The Queen's Rambles

+Erik finally has a haircut that I approve of! It has been years and years since he’s had a good haircut! Last time I thought it was a good haircut, but it went haywire after three days and has been annoying me ever since. We were both tired of the buzzcut look, but it has taken forever to grow it out long enough to get to the point where the stylist had something to work with. This was complicated by a mohawk last summer.

Anyway, Mike took him to a real barber and they thinned out his hair considerably and I am so happy. The boy has THICK, poofy, stick straight hair. I guess it is difficult to work with.

+/-I’m sorry I never replied to all your comments about my health/weight/surgery post. I was in a really dark place and just couldn’t even think straight or bring myself to comment. I really have no interest in weight loss surgery. I don’t think they can surgically remove my cravings and my emotional dependency on food. I need an attitude shift, not a surgery. I’ve been doing better and the blood pressure pills are doing their job. I am going to continue on with Weight Watchers, though Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the hard months for weight loss.

+We had our MOMS Club Halloween Party today. Five years ago I attended my first MOMS Club Halloween party. Erik was dressed as Swiper. This year another child was wearing Erik’s Swiper costume and he was so tiny! Was Erik really ever that small? I know he was, but it gave me a funny feeling.

-I bought Elsa a Rapunzel dress from Target and that was a huge mistake. I should have looked a little harder for a purple princess dress because the quality on the Target dress was awful. The hem was falling apart and the dress was fraying before we ever left the house (literally in the dress two minutes). After two hours at the park, most of them spent curled up on my lap crying (because why would you play at the park when you can cry in your mother’s lap? I am so sick of the crying), the dress is in pieces. Literally seams are falling apart, ribbons are frayed off, and there are HOLES in the fabric. It’s nuts!

+/-Next year I am either going to splurge on something from Gymboree or I’m going to figure out a way to make a costume myself. The fabric should not literally shred in my hands after a few minutes of wear.

+++Erik is finally at the stage where he wants to read his books to himself! Silently! He’s been capable of such a thing for a long time, but last night he apologized profusely and said he just wanted to get to the end of the book and could he read it to himself in stead of having me read it out loud. So all that time he thought I was reading out loud for my benefit? Because I was waiting with bated breath to find out what entirely predictable thing would happen next?

Instead, I laid in bed with him and we each read our own material in silence. He chugged through a whole chapter book and I enjoyed reading something with a little more adult appeal. Whooo-hoooo!!!

-I have been the grouchiest person ever this week, thanks to my monthly. Ugh. I was so happy last week–calm and confident and feeling like a good parent. This week I just want to rip everyone’s faces off.

-It doesn’t help that Elsa cries all the time. Her favorite method of comfort is to jab her fingers into my armpits, which sets me on edge. Why does she have to cry about everything instead of using her words?

+/-I bought two Venus flytraps and a pitcher plant the other day. I’ve always been fascinated by carnivorous plants, but have never actually seen one. I’m so excited! Except I think they are all just about dead.

+We’ve had beautiful weather the last two days, so I’ve taken Erik outside and tried to get him to be aggressive with the soccer ball. I think it’s working! He was learning to get up and go, even with a 40 pound preschooler sitting on his back. My coaching method is unconventional.

—-I am ready to quit the PTA for realzies. The principal says we are making too many copies (not just the PTA, the whole school) so he is not letting us print copies of newsletters anymore. Instead, he is going to e-mail them out. Problem: about 100 families don’t list an e-mail and the system lists the dad’s e-mail as primary so I don’t think anyone is going to actually read this e-mail. I asked if we could at least send home a half page sheet telling them to check their e-mail and he said that didn’t make sense since we are trying to save paper. I said that no one was going to read the e-mail, esp since it was going to the dads (totally wrong thing to say to him) and most of them don’t pay attention and/or would think the moms also got it and fail to mention it. He said it didn’t matter because no one reads it anyway. Talk about a blow to the ego. Why am I running around killing myself when apparently no one thinks my work is worthwhile?