So yesterday Spills and I took ourselves on a girls' outing, while Daddy worked. I believe we had the better end of the deal.
We started by buying books at Chapters -- a bunch of gifts for her cousins, who we'll be seeing this weekend. Then we found a pile of beginning readers for Spills herself, as well as a sticker book. Spilly is a sucker for all kinds of stickers. And I am a sucker for the silence that falls whenever Spills works on a sticker book.
Next, we headed to Wal-Mart for a few boring necessities. We also fell into the delightful conversation that all parents look forward to wholeheartedly:
"Mommy, can I buy that?"
"No."
Occasionally, she'd experiment with mind-games: "Mommy, I think we really need that for your gardening. We could put those stickers on sticks beside each of your flowers. Wouldn't that look nice?"
"No."
Or else she'd play the grief card: "I have asked and I have asked, and you have always said no. Are you going to say yes this time, about this [insert the name of wonderful thing here]????"
"No."
Then we took ourselves out for lunch, just the two of us, to Kelsey's. We NEVER have lunch in a restaurant with just the two of us. Spills thought it was marvellous. She was excellent company, too. Our discussions ranged from how to create secondary colours (we experimented using the three primary-coloured crayons given to us) to how the dinosaurs died. Spills would like to see the crater left behind by the asteroid. She is disappointed to learn that it is under water.
The best part was heading home afterwards to try to read some of our books. She got into a rhythm: first she would read a book, and then she would leap around the living room, yelling, "And now, an American Idol CELEBRATION!!"
And I sat there thinking about what good company she was, on the whole, and what a lucky Mommy I was to be mentally exhausted all the time.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Catch-Up!!
Well, yes, it's been awhile since the last Spilly post. Frankly, sad things were happening in our lives and I just didn't feel particularly like celebrating funny/happy aspects of Spills' childhood. But I'm starting to get to the point where I realize that because sad things are happening, it's important to celebrate funny and happy things....
So, with that in mind, here is a whirlwind tour through the last couple of months:
1. We learned that whenever we go camping, it is absolutely guaranteed that there will be a thunderstorm, that our tent will leak, and that we will leave all of the wood out beside the campfire where it will turn into pulp. However, we have also learned that there is nothing better than staring at a tree, and that camp fires have the kind of smell that cuts through time and takes you back to how your earliest ancestors must have felt. And we have discovered that we really love to bike through a provincial park, especially if there is ice cream available somewhere along the route.
2. We discovered that Spills has been reading for quite some time. It is now a problem, as we are having trouble doing the parent-spells-the-word-instead-of-saying-it-so-
the-kid-has-no-idea-what-anyone-is-talking-about game. And tonight she wandered into my room and began loudly reading over my shoulder: "Sound...of...Music....tickets....book....your....tickets....now....." Then she started leaping around the room, yelling, "Sound of Music!! Book your tickets!!! Mommy, are we going? Are you booking your tickets now?????" Sigh. So much for birthday surprises.
3. Spills has developed an interest in dictators and unfair regimes. In the last month we have had a lot of talk about Nazis (largely due to the Sound of Music, which we watched on DVD a little while ago). Then, when we watched the concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, she had a whole pile of questions about apartheid. Today she became quite interested in Juan Peron, and wanted to know all about Argentinian history. We did our crafts on the back deck while listening to Evita.
4. Sanjaya likes to swim wherever Spills is swimming. Spills and I have done our share of family swims in a whole bunch of places this summer, and surprisingly Sanjaya is always there. I'm not sure how he is always so well informed about where she's going to be. And when she has to do something scary and new like kicking while she floats or something, she and Sanjaya will talk each other through it. "It's okay, Sanjaya. You just put your feet out like this, and you kick...." Then when she accomplishes whatever it is, she and Sanjaya burst into song together. It often rhymes.
5. We learned that it's GREAT to be able to run out the door of your cottage, across a meadow, and directly through the door of your buddy Simon's cottage. When our two families each rented a cottage at the same resort in early July, the kids quickly forgot any rules relating to privacy, decency, etc., and just barged in at all hours. For a city kid like Spills, it was wonderful not to always have a parent escort.
6. Spills discovered the joys of gardening. The little garden that we planted a month or two ago is starting to produce vegetables. Tonight we ate our first zucchini, and it was AMAZING. We had our first turnip at lunch a little while ago. And I keep bringing Spills baby carrots in various stages of growth. At first they were the merest hints of roots; then they were thicker spindly roots that could or could not have been orange; and now they are quite definitely carrot shaped (still spindly though) and definitely orange. I have to be more patient, though, or I will have pulled them all up before they've matured.
7. We are up to our ears in crafts. We are attempting to make Cinderella a red night gown at the moment out of felt; we have learned how to cork; we are making suncatchers for all of the relatives; we are doing paint by numbers. And none of our projects are finished. They are all fully on display all over the house, trailing thread and paint brushes and cellophane wrapping.
8. The nighttime rituals are getting more complex. Now it is not enough to have a story followed by "questions" (she, her two best stuffed animals and her nighttime water cup all ask me a question before bed, and then I ask each of them a question) and "Harry" (we still dance around and sing, "I'm just wild about Harry....Harry's just wild about me"), but now there is a whole Sandman addendum. Two seconds after her door has been closed for the night, she comes traipsing out all smiles, saying, "I can't sleep. I need the Sandman." Then I go in and, using my squeaky Sandman voice, tell her I'm putting magic sand on her eyes. When the Sandman leaves, there is a whooshing sound. Spills always waits a minute, and then says, "HOW DOES HE DO THAT?????"
There's more, I'm sure, but I believe that's what I have in me for the moment!
So, with that in mind, here is a whirlwind tour through the last couple of months:
1. We learned that whenever we go camping, it is absolutely guaranteed that there will be a thunderstorm, that our tent will leak, and that we will leave all of the wood out beside the campfire where it will turn into pulp. However, we have also learned that there is nothing better than staring at a tree, and that camp fires have the kind of smell that cuts through time and takes you back to how your earliest ancestors must have felt. And we have discovered that we really love to bike through a provincial park, especially if there is ice cream available somewhere along the route.
2. We discovered that Spills has been reading for quite some time. It is now a problem, as we are having trouble doing the parent-spells-the-word-instead-of-saying-it-so-
the-kid-has-no-idea-what-anyone-is-talking-about game. And tonight she wandered into my room and began loudly reading over my shoulder: "Sound...of...Music....tickets....book....your....tickets....now....." Then she started leaping around the room, yelling, "Sound of Music!! Book your tickets!!! Mommy, are we going? Are you booking your tickets now?????" Sigh. So much for birthday surprises.
3. Spills has developed an interest in dictators and unfair regimes. In the last month we have had a lot of talk about Nazis (largely due to the Sound of Music, which we watched on DVD a little while ago). Then, when we watched the concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, she had a whole pile of questions about apartheid. Today she became quite interested in Juan Peron, and wanted to know all about Argentinian history. We did our crafts on the back deck while listening to Evita.
4. Sanjaya likes to swim wherever Spills is swimming. Spills and I have done our share of family swims in a whole bunch of places this summer, and surprisingly Sanjaya is always there. I'm not sure how he is always so well informed about where she's going to be. And when she has to do something scary and new like kicking while she floats or something, she and Sanjaya will talk each other through it. "It's okay, Sanjaya. You just put your feet out like this, and you kick...." Then when she accomplishes whatever it is, she and Sanjaya burst into song together. It often rhymes.
5. We learned that it's GREAT to be able to run out the door of your cottage, across a meadow, and directly through the door of your buddy Simon's cottage. When our two families each rented a cottage at the same resort in early July, the kids quickly forgot any rules relating to privacy, decency, etc., and just barged in at all hours. For a city kid like Spills, it was wonderful not to always have a parent escort.
6. Spills discovered the joys of gardening. The little garden that we planted a month or two ago is starting to produce vegetables. Tonight we ate our first zucchini, and it was AMAZING. We had our first turnip at lunch a little while ago. And I keep bringing Spills baby carrots in various stages of growth. At first they were the merest hints of roots; then they were thicker spindly roots that could or could not have been orange; and now they are quite definitely carrot shaped (still spindly though) and definitely orange. I have to be more patient, though, or I will have pulled them all up before they've matured.
7. We are up to our ears in crafts. We are attempting to make Cinderella a red night gown at the moment out of felt; we have learned how to cork; we are making suncatchers for all of the relatives; we are doing paint by numbers. And none of our projects are finished. They are all fully on display all over the house, trailing thread and paint brushes and cellophane wrapping.
8. The nighttime rituals are getting more complex. Now it is not enough to have a story followed by "questions" (she, her two best stuffed animals and her nighttime water cup all ask me a question before bed, and then I ask each of them a question) and "Harry" (we still dance around and sing, "I'm just wild about Harry....Harry's just wild about me"), but now there is a whole Sandman addendum. Two seconds after her door has been closed for the night, she comes traipsing out all smiles, saying, "I can't sleep. I need the Sandman." Then I go in and, using my squeaky Sandman voice, tell her I'm putting magic sand on her eyes. When the Sandman leaves, there is a whooshing sound. Spills always waits a minute, and then says, "HOW DOES HE DO THAT?????"
There's more, I'm sure, but I believe that's what I have in me for the moment!
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