Some pictures we received from Arden and Lily’s teachers . . . I especially love the closeup of Arden.  I find it humorous that her teachers can more easily capture the essence of Arden than I can . . .

When I picked up Lily and Arden tonight, I asked Lily’s teachers my usual question: “How did everything go today?”  Instead of the usual answer, I got a “Well, things could have been A LOT better!” 

Turns out that Lily’s teachers were both gone during nap time today, which lasts from 12.30 til 2.30.  A sub was in the room, and Lily decided that it would be fun times for all for her to rile up 6 of her friends.  The 6 of them spent 2 hours roaming, shaking their tail feathers on their cots, throwing their nappers around, chatting, giggling, and generally being spastic and unruly.  Lily!  My one child that seems to FEAR authority!  Staging a preschool coup! 

What’s even funnier, even though it also broke my heart, was that Ms. Pena told me that Lily and the 5 other cohorts’ punishment was to not see the “special movie”.  They had to stay in the classroom and do quiet things, like reading and art, while the rest of the class went to the movie.  Ms. Pena was almost as upset as Lily was.  She said, “Normally she’s so good!  I just don’t know what got into her. And I felt terrible having to punish her, but it had to be done.”

I walked with Lily and Arden out to the car, and Lily climbed into her car seat.  As soon as I started to buckle her in, she pushed out her bottom lip and her entire chin started to quiver.  She stammered, “Mommy, I GOT IN TROUBLE at SCHOOL TODAY!”  With that, huge alligator tears began to roll down her face. “And I didn’t get to see the SPECIAL MOVIE! AND IT HURT MY FEELINGS and MADE ME SAD!”  More tears.  “And then, Ms. Pena and Ms. Crafton had a LITTLE CHAT WITH ME!” 

At that moment, I remembered all the times I got in trouble and how bad I felt later.  Then, I suddenly realized how specifically Lily could express how she was feeling, and I was amazed.  I comforted her and told her that I got in trouble sometimes too, and tomorrow we all get a reset and a fresh start.  On the way home I suggested that we draw some pictures and write a note to her teachers saying sorry.  Because, you know, art makes everything better.  One Elmo picture and one Big Bird picture later, everything was okay with the world, especially when Aunt Loie showed up. 

Lily rarely gets in trouble because she lives to please her teachers, but she is so much like me at times, it’s scary.  The only times I ever got in trouble in the early days of school where when the lure of a party or a chance to laugh overcame my fear of getting in trouble. It’s true that I once peed in my plastic seat in kindergarten rather than ask to go to the bathroom, because in my literal mind, the teacher had said that no one was to get up from their seats.  My mom had to bring me a dry pair of tights and a skirt and from then on, my teacher was careful not to be so literal around me.  But give me a chance to goof around or giggle and I was all about that. 

I needed some humor in my life today.  There is far too much family drama these days, especially involving my brother. Each day that goes by without his heart surgery happening, the knot in my stomach grows.  We are all stressed out and worried, and there are many side issues that prevent us all from just being what I consider “normal” and letting each other comfort and support one another.  Sometimes I am amazed that I share 50% of my gene pool with my brother because we are very, very different in some basic and fundamental ways.  At times like these, those differences make me very sad.

I was just at lunch and received a call on my cell phone from one of the nurses at preschool.  The first thing I thought was, “Please GOD, NO LICE!”  Thankfully, she wasn’t calling to report nits on Lily. 

No, instead she was calling to run something by me.  All week Lily has been telling her teachers a variety of aches are paining her, including “my tummy hurts”, “my nose feels weird” and “my head hurts RIGHT HERE” (with a dramatic palm slapping the middle of her forehead).  Today, she told her teachers that everything was hurting and she needed to go home to be with her mommy, because her mommy would give her medicine to make her feel better.  Well, after a number of days of these complaints, they sent her to the nurse to be checked out.

No fever. No sore throat.  No ear infection.  No eye infection. Even her cold is barely there, though she still coughs occasionally, usually to get my attention.  The nurse didn’t want to say it, but when I said, “She’s totally milking this to get out of school, ” she gave a sigh of relief and said, “I didn’t know how to tell you that I thought she was faking it.”  Turns out she was fine during outside play and reading, but suddenly took ill before lunch and wanted to go to Get Well.  Once there, she was magically cured and began to play with all the cool toys they have there that are not in her classroom.  And I’m positive that in her not-yet-4 year old brain, she recalled last Friday . . . how I rushed to school to pick her up, stroked her leg all the way to a special lunch with just daddy and me at McDonald’s, how I cuddled with her during nap time and read her stories, then watched the entire Little Mermaid movie with her while she sprawled on my lap and I stroked her hair. I mean, seriously.  Who wouldn’t want that every day? 

So on one hand, I’m impressed that she is now old enough to put being “sick” together with “going home and being pampered”, and on the other hand, I’m super guilty because of course I think she’s doing this because I am a working mother and she’s dying for alone time with me.  Then I tell myself that I used to totally work it to go home as well, and I came from a stay at home mom.  That makes three hands, but who’s counting.  On the 4th hand, what a little devil!  I have the world’s only child who loves taking medicine.  She’s been begging me for cough syrup every night. I gave in last night but tonight, no way. She’s not sick enough for it.  What kid likes to take medicine? She even got used to her eye drops and didn’t mind so much, though no one in their right mind asks, or begs, to have liquid dripped into their eyeball.  Yuck. 

Meanwhile, I am still at a client’s office and Lily is still at preschool, probably cursing me and shaking her little brown fist in my general direction, muttering the first of a million to come “Curses, foiled by mommy again!” phrases. 

Oh yeah, I forgot. I got the fabulous news tonight as I checked Lily and Arden out of preschool that Arden’s room had a “confirmed case of head lice”.  FABULOUS!  As soon as I heard that, I could nearly feel the little turds feasting on my scalp and running the length of my body.  The one run-in with lice at summer camp permanently traumatized me (damn that freaky girl who REFUSED to wash her hair for 6 weeks straight!  I hate her still!). 

All the kid’s clothing and bedding was sent home tonight and it’s currently swishing away on my favorite cycle - the SANITARY cycle.  Basically it pours boiling water over everything until nothing can possibly continue to live.  For the next 10 days whomever drops the girls off must take them to the nurse so that they can be checked by Nurse Kathy for nits and their ravenous parents.  Ewwwww.  How does a 2 year old get lice?  And from where?  The whole school was like going into a place under lockdown.  Either that or it looked like something from the Nature Channel - all these teachers combing through hair like the monkeys do to each other, only the teachers don’t eat what they find (I hope).  I’m just really hopeful neither of mine bring home any hair friends. 

I’m tired, but here’s a quick picture of Arden after her first day in Red Room:

She didn’t sleep much on her new cot at the Station, but she sure is sleeping now.  Awwww.  Ms. Windsor wrote a cute note for her first day.  She said she had been patting Arden’s belly and telling her it was time to take a nap, and Arden responded by gently patting her hand and saying, “Nigh-night . . . ” 

Lily was a complete monster when I picked her up. It’s hard to describe her mouth - it’s sassy, mean, and petulant.  For example, I say, “How was your day, Lily?  I missed you!”  And she responds, “I’m not talking to you MAMA!  Don’t you talk that way to me!!!”  Huh?  Where is my sweet child?  Apparently being good all day for the teachers (she gets to be the first “line leader” of the year, a fact of which she is very proud) makes her a holy terror by 5.15 pm.  Sigh.  She also didn’t nap today so I’m chalking it up to that.  She also told me she didn’t like me AT ALL, threw a fit in the driveway when Mike got home and mean mother that I am, asked her to remove her bike from the middle of the cul-de-sac, and screamed and cried when I offered to hold her hand up the stairs, she refused, and I walked away.  10 seconds later, “MOMMY HOLD MY HAND!!! HOLD MY HAND!”  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!