Nice weekend

I have to say, Olive and I have had a wonderful weekend. I was dreading Marc going away; I thought I'd lose it and be really frazzled and frustrated. Instead, we had a great time. Olive and I played, we went out and did stuff together, went to the playground, the library, the fish store. We really enjoyed each others company, and it was really wonderful. It was genuinely fun, and we barely watched any TV at all. Marc will be home tomorrow afternoon, and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees him.

So far so good!

So far, the single parenting thing has been going remarkably well; hopefully I won't jinx myself. Tonight when I got Olive from daycare, she was in a really good mood, and we went to the grocery store and had a fine time. We came home and made dinner, watched some Thomas together, and made cookies before bath. Even hair and tooth brushing went well; three stories and an uncomplaining lights out. Couldn't ask for much more than that. Daddy called fr om Chicago to say goodnight, an extra bonus. I think tomorrow we're going to get up and go to the Y for a swim in the morning.

Preschools

Marc's off to Chicago today, so I'm single parenting for a few days. I hope I don't go crazy. I'm just planning on hanging out with people so we don't just sit around the house all day. I find it hardest at night, going through the bath time routine. That's when we're both the most tired, and I tend to be really short tempered, and then I feel guilty about it later. Marc explained to her that Daddy was going on a trip and that he'd be back in a few days. Then she wanted to know if Mommy was going too. I hope our trip to Florida in April goes smoothly. Both my parents are comign down now, which is good. They can keep her entertained.

We looked at Towson Presbyterian Preschool yesterday; it looks pretty good. Olive seemed to like it a lot, she went right in to the classrooms and seemed to be quite at ease. I am thinking that the 5 day program is probably the way to go for her; I loveKristen, but having her in the two day program would mean daycare one day, school the next, daycare again, school, and daycare again. I'm just thinking it would be easier on everyone if she just had one set routine every day. (And she'd be exposed to fewer germs.) Besides, when I add up the cost of the two day program with three days of daycare a week, it's actually more than the five day program. I feel bad though, I know Kristen just loves her and I feel bad taking her out of there, but I really think Olive is ready for school. And besides, it wouldn't start until September, so she'd be there another 5 months. I just can't believe she's that old already. It really does go so fast.

Preschools?!

How exactly did I miss the memo that I was supposed to sign up for preschools before Thanksgiving of last year? How does everyone know this but me? What the hell? I have been calling around, and most places are full, but I can get on waiting lists. If there are spaces available, they are for two hours a day three mornings a week, which is just not going to work for me unless I feel like quitting my job. (Hey... oh yeah. Money) Anyway, I am going to make some frantic calls in the morning and see what I can do. At this point it's not so much where I want her to go as it is where I can get her in. One of the Catholic schools required a baptism certificate.... uh, next! I think we're not going the Catholic route. Don't even get me started. Where are the Unitarian preschools?! Whatever we end up doing, she's going to be reading by fall. She's way advanced for her age, and if anything, I'm afraid that the Threes preschool level is going to be too easy for her and she'll be bored. I know, I sound like one of those pushy parents, don't I? But it's true. We'll work it out somehow.

We had a little play date with my friend Julie and her daughter today, who is 6 days younger than Olive. The similarities are amazing. Julie and Kyle are going through some of the exact same challenges we are right now, with potty training, tantrums, etc. It's easy to feel like you're all alone and forget that there are other people out there who are struggling just like you are. It was nice to catch up, I feel bad that I haven't seen her in so long. Winter has that isolating effect on everyone.

Saturday Morning overheard

Saturday morning and Olive is up unusually early (for her anyway) and is hungry. Marc gets up and throws on a pair of my flannel pants that are on the floor. He takes her downstairs to get her some breakfast and turn on the TV, in the hopes that we can get a few more minutes of sleep. I hear them down in the kitchen:

"Daddy? Are those Mommy's pants?"
"Yes, Olive, they are."
"Daddy? Did you just fart in Mommy's pants?"

Rainy Day at Port Discovery

Today we ventured to Port Discovery for a little rainy day family outing. It was really pretty cool; for some reason I didn't expect it to be so big, there was tons of stuff to do. I didn't realize it's like a whole indoor amusement park. IT was also PACKED today because of the rain, no doubt. It is absolutely crappy outside. Olive had a great time running around. I did get a little paranoid about her runnig around on her own, there were so many other bigger kids pushing their way through and I thought she'd get stomped on, but she did OK. They had one exhibit about how things in your house work, and they had a black tunnel to crawl through like a sink drain. Olive was kind of curious, and there were all these 8-10 year old boys going in it, and she kind of got swept into it. However, once you're in it, it's totally black and you can't see the other end. Marc ran around to the other end, but she didn't come out. I could hear her crying in there, but there were at least 6 kids mashed in there after her who had to all back out. I was trying to get in there, and finally the one little boy (I say little, he was probably 12) helped get to her and hand her to me. I did kind of panic though, especially when I could hear her crying and couldn't get to her. She was a little upset, but bounced back. I think I was more traumatized than she was. It was soon after that that I decided I couldn't handle the crowds any more and we decided to head out. We went to McDonalds for lunch (I know, I know) because we needed someplace close so she wouldn't fall asleep in the car on the way there. Then it was home for a nice 2 hour rainy afternoon nap, Mommy and Daddy included. I am still feeling vaguely under the weather, but hopefully I'll kick it soon.

I'm "off" all next week (aka Unemployment) so I'm hoping to get some projects done around the house that have been nagging at me, namely cleaning up the disgusting mess I call a basement. I am also going to try to get some more info and visit a few preschools for Olive in the fall... I am realizing I probably should have started this sooner, as some of the programs are already full. We'll just have to see.