On second thought, this is exactly what I would expect from someone who shares my genetic make up

I don't even know how to preface this randomness, so I'll just sum it up as "stuff from last week."





Another daycare art project. I was in the middle of telling Kelan how cool it was when I noticed the upper left hand corner. I'm no child psychologist, but this seems worrisome...

Above is the book that Kelan picked out during the last trip to the library. It was most likely just a random pick, but I like to think of it as an enlightened choice.

Also! Kelan has been into fairy tales as of late. I am amazed at how often I have to ad-lib for content, which is hard because I am very anti-censorship, but geez! I was reading "Hansel and Gretel" the other night and I had totally forgotten (or blocked out?) the fact that Hansel and Gretel were actually purposely abandoned in the forest by there parents-- the first idea their parents talked about? killing them off.

What are YOU looking at?

It started with Spider-man.

You know the creepiest thing about a Spider-man action figure? I do. It's eyes are so big that no matter where it is on the floor, it feels like it's always looking at you. I'm serious. It's all fun and games until you have to shower with this:

one morning.

It's all down hill from there. Now we own every "fill-in-the-blank"-man ever made. And I told myself that my child wasn't going to play with the toy weapons or watch the action cartoons, but then reality entered into the picture, as it tends to do. Because trust me, I'm totally that mom at the store who shops the toy aisles and shows him dolls, and puzzles, and animal figurines going, "hey, doesn't this look fun!" It hasn't worked yet. It turns out, preschoolers are people, and they have opinions-- opinions that they like to state passionately. and loudly. and very, very often.

And that's not to say that I give in to his every whim, but I have to draw the line somewhere, or I'll end up being that mom who leaves a list of forbidden toys for playdates... and no one likes that mom.

So, now most of our quality time together is me suggesting we color, or build with the lincoln logs, and then finally resigning to be the bad guy that Iron-man needs to get rid of. Again.

But it's all good. I mean, he's not trying to burn the house down, or out killing small animals, so I figure I can suck it up and take some showers with Spider-man.

What? I'm not defensive.

Look at the face of this poor neglected child. Sally Struthers will probably be knocking on our door soon. *

I've been in denial (a little) about the cooler weather approaching. I mean, this is just the cold snap before the Indian summer, obviously.

For a third time, yesterday, someone at the daycare casually mentioned that I forgot Kelan's coat. Temps here have been averaging highs of 60-70 degrees. Okay, usually low sixties. (Which, by the way, is shorts weather in the spring but apparently parka weather in the fall) It's not that the daycare employees have ever been rude in any way, I'm pretty sure they just assume that I'm some misguided teen mom.

Usually I arrive at daycare and search for him on the playground. Then I freak out because he isn't there, and finally see that he is, I just didn't recognize him in a faded, way-too-small sweatshirt from the "community" bin. It's all downhill from there.

Child care technician: (smiling sweetly) "Oh, hi there! We come out here to play every day- the kids love it! Just so you know, we are out each day that the weather is above 30 degrees, so we encourage parents to bring hats, gloves, you know, the works."

Me: (Look down and notice I am still wearing flip flops and a tee shirt- it's not cold- is it?) "Oh, I'm sorry, thanks for the loaner!"

They have given me that speech twice already.

Yesterday, I just lied. LIED,

Daycare tech: "Bye Kelan! Tell your mommy you had a great time playing outside except your coat wasn't in your cubby!"

Side note: Does anyone else think it's more than weird when people talk to your child like that? I never know if they are expecting me to answer, or if they were even talking to Kelan at all.

Me: (laugh awkwardly) Yeah, sorry. I must have left it in the car. (In my defense, I did throw a knit hat in the bag, so it's not like he was freezing to death in the 59 degree weather.)

(What I wanted to say but didn't, because not everyone gets my sense of humor)- Yeah, gosh, I told him he was going to be cold! He was on my lap on the drive over and I told him he couldn't steer this time because last time we kept hitting things, and he got all sassy and chucked his coat out the window! I finally got him to stop whining by putting some rum in the sippy cup, so at least he was all calm for you guys! Don't worry, when I unlock the door after his timeout I will totally make him walk back and pick up his coat.

* I don't know which is more pathetic: The fact that Sean and I have yet to shop for a single piece of Kelan's fall wardrobe, or the fact that I have been sharing mine with him.