The Queen's Rambles

I’m ready for bed and it’s only 9:30, but really 8:30. Weird. Or not so weird. I was up all night with weird dreams, a toothache, heartburn and a kid’s head buried in my back. That would be Erik. Elsa’s head is buried in my abdomen somewhere and she had her own fun around 4 am.

It’s been years since I quit teaching and I still have nightmares about it. Talk about the wrong profession! I’m scarred for life. Last night I was dreaming that a student was bitten by a wild howler monkey monster thing and of course the parents blamed me even though I told the kid to stay out of the monkey’s nest. No one ever listens, do they?

It has been such a dreary weekend here. Blah. I want a sunshiney spring! Usually the weather here is gorgeous in March and April, but this year is proving to be an exception. I guess my one hold out of hope is that the summer won’t be as muggy and intense.

We went over to my friend’s house yesterday for a playdate and it seems she’s finally broken her son’s spirit. He was eating, which made me happy. I’ve been very worried, even though it’s none of my business. I know they say a kid won’t starve himself to death, but I’ve known too many stories of people who knew people who had a kid who did serious damage to their innards by refusing to eat. Anyway, I hope their battle is drawing to a close. It would be very nerve wracking to go through that.

Today was a preschool bowling birthday party. Erik was bouncing off the walls, so it was good to get out and get him somewhere active. It was kind of funny because the moms were all trying to make the kids take turns and follow the schedule, but the birthday girl’s dad took charge and told us all to sit down and just let the kids bowl when they wanted to bowl. No turns. No stress. No pressure. No organization.

Surprisingly, it worked out way better than our other bowling outings when we make the kids take turns. They had a ball with the chaos. It worked out well for Erik since he isn’t shy. I wonder how the more timid kids felt. It seemed like they were happy, but it did take some coaxing from the dad to get some of them up there to take a turn.

I’m thinking Erik’s next b-day party will be at the bowling alley. It is pretty cheap and there is not a whole lot of organization needed. The kids bowl about an hour, then you take them to the party room and feed them, then they get a bunch of tokens and get to play games. Sounds way better than me running around trying to get the kids to play musical chairs and break the pinata.

This was our first preschool party. I have met most of the moms, but don’t know any of their names. This was the first time we’ve really socialized, so it was not exactly exciting. Despite the hard work and frustration of our co-op preschool last year, I really miss our weekly social hour. We’d do school for an hour, then let the kids play for a couple of hours, so we really got to know each other well.

I am glad my 2008 New Years Resolution stuck so well. For those who don’t remember, my goal was to “Be Vivacious!” Basically I just started pretending I wasn’t shy. I acted friendly even though I was scared to death. A party like this a few years ago would have had me a nervous wreck, but today it was just kind of boring. I had plenty to talk about and chit chatted with some of the moms. I felt no anxiety at all. I can’t believe this is really me. Life is so much easier when you stop worrying about what people are thinking of you and just start being friendly.

Here’s hoping for a less dreary week this week! At the very least it should be less draggy. Erik has lunch bunch, an extra hour of preschool, on Monday and Friday. I’m hosting a park playdate (probably will be cancelled b/c of mud) on Tuesday, then Erik is going to the sitter’s for a few hours while I go to my doctor’s appointment. I don’t expect my appointment to take very long, but he loves going to the sitter’s since she has a boy his age. And! We get to do the most fun thing ever! I am not sure about other people’s internet privacy concerns so won’t mention it until I speak with them about it, but suffice it to say it is something I get to meet some people that I’m really looking forward to meeting. We all have kids, so it should be fun for them to run wild while the grown-ups have a little social hour.

I have managed to learn a little bit of internet etiquette over the past 10 years. I no longer blab people’s business until I ask if I can blab it. Btw, you can blab all my business around if you want. I suppose I should be more careful, but I worry more about harm coming from local people than random internet people.