't read this children's book you should! (author Judith Viors) I bring it up because the title of my day yesterday could have been Sarah and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
It started out with a photo appointment with both girls. Even though I have a million snap shots of the girls, I wanted professionals with a plain background to frame. The plan was to get pictures of the each of the girls individually, but more importantly one of them together. I knew this had the potential to implode, so I invited Grandma JoAnn along to help contain Allie. Little did I know that she, I, & the photographer were little match for one "busy" two-year-old.
Allie, or 'big business' as she is affectionately known, refused to sit still, look at the camera, or smile. We had a hard him corralling her in the photo shop, let alone her seat in the little room. I tried to amuse her with her favorite distraction, “chap”, a.k.a. chapstick. Once I realized the tactic was flawed (chap in ever shot) it was too late to abort mission. I pondered, how do I discipline a toddler & then hope for a great smiling photo?
Kylie, ‘small business’, was tired by the time we reverted to her & wanted nothing more than to be swaddled and suck on the pacifier; a pose we’ve capture many times at home. The photographer was not much help, although I don’t blame her for the debacle. After 45 minutes, she dropped strong hints that our time was up & I waved the white flag. We surrendered exhausted, batter, & bruised with only a few shots to choose from: none with smiles & only 2 of Kylie. We didn’t even attempt getting the girls in the same shot. I’ll have to try again. Maybe more backups?
Allie’s nap time has become a struggle the past few weeks & this day was to be the worst! Since she had a 30 minute power nap on the drive home, she put up quite a fight. Her sleep-avoiding strategy has been evolving over the past days & weeks. First she knocked on the door, then she opened the door, & now she doesn’t try to come out of here room since we’ve established the fact she will be put right back in. Since asking for a drink & begging ‘hungry’ have failed, she now puts her energy into demolishing her room.
This day she was VERY tired when I first put her down to sleep, in fact ‘bed’ had been her request. As I feed Kylie, I heard her for playing & singing for nearly an hour. Then she opened the door buck naked! I dressed her & tucked her in again. She snuggled into the pillow & appeared to be ready to drift off. But no, when I looked in on her almost another hour later she had pulled all the bins of clothing out of the closet, scattered all the toys, & pulled all the diapers out of the Sam’s club box.
What is a mother to do? I must have missed the class on dealing with two-year-olds because I was/am stumped. If anyone attended, PLEASE fill me in! Frustrated, I tried a new approach: checking if she was in bed every 10 min & taking a toy if she wasn’t. She understood the idea when I explained it, but tested me, with lots of crying, for an hour before giving in to sleep. By that time I was developing a headache & it was time to feed Kylie again. When Nate called to say he was on his way home (we planned on going to the lake a 4pm), Allie had slept 45 min & me less than a half hour.
It was a big rush to make sandwiches, load the girls, & hitch on the boat since we had guests waiting to go. I could hardly think due to the headache , which didn’t let up as I had hoped. I ended up throwing up over the side of the boat as our friends wakeboarded. I have to say that it was a gorgeous evening and Allie & Kylie were both very well behaved on the boat. Thank goodness! Once my stomach was empty, I started to feel better & even got out on the board myself even if I didn’t feel like it. It would have been the perfect ending for a terrible day, if Kylie hadn’t screamed the last 20 min & the whole way home. Come to find out she was hungry – so much for nursing on the boat (guess the bumps make it hard or something).
Today we stayed home in jammies all day. Maybe we will venture our tomorrow…maybe.
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