What a crazy couple of weeks this has been. And it all culminated in a frenzied rush, with a 4 year-old who decided to throw a MAJOR tantrum at the worst possible time.
My family came to visit last weekend. My dad, my niece, her boyfriend, and their new baby (my grandniece!) It was a really nice, but too-short visit. The three days prior to their arrival were spent frantically trying to get this house in some kind of order. For the first time in, I don�t know, years probably, all four bathrooms were clean at the same time. All rooms were clean, all floors were clean, every surface dusted. It about killed me.
Spending time with them was wonderful, though. My baby grandniece is just so precious. I got to babysit while they went shopping. She pooped, and I didn�t even mind. Changing diapers was never something I hated. I was sad when B stopped wearing diapers.
They couldn�t stay more than one night. It went too fast. I wish they could have stayed a week.
This past week was pretty typical. Get up, go to work, come home, take care of house stuff and family stuff, go to bed, get up, start all over again. Yesterday I worked feverishly on finishing up my moulding project. Yes, THAT project. The one I can�t seem to finish. The one that just keeps dragging on and on. But I made significant progress yesterday and this morning. The end is in sight. It looks so good (the part that�s actually finished). It�s compelling me to finish the rest.
Oh, and what a day we had today. (What a disjointed journal entry, you�re thinking?) Well, yeah. Anyway, after caulking and spackling a bit this morning, doing laundry and dishes, I decided I couldn�t live another day without the leather rocker/recliner I saw at S4m�s Club the weekend before. I told P about it, and I guess I did a pretty good job describing them, because he said, �Sounds perfect. When are you going to go buy it?� �Actually,� I said, �I�m thinking more like two instead of one. The price is so good, and I would dearly love to have a matching set of chairs. Never had a matched set before.�
And so that�s how I came to bring home not one, but two leather recliners today. They are out in the garage, awaiting the completion of this project-from-hell, and the removal of one very worn-out over-stuffed chair currently taking up too much space in my living room. I�m sensing a new coffee table in our future as well. Ssshshh. Don�t tell P.
After getting the new chairs into the garage, K�s mom showed up in her new car, which we ooooh�d and awwwww�d over for 10 minutes (it�s a really nice car!), and then I ushered K into the house, so we could begin preparing her for the Father/Daughter Ball, which is tonight. P jumped into the shower, got all dressed up in suit and tie, and looked fabulous. I whisked K upstairs to my bathroom, where I proceeded to curl and spray and pin and primp her into a little princess. She wore a black velvet dress, with pearl drop earrings and matching necklace. They left a little while ago to have a nice dinner together, and will go to the ball after that.
DURING the primping process, B had a major meltdown. It�s been a long time since she had an episode like this one. Apparently, she didn't like the fact that K was getting Mama�s undivided attention. That and the fact that I was putting the little diamond butterfly clips in K�s hair (the clips I never let B play with). She was so upset, she was screaming and clenching her fists together and stomping and shaking. At one point, she grabbed two of the clips and had them in her fist so tight I couldn�t pry them out. No amount of pleading, threatening, yelling, or bribing would convince her to let go of them. I�m not ashamed to say that I actually spanked my child today. Not once, but twice. The second time, she loosened her grip on the clips. Then she threw herself down on the floor and proceeded to scream and cry for a solid 30 minutes, wailing, �I want the sparkle clips! I want the sparkle clips!� I gave up trying to explain to her that K was borrowing them for the evening, and just let her yell.
I took a few photos of K and P before they left, with B wailing in the background. Not pleasant, but K was in a very good mood, very princess-like, so she didn�t seem to mind too much. P just wanted to get the hell out of here!
So they�re off, and I know they�re going to have a wonderful time. Five minutes after they left, I put B in a 10 minute time-out up in her room, and against her protests, she fell asleep (no surprise) and I have no plans to wake her up anytime soon. And I have absolutely no doubt that B will wake up with no memory of her previous bad behavior. She will be the precious, loving child she usually is. But why do they turn into little demons sometimes?
So all is quiet for the moment. Maybe for the next hour (or more!) too. I�m going to crack open a beer.
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