1m2aSandbox

We’ve had a death in our family
recently, and it’s the first time we’ve had to figure
out how to deal with the topic with the girls. It’s still
pretty recent, so I’m not ready to get into a big blog about
it, but I’d sure appreciate any advice anyone has on the
subject.


We sat the girls down the day it happened and discussed it plainly
and gently. Cora, at 2 ½, has almost no grasp of death, and
Maddie at 4 ½ isn’t so much further ahead of her. But
Maddie’s mulling it over in her mind, I can tell, and
it’s only a matter of days before she makes that “Hey,
if that relative can die, maybe Mommy or Daddy can too!”
connection. And my girl’s a worrier, so it’s not going
to be something she’ll let go of easily.


Maddie’s got a great relationship with God, and that helps.
But I’m not at my best here, since I’m grieving myself,
and it’s all I can do to keep from snapping and yelling at
them over – literally – spilt milk, so Mommy’s
not helping the situation.


Any suggestions?

I know I’ve mentioned before that
we’ve got two silkys for each girl – identical, and
rotated periodically to insure even wear and tear. We try to switch
them out every couple of weeks and wash the old one, but sometimes
we get behind and don’t notice it until the current silky is
practically standing on its own, it’s so dirty. And then
there’s trouble.

A few people wrote asking how the
kindergarten registration went on Thursday, and I’m sorry I
left you hanging. A medicinal glass of wine afterwards left me less
ready to blog than usual, but I’ve had the weekend to process
and I’m ready to (sob) talk about it.


Ok, I’m exaggerating a little bit. It wasn’t THAT bad.
But it was a little bad.

Don't talk to me right now - I'm getting
myself in the "kindergarten registration" zone.


Yes, in a few short hours I'll be stampeding the parking lot with
hundreds (yes, hundreds - this school has 4-5 kindergarten classes
each year, and registration's for K-6) of desperate and weepy-eyed
parents, clutching our manila folders and praying we've crossed
all our "t"s and dotted all our "i"s. There's rampant rumors that
they'll be taking the kids off for very brief testing to determine
which class is a good "fit" for the child - how the heck are we
supposed to cram for that? We're desperately hoping Maddie will be
in the same room as a good friend of hers, so the other mom and I
are wondering - should we use the same adjectives to describe our
daughters? Or different ones, if they're seeking diversity for
each class?


How can we best manipulate the situation to my daughter's
advantage?


I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes - unless I'm still
comatose from the trauma.

I’ve spent the last few days
Xeroxing and organizing and compiling and color-coding. No, not
taxes – nor are we closing on a house.


It’s time to register Maddie for kindergarten.


Registration is this Thursday afternoon as soon as the elementary
school lets out, and I have to tell you, I’m already
contemplating binge drinking for the day. Do they want to see
Maddie’s original birth certificate, or do they need a copy
for their records? Doesn’t matter, because I’ve got
both, ready to go, in separate piles. I’ve made copies of all
the forms I’ve filled out, with the originals separated
neatly. I’ve confirmed her “emergency contacts”
and filled in home phones, cell phones, and work phones for such an
emergency.


In short, I’m ready.


But I’m not ready.

Interested in free food?


How about free sugary food?


We've got two giveaways today worth mentioning -


First, Starbucks is giving away a free pastry with any hand-crafted
(read: no bottled Frappucino) drink purchase. The only catch is
that you need the coupon you can find on the bottom of href="http://consumerist.com/2010/03/ben-jerrys-and-starbucks-both-giving-away-free-food-tomorrow.html"
target="_blank">this page - and that it has to be before
10:30 a.m.


Second, and even better, it's FREE CONE DAY at Ben and Jerry's! I
could've sworn they usually do this in April, but I am not one to
look at gift cone in the mouth. Go to any Ben and Jerry's store
between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. today and get a free cone. No coupons,
no catches. Eat it up, run outside, and get back in line again if
you so desire.


I love me some Free Cone Day.


It's the perfect day - caffeine and a scone for you in the
morning, then a run to Ben and Jerry's after dinner for the
family.


Or, if you're like me, a run to Ben and Jerry's during the kids'
naptime for you, then a return trip after dinner for the whole
family.

Since Brian was out of town part of spring
break last week (yeah, I’ll forgive him for that one some
day) he took the rest of the week off when he got back, and on
Friday we went out of town for a little day trip. We didn’t
go far – only a couple hours out of the city – but it
was definitely the longest the girls have been in the car at one
stretch (that they remember) and we were both a bit apprehensive
about it when we set out.


Being the over-organized, must-control-everything person that I am,
I spent the night before in a frenzy of preparation. We were
heading to an outdoor wildlife conservation park, where you can
drive through the park and feed the wild animals from your car.
Giraffes and zebras walk right up to your car to say hi, and
knowing the girls’ love of animals we thought it’d be a
good fit. I’d ordered seats on the guided tour beforehand,
and simply had to plan for the time in the car.