We squished them at the park!

Ara and I just got back from Triangle Park. The weather has cooled off a lot and it was overcast today. She has been grumpy in the mornings after we drop off A and I just can't seem to do anything right. She wants me to pay attention and to play but then she gets mad and throws a fit. She insists I wear her Nemo's Daddy Puppet on my hand no matter what I am doing. She even follows me into the bathroom with it (thanks Megan!) So my theory was that she needed to see some sunshine and get a little dirty. We tend to do "inside" activities when it is so hot outside but I think kids do need that outside time no matter how hot. The only problem is that I am a big baby when it comes to heat! She enjoyed the park but she had a few tiny tantrums there too. The first problem was 'English lady with the dogs she thinks don't need leashes'. If you get too near to this lady she will talk your ear off about her dogs. She has 2 of them; nice little friendly dog (Lucky) and mean 'ol scaredy-pants dog. Lucky was cute and friendly but of course Ara only wanted to pet the growling scared dog. People like this bug me. Put your dogs on leashes, especially if they cannot be trusted around children. A park is a place where parents should be able to bring their kids and relax. Instead I see the park as a series of danger obstacles. (As a side note this ladies dogs got into a fight with another man's dog who was on a leash) Well, anyway I had to constantly steer Ara away from the mean dog. I finally got her to go 'near' the playground when she spotted a bird across the street. So then I made her cry by telling her that she couldn't go into the street to chase birds. I finally got her to the playground where she discovered the joys of throwing sand. Once again.. mean old Mom had to say 'no'. I was getting a tiny but frustrated. I couldn't understand. Why can't she have fun like the other kids? Why does she always have to do the things I have to tell her she can't do? Then I thought, she is a toddler this is her job! This is a Mom test! I changed my attitude. I hitched a smile on my face and suggested we pretend we were trains and run to the other end of the park while making choo choo noises. It worked! We stopped at the swings where Ara 'flew' like a bird. Then we went over to a sandy area and she played there while I got to sit down and relax a little! Victory! I am full of WIN!

Ah the little successess of Motherhood that mean so much.

In honor of the occasion I made up a rap song that went:

We squished Ara's grumpies.
We squished them at the park!
The grumpies cannot get us..
they are squished at the park!

I think that's how it went anyway.

It's late and I'm telling random stories.

2 am and I'm still awake, but doing nothing. This reminds me of my old insomnia days, except now I have to be awake at 8 am (O.o). No sleeping in for me... oh how I miss the idea of sleeping in. Sleeping until you are done sleeping, what a fabulous concept. I might have to drink caffeine tomorrow so that Ara doesn't pwn me. Who am I kidding? She will pwn me no matter what I drink. A's Mom came over tonight and Ara showed her the new tap shoes. She did a fiery little routine on the tile by the front door while the three adults held their hands out in an effort to prevent any crashes. She enjoys spinning until walls bump into her. Reminds me so much of me! I also used to spend hours doing head stands in the hallway, I wonder if she will do that too. When my parents would make me mad I would turn away and stick my tongue out, imagining that it would bounce off the walls and somehow point at them.

I was thinking the other day about one of my old roomates, let's call her Kookoo. Kookoo and I shared a room in a 3 bedroom house. We usually had 5-6 girls living in the 3 bedroom house. I was in the habit of staying at A's house until very late and then tiptoeing into the house and into bed as quietly as I could so as not to wake Kookoo. On one such occasion I quietly closed the door and walked stealthily to my bed in the darkness. I reached out to pull my comforter down and realized someone had made my bed (lets face it I knew it wasn't me). Then I realized my comforter wouldn't come easily. It had been stitched to the sheets. Score one for Kookoo. I don't remember retaliating, Kookoo and I had a good laugh over the prank the next day. Then one night not long after I had come in late again and was preparing to brush my teeth. I squeezed my toothpaste and something black and squishy appeared. I squeezed it out and examined it in disgust. It was wrinkly and at first I thought it was a juicy dead bug marinated in toothpaste. Then, through years of prank training from my Mom I realized it was the classic raisin in the the tube gag. Immediately I began to form a plan. I had to prank back and it had to be good.

The next day I got home from school before Kookoo got off of work. I gathered my supplies, humming happily as I went into my room. I used sewing thread and scissors (borrowed from another house mate), thumb tacks, black construction paper, twist ties, paper clips, tape, and a black sharpie. I colored the twist ties black with the marker and then taped them to the black paper which I had crumpled into a ball, making a crude spider. Then I attached my spider to the thread. The thread I strung around the top of the room, running from just over Kookoo's bed to the door (thumb tacking the paper clips and running the string through the clips). I tied one end to the door knob, the other end had the spider. Kookoo came home and I was giddy with anticipation. She came into the room, grabbed something and left, all the while carrying on a conversation with one of our house mates in the kitchen. She hadn't even noticed. All was not lost though and I resorted to my sophisticated plan B. I called to her to come in the room! She swung the door open, the spider was pulled up the wall.. and she almost had a heart attack. We both struggled to breath. Her because she had been shocked and mortified. Me because I was so amused at my prank. She did eventually find it funny, but we called a truce on pranks after that.