Musings on life in general

Parenthood

I work at a high school, and so I had off to honor two great American presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The Banana had off today too, so I decided that we should go into downtown Philadelphia and visit the Academy of Natural Sciences, one of my favorite museums. Banana has always had a fascination with butterflies, and as of late she has also been into dinosaurs, and the Academy has both! I myself am also partial to the butterflies and the dioramas which were created in the 1930s, so off we went.

Apparently, every other parent of a school-age child in the Delaware Valley had the same brilliant idea. I also failed to remember that the King Tut exhibit had just opened at the Franklin Institute, which is a stone's throw (literally) from the Academy. So issue #1: parking. I found a garage that wasn't full about 5 blocks away, and proceeded to march through sub-freezing temperatures and gale-force winds to the museum. Thankfully, my dad was waiting for us inside and managed to entertain Banana for the half hour that I stood in line to buy tickets.

Yay! We're in! Off to the dinosaurs we go. We were in the dinosaur room for about 2 minutes when I said, "Hey Banana, let me and Grandpop take your picture!" Now normally, this would not be an issue, but today it was. Tears ensued. After a 5 minute tantrum, off to the dioramas. This was fun for about 10 minutes, then I tried to get Banana to pee, since it was approaching noon and she hadn't peed yet. This child has a bladder of steel and an abject horror of public toilets. Tantrum #2, in the restroom, which involved Banana climbing my leg to avoid being sucked down the toilet. Back out to Dad/Grandpa.

Downstairs to the Tropical Butterfly Garden, which Banana had been asking about for the past 3 days. Slight whining at having to wait in line. Finally, entry was ours. The temperature inside the butterfly garden is about 85 degrees with 100% humidity and extremely bright lights. After approximately 30 seconds, Banana began to chant, "I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry." When I tried to get her to look at the goddamn butterflies and cute little frogs, Tantrum #3 began. Banana and I go back out to lobby for snack and to wait for Grandpa, who is having a grand old time playing with and photographing the butterflies. Food calms the Banana. Then an employee of the museum tells us we can't eat there. Fine. Down to the cafe we go.

The cafe is packed with parents, grandparents, strollers, and 800 bajillion tykes of various sizes. We decide that the cafe is not the peaceful respite we have been searching for and decide to leave.

Enter MegaTantrum.

This involves LimpLegs, NoShoulders, Screaming with RedFace, Inability to Breathe in a Normal Fashion, Kicking, TwoAdult ToddlerCoat Application, AngryMother Hat Application, Grandparent HeadShaking and Cursing, etc. Grandpa walks us back to garage via unplowed/unshoveled Philadelphia sidewalks, Banana screaming at the top of her lungs, "I DON'T WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA STAY HERE! I PROMISE I'LL BE GOOD!" Too late now, my sweet.

We get in the car, start to head home. Banana is placated with bagel.

No TV, no snacks, no lovin' from Mommy upon arrival home. Banana is surprisingly well-behaved. No further arguments, no tears. After about 2 hours at home, I take her on my lap and ask her, "Honey, what went wrong today?"

Ready?

"I was hungry."

Wow.

A hug, a kiss, and back to my crocheting.


Crocheting and Knitting

I currently have eight projects in the works. Eight. I can't even finish a freakin' Sugar n Cream beach bag. I keep starting, starting, starting projects, and finishing none. What the hell. I did get a lot of work done on yet another scrapghan for a dear friend who is going to teach me to sew. I have also made one slipper, one leg warmer, half of a Noro stole, one quarter of a sweater, one row of another sweater, a hat and half of a scarf for a friend's kid, and the aforementioned beach bag. I've been having major motivation issues lately. I've always had problems getting things done in a timely fashion, but I've been really bad lately. I don't know what's wrong with me. Ugh.


My Five Gratefuls

Enough bitching and moaning. My life is not bad. It's good, in fact. And here are 5 things that I am grateful for today (in no particular order):

1. My warm house.

2. My daughter, even in the midst of MegaTantrum.

3. My husband.

4. My dad.

5. My brother.

And last, but not least, some photos that make me happy. Thanks for stopping by.

Poison dart frogs - I love frogs.

Butterflies and flowers - beauty and delicacy.

Pepe, Banana, and Rosebud on Superbowl Sunday with sundry objects serving as hats. Life doesn't get any better than this.