Marceline was having a rough morning. Just sleepy and didn’t have a lot of energy to get going this morning.
It was hard just getting her out the door, and despite being awake an hour before we had to get the out the door she was still eating breakfast while walking to the bus stop.
So I made a game of our walk to the bus stop where we would try to set one step onto every driveway on the way, and try to be secret about it.
We snickered and laughed while we zigzagged sneaking back and forth across the street to step on everyone’s driveways on the way to the bus.
I’m sure it looked ridiculous, but totally worked to cheer her up and get her emotionally ready for the bus and school.
Small things like that make me really glad I’m a parent. Just things I’d never experience if we didn’t have kids.
At the start of the year I set a few goals for myself.
A) I wouldn’t buy myself candy B) I would do 100 push ups a day C) I would 15 minutes a day on my kindle D) I would try to run 50 miles a month
I’ve kept all of them – to one degree or another.
I haven’t bought myself candy, explicitly bought myself candy. I did buy Sam a bag of peanut butter hearts around Valentine’s Day when she was having a few tough days knowing that I would eat some. Same around Easter – buying her or the kids Easter candy knowing I get to eat some. But as far as picking myself up candy as a snack, or while out shopping, or just for myself – I haven’t done it. So totally counts.
I have done 100 push ups a day, every day except one, last week. I did 250 the next day to make up for it.
I have read 15 minutes on my kindle daily. It tracks that, so not really a way around it. And I’ve been enjoying it.
In February I ran 47 miles. It was a shorter month. But that’s close enough to count and I picked it up in March with 85 miles. I’m trying to be most lenient with this one. I run around my family. So getting up early to run or running at night. And when I don’t get at least 6 hours of sleep for one reason or another I refuse to run, and rather prioritize sleep.
And there are days like today where I come out to the living to get my running clothes on before heading out the door and Marceline is just laying on the couch with a big smile on her face. Of course I’m going to sit with her instead of running. She is too cute not to.
While at my parents in May, Marceline got a bump on her head from running into a door. I used it as an opportunity to tell her about the myth of Athena jumping full grown from Zeus’s head.
She loves it and her nighttime stories since that night are different Greek myths. One that really caught her imagination was ‘Echo and Narcissus.”
In the version of the story we read Echo is always running fast away from you while repeating your last words back to you.
Marceline now will swing back and forth on her swing with head back screening “Echooooo” into the air. It’s been two weeks of her doing this and it’s just as adorable now as it was the first day she did it.
When I pick Marceline up from her preschool, I always bring a snack for her and Edith to eat on the way home. Which is a little ridiculous considering that we are a 6-minute car drive, at most, from her preschool. But it helps get Marceline into the car some days, as she wants to stay and play at the Nature Center as long as she can. Edith too.
So this week we had some granola bars to eat as snack. I just bring one and break it in half for the girls to split. Not quite half, Marceline needs a bigger piece because she is older you see. So like two-thirds to one third. Which means Edith just inhales her snack while Marceline takes slightly longer, mostly seconds longer really.
On Monday Edith devoured her piece while Marceline I notice Marceline just stared at hers. So I made high pitched voice that said “Hi Marceline,” as if it was coming from the granola bar. So said hi back. And really, at first it was cute like most of our imaginary play. Marceline talked back and forth with the granola bar, randomly answering the questions I had the granola bar ask…. about preschool, how she was doing and other such nonsense.
Then I had the granola bar ask what she was going to do with it. And she said eat it. I pretended (as the granola bar) to be shocked. Marceline tried to explain that granola bars were tasty and that she was hungry. And that you were supposed to eat granola bars. The granola bar insisted they could be friends and friends don’t eat friends. Marceline again tried explaining how you are supposed to eat granola bars.
She then said to me, “Dad I want the granola bar to stop talking so I can eat it.”
Yeah….. I think I may have traumatized her.
It probably didn’t help that after some quiet time Marceline started eating the granola bar and then I had it say “Where are my legs, I can’t feel my legs.” Marceline said she ate it, playfully this time. I had the granola bar ask if the legs were tasty and if she was going to eat the rest of it. She said yes to both.
We spent 3 hours at a playground yesterday. And it was constantly walking from around one area to the other to check on my girls as they just spread out across the playground.
I didn’t even try to corral them because it wasn’t done. Just let them go and kept an eye on them.
