Emotional Women

Several years ago it worked out that my four sisters and I (and possibly even my mom) were all seeing the same Ob/Gyn. He is a very nice man and a good doctor. He is very nonchalant, and that makes those "special" visits a little easier, sometimes. Other times, his nonchalance could be upsetting. Several of the women in our family suffer from varying degrees of depression and anxiety (some stemming from thyroid disease, others from who knows what). One afternoon my younger sister was in his office trying to talk to him about some very difficult times she was having, feeling quite depressed. He sighed and said in his somewhat monotone voice, "Well, you do come from a long line of emotional women."

We have always laughed at that. But it is true. And the line just keeps getting longer.

Let me present Exhibits A, B, and C. All three photos were taken within a period of two minutes.

Exhibit A:
Deedle is told that it is not her turn to get the water for the dog.

Exhibit B:
Deedle demonstrates the injustice of making her wear an older swimsuit to her lessons (the others were not dry). Her problem was, as she described, that the straps just, "start to giggle- giggle down like this." Nobody wants swimsuits with straps that "giggle" down like that, do they? I wondered as I tried to stifle my own.

Exhibit C:
Deedle discovers that if she puts on some thick sports socks then her feet feel very nice in her pink glitter shoes. And mom says, fine, wear pink glitter shoes with socks to swim lessons.

Whew, heaven help me when my daughters hit their teen years!

You Could Change Your Mind

The kids have started another round of swimming lessons and are progressing very well. Deedle is as feisty as ever and has possibly made a little less progress than the other two. Today they were practicing somersaults (the idea is that it is important to learn how to get your head down so that you can learn to dive and all that). Loumy started doing somersaults the first time he got in the pool, but Deedsy wasn't so sure of the idea. Her teacher was holding her and the conversation went like this:
D: I can't do one.
Teacher: Sure you can! Can you do one on the ground?
D: Yeah. I can do lots. I do tumbling.
T: It's just like that but in the water.
D: Yeah, but I can't.
T: Sure you can! Let's try!
D: No.
T: Come on, you can do it.
D: No.
T: Why?
D: I'm scared. Duh! But I'll float on my back again.

Deedle is very proud that she can float on her back. Tonight at dinner she had this conversation with Chancho:
D: Dad, you should come to our swimming lessons.
C: I wish I could.
D: You can! (As if just granting him permission)
C: Well, the problem is that I have to be at work down in (the city that is south of us) during the time of your lesson.
D: You could just change you mind.
C: What do you mean?
D: You could change your mind about wanting to go to work and you could decide to come watch us instead. (She seemed delighted at how she had figured out this quandary).

Ah...if only life were as simple as it is to little Deedle. Luckily her Dad promised to go swimming with her on a Saturday so that he can see that she has learned to float on her back.

Preschool Graduation

Well, it is the time of year that we all write about preschool graduation. Loumy and Deedle both "graduated" (Deedle for the 2nd of 3 times and Loumy for the 1st of 3 times) last Wednesday. I kind of wish it was just called the "end of year program" or something like that so that when they are actually "graduating" from preschool and ready to start kindergarten it will actually mean something. Oh well. It was still very cute and their teacher is wonderful. They looked so adorable in their caps and gowns.One of the coolest things was when the teacher asked her husband to start the music and he turned on some song that sounded like Aerosmith or something (I'm not sure) and just stood there happily, as if that were surely the song his wife was waiting for. After some unsuccessful hand gesturing, teacher emerged, red-faced, from the hall where she and the kids were waiting and switched to the next track, which was actually the traditional commencement song that you should be listening to at this time (turn on your volume, Nancy).

As each child received their diploma, they showed a picture they had drawn of what they want to be when they grow up. The answers were great and nicely varied (they had taken the kids in one by one so as to get an original answer). Some were very funny: "When Matthew grows up, he wants to be a lion." And others were a little too real: "When Payton grows up he wants to be the guy that brings the gas in the truck to the gas station."

You already know what my children want to be when they grow up. Speaking of...yesterday String Cheese was writing me a note and kept asking how to spell certain words. Suddenly Deedle asks, "Mom, when I grow up can you tell me how to spell 'no smoking'?"
Me: Sure. Why?
Deedsy: I want to write it on a sign to put on my candy store.
Me: Okay. But by the time you own your own candy story, you will probably be able to spell it with out me even telling you how.
D (unconvinced): But...I...really do NOT want people smoking in my store and getting it all gross and stinky.
Me: Okay. I promise. I will tell you how to spell "no smoking" whenever you are ready.
D: Thanks.

And that is the end of this post.

Deedle's PREformance

Today was the day that Deedsy has been waiting for since...well...since her last performance, or, as she says it, "pre-formance". Deedsy and String Cheese started taking tap and ballet last fall. String Cheese wasn't happy with the class, although she did very well. Because I'd paid for the costume and because I thought she might change her mind, I told her that she needed to stay in dance until after the Christmas recital. She was a good sport about it. She did a beautiful little dance for Christmas and looked stunning. But right when it was over she said to me, "Now I never have to dance again, right Mom?" And I couldn't go back on my word.I was afraid that since SC didn't enjoy it then Deedle wouldn't want to do it any more either. Boy was I wrong! That girl loves to dance. I will often find her in the mirror singing, "I like to move it move it! I like to move it move it!" And she certainly does.Today she had a dance performance at a middle school. She and her little group did a super cute little ballet (if you could call it that) to the song "The Flu" from the Hair Spray soundtrack. She was tired because it was nap time, but she did well and was happy to have Dad and Loumy watching and cheering for her. I really don't know that there is much of a cuter sight than eight 4-year-olds doing ballet.
After the pre-formance we came home, had dinner, then went as a family to Farr's Icecream (of course). Deedle kept referring to it as the ice cream "parlor". I'm not sure who taught her that but I love it. We then went to the park and played for awhile before coming home and heading to bed. What a fun day it was for Deedle and for the family together.I hope you enjoy these photos. They are totally Deedle to a "T". She can be so fun and mischievous but when it comes to dancing, she is all business. She is also all business when it comes to what is appropriate to eat at a certain age. Tonight as we walked out of the ice cream "parlor" (you know I love parlors), Deedle saw a man about Chancho's age. She scrunched up her face and incredulously, with some disgust, asked, "Why is HE eating PLAYDOUGH ice cream?" Of course, she and her two siblings were eating playdough ice cream, but she was quite bereft that an adult male would eat it. I was a bit disturbed myself.

Shirley T

When my dad was a little boy he had a crush on Shirley Temple. He had a special cup with a picture of Shirley's face at the bottom of it. Those beloved curls and that smile encouraged him to finish his milk regularly. In fact, I may just have found the photo used in advertising the sale of those cups. Does this look familiar, Gordy Boy? As a child I was always amazed and a bit jealous of that gorgeous, singing, dancing, curly-headed little thing. I loved her movies, especially Heidi.

The other night Deedle and String Cheese asked me to do their hair in sponge curlers. I happily rolled their hair after their baths. At first they didn't like the idea of sleeping on the curlers, but got over it quite quickly, especially knowing how cute their hair would look in the morning. Regrettably, when I took the curlers out the following day, they both had small, blond fros. SC looked at herself, touched around the edges of the puff and said, "Uh...I don't like it."

Well, I did! Once I picked through the curls a bit, they loosened up some and I had two tiny Shirley Temples of my own!!! I loved the curls so much that I have now left their hair unwashed for four days! Their hair is starting to get ratty in the back, so I guess I'll have to give in and wash it tomorrow, but I have delayed because I don't think they will let me do it again any time soon.

Saturday and today, Deedle was in a performing sort of mood. I took the opportunity to catch her singing some of her favorite songs. She may not possess the natural ability of Shirley Temple. Maybe she doesn't look at the camera or hold still for one tiny second or remember what her hands are supposed to be doing and she may occasionally zone out and forget where she is and why there is a strange bald woman in front of her with a camera, but she has a pretty good little memory and I absolutely adore her. Shirley T, you may be an Academy Award winning, Ambassador living, good will giving, iconic child star; but in my mind, you've got nothing on Deedsy!

String Cheese Takes the Writing Plunge and Deedle Visits the Dentist

My little String Cheese is a very smart girl. She is also cautious. Maybe a perfectionist? She often refuses to try something if she is not 100% sure that she can do it. She is in kindergarten and could read hundreds of words but refused to actually read a book for fear of not knowing a word until about a month ago. Finally I found the Bob Books and now her reading confidence has sky-rocketed and she is doing very well.

Anywho...same thing with writing. She would never write anything unless she knew for sure how to spell every word correctly and would usually only copy down a sentence that she had first asked me to write for her. She has oft times drawn pictures for me depicting her angry or sad feelings towards me. But, yesterday, she took the plunge and wrote me her very first note. I am so proud of her. She wrote it during church. For those of you unversed in Kindergartenese, it says, "I want to be with you because I love you." Today I got my second written note ever. It was not quite as happy as the first.

Deedle had a dentist appointment this morning, which was totally unfair to the Nth degree to String Cheese. All three littles had been to the pediatric dentist (that had toys and gave free tooth brushes and floss and let you choose a prize out of a really cool gum-ball type machine) a few weeks ago and it had been a lovely experience, mostly. Loumy and SC had great teeth. Deedle had four cavities. In an effort to not frighten her, I didn't talk much about what might be unpleasant regarding the second dental visit, rather tried to keep it positive when it came up. So, SC took that to mean that I only loved Deedle because she was the only one that "got" to go to the dentist again. And poor little Deedsy. First of all she has cried every morning since our first visit because I won't give her "melk" because I thought her teeth were not going to rot out and now I find out that even that morning-after-7am-cup DID make them rot out. Sheesh...

Anyway...They didn't really explain what would happen when we got to the dentist. I checked in and Deedle was playing a little video game when a nurse walked out to the waiting room and said, "Here, drink this." Deedle did it and was quite horrified at the taste. Then the nurse or whatever she is said, "Keep on eye on her. It will take about 10 minutes," and left. What will take 10 minutes? I "kept my eye on her" and soon she was laughing and tumbling around and asked, "Why is this room so hard to balance in? This is a really hard balancing room." Then the nurse was back and picked her up. Loopy little Deedle just stared glazedly at me.

"Can't I come back with her?" I asked this stranger that was carrying off my daughter.

"Nope," she said pleasantly. "We'll be back in a minute."

Twenty minutes later I see a different nurse hauling Deedle out but only holding her under her arms and trying to make her walk over to the machine to pick her toy. Before I could force my way back there, she had one of those sticky-hand things that I know she wouldn't have chosen if she were lucid. I picked up my little pile of tooth fillings and carried her up to the front. I requested another tooth brush and floss because I knew she'd be asking for those later. I was warned that she might hallucinate, which she did over the next hour.

At home I tried to get Deedsy to relax and watch a video but she was very woozy and in quite a bewildered state which included a lot of crying. String Cheese is very compassionate when it comes to wanting to help others herself. She just doesn't like so much to see me helping and comforting somebody other than her. It was in this setting that String Cheese delivered the second note.
Again, just in case you need any translation, "I feel like I don't have enough love. I am sad. Please be nicer to me."