The Queen's Rambles

I was so tired last night that I didn’t write an entry. I’m tired of hearing myself whine (or feeling my fingers type out a whine?) that I couldn’t get up the energy to whine even more. I just had ZERO energy yesterday.

We didn’t have any plans so I decided it would be a great day to go and buy Erik shorts, a few more summer shirts and his yearly Crocs. If I have no energy now, how am I going to have energy when the sun actually starts shining? Or when I have a baby on my hip? I’m all about the online shopping for everything, but clothes are a different story. I like to see the quality. I am not exactly sure what size shorts Erik needs, so I would also like to have him try on a few.

I sat in my chair all day long, just waiting for the energy to go to the mall.

It never came.

Instead, I ended up ordering him a full set of shorts at JCPennys. By full set, I mean 4 pairs in khaki, 4 pairs in navy, all the exact same short. I hope they fit and we like them! I’d really like to get him some button down camp shirts because he looks so handsome in them, but I could only find two at JCP. I guess it’s T-shirts for the win.

I was so unmotivated to do anything remotely constructive or mommy oriented that I gave Erik a spool of thread and let him go to town. He makes “monster traps” which are a total pain in the butt to clean up and make walking through the house next to impossible, but it keeps him busy and quiet for at least an hour. An hour of peace is well worth the clean-up time and the price of a spool of thread. Unfortunately this is the kid that LOVES to have things wrapped around his neck, so I have to keep a pretty close eye on him. Sure enough, he wrapped it around his throat as tight as he could manage. Crazy kid. I swear this neck-wrapping fetish comes from having the cord wrapped around his neck.

Despite the exhaustion I’m a lot calmer about everything. Erik wasn’t even able to get me to explode (much) today, despite trying his hardest. Now that I have a theory about his behavior I’m able to let it roll off my back, even when he is screaming bloody murder in the backseat of the car, thrashing around like a fish out of water.

Today it was the usual fight, only much more intense. Every single time I pick him up from school he wants a surprise. Does he ever get a surprise? Maybe once every two weeks. Every single day I tell him “You don’t get a surprise every day. Surprises are just some times treats.” Every. Single. Day.

He’s been in school six months. I have no idea where he got the idea that he should have a surprise at the end of the day but he won’t let it go. At first I thought it was kind of funny so would occasionally put a small piece of candy or something on his seat to find when we got to the car, but that is not something I want him to expect. It’s hard to balance. Surprises are fun! I want to be able to surprise him sometimes and give him a good afternoon, but I don’t want to spoil him. Such a hard life I lead, what with all my over-thinking of the parental dilemmas.

We had a guest speaker at our MOMS Club today talking about “How to Help Your Preschooler be More Independent.” I was really looking forward to it because I want an independent child.

I guess I already have a pretty independent child. If you recall a post a few weeks back when I explained the things I expected Erik to do, you’ll basically know the gist of the presentation. She did go in to great detail about how you should divide each task up in to steps, then model the steps for them. Really, all very basic stuff if you’ve taken as many child development classes as I’ve taken. I was hoping for a little more, but I’m glad to know I’m on the right track. I was also pleased when she said it was more important to teach your child to be independent than to really drill them on academics. Not that academics aren’t important, but independence will give them the self-confidence they need to accomplish academic goals. I know a few local people who need to hear that message.

In non-Erik news, I am a giant klutz. I finally started quilting a quilt! Problem: I used the wrong sized needle. I’ve been out of my sewing phase for so long that I forgot my machine (or at least my thread) hates needles with small thread holes. I’m sure if I was more educated in sewing machine use I would know what kind of thread to buy for each particular size of needle, but all I know is that when I use my standard thread I need a size 14 needle. I used a size 11 and all hell broke lose. The thread kept snapping every two seconds, the needle snapped in half and finally I sewed right through my finger tip. Special! My poor finger is very sore today.

On top of that, I have a burn on my belly. I was making Erik his pancakes, just like I do every morning. I suddenly noticed that my stomach was hot. Then it was REALLY hot. Then it was burning. I finally looked down. Duh. My big ol’ belly was resting on the frying pan. How’d it get way over there?

I have no idea where my body is these days. I assaulted a little girl at our meeting today. I turned around and totally smacked her in the face with The Belly. I’m getting huge. My maternity pants are starting to feel uncomfortable. They fit, but I can’t stand to have them press on my belly. I think I’m going to have to drag out the ugly, nasty, denim muumuus. I’ve never been a fashion plate, but I hate wearing such ugly clothes. Maternity shirts and pants are bad enough.