1m2aSandbox

A late night huddled in our storm closet
during yet another tornado warning (why do funnel clouds only
appear after we've put the girls down for bed?) has given me
cranky girls and no time to blog. Sorry. You'll have to wait until
tomorrow for a scintillating story about Cora's singing . . .

Remember the beginning of the year, when I
challenged you all to do one new thing a month that impacts people
outside your household? If not, click href="http://www.1mother2another.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=938&Itemid=46"
target="_blank">here to read the original post and get
caught up.


But if you do remember, and accepted my challenge, how’s it
going now that the righteous fervor of New Year’s resolutions
has worn off and we’re in the bleary month of February with
nary a vacation in sight for several months yet?


I’ll tell you, I’ve got huge, grand plans in the works
– always – but don’t seem to find time to get
everything orchestrated. I plot big, fun parties and elaborate play
dates in my head, yet can’t get that load of laundry folded.
So in the interest of keeping myself on track, I’m checking
in on this Life of Impact thing and hoping it’ll help you
stay motivated.

As a child and teenager, I never got used
to mornings. I truly believed that one of my parents’ best
attributes was their ability to not take my morning crabbiness
personally, and I’d even brag about how my mom and dad
understood I simply wasn’t a morning person and let me get
away with borderline rudeness on an almost daily basis. As I got
older, I often joked that the reason I went into a career in the
theatre was because it guaranteed me the right to sleep in, and
family and friends knew not to even attempt to call me before 10
a.m. Preferably 11.


As for my husband, while we were dating I’d often call his
house during school break around 11 a.m., only to be told he was
still asleep. So it’s safe to say he’s never been a
morning person, either. And when Maddie came along, she agreeably
exhibited the family tendency to love sleep, and would snooze a
good 12-13 hours a night, sleeping until 9 or 10 a.m. until she was
nearly three years old.


Which makes Cora’s attitude towards the early hours all the
more incomprehensible.

Ok, I’m going to make it official
here.


Maddie is potty trained.


Wait – did I just see a pig fly by?

Maddie’s been begging me to set up
playdates with a couple girls in her ballet class, so I’ve
spent the past few lessons coordinating calendars with parents of
her friends of choice. One friend has a stay-at-home dad, and as we
finally got the date and time hammered out, I gave him directions
to our house. “What time do you want here there?” he
asked, and I told him. “And what time do you want me to pick
her up?” he continued.


Um, what?


I was completely taken aback, but stuttered out an end time, to
which he nodded and made a note. Then I went back to my ballet
class observation seat and tried to figure this out.

We had friends over for a play date
yesterday morning, and gravitated towards the game room and all our
ballet costumes – much like we do without a friend over.
We’ve got stacks of ballet skirts and leotards and tutus, and
Maddie and Cora will dress up at least once a day to do ballet,
putting on their ballet shoes, grabbing a wand, and often bedecking
themselves in jewels before turning on the Mozart and
choreographing their masterpieces.


This activity is all the more exciting for Maddie because of her
recent milestone- dressing herself. She’s been
“assisting” for quite some time now, but the past
couple weeks have seen a complete takeover of dressing time. Maddie
has a “get dressed” magnet on her responsibility chart,
and she refuses to place it on her daily square until she’s
gotten herself into her pjs for the night, completely solo. Of
course, the dressing and undressing thing has been practiced much
recently as she’s made the transition to using the potty
full-time, and I think the chance to be a big girl and handle her
clothes by herself was at least part of the reason for her
new-found potty interest.


Unfortunately, with Maddie’s newly discovered skill –
getting dressed – comes another, less-wanted (by the adults)
skill:


Getting undressed.

Maddie has been pooping in the potty for
five (five!) days now. Dare I hope?


After last week’s promise to Maxum – “Maxum,
I’m working on pooping and peeing in the potty all the time
so I can go to school with you, I promise!”- Maddie really
got down to business. That very afternoon she asked to use the
potty instead of her pull-ups to poop, and grinned triumphantly at
her easy success.