Time just flu by

1. Just got back from getting Addie her H1N1 vaccination. SO GLAD to get one kid done. Frustrated that Eva's group doesn't come up until DECEMBER 7th. At the risk of sounding over-dramatic, it feels kind of Sophie's Choice to vaccinate one and not the other. I know the risks of any serious complications are low...but I'd like to make them even lower by getting that kid vaccinated!!! Anyway. Adder's done and I'm relieved about that.

Her memory shocked me yesterday...I said, "tomorrow we're going to the doctor" (well, random health-care professional) and she said "DOCTOR. THAT PICKS!" and pointed to her arm. She'd had her regular series vaccinations two weeks ago at the doctor's office.

I said, "It picks just a little bit"

She shook her head violently. "NO. IT PICKS A LOT"

Nice set up, Mama Bear. Way to freak her out in advance. DUH.

2. Started pushing the vacuum around this morning and Adele wagged her finger at me and bellowed, "NO MAMA! NOT ON THE CARPET! IT'S SOFT!"

Um. Smart kid. The CARPET is the POINT.

3. Eva got another 12/12 on her weekly spelling/math test. She has gotten ONE answer wrong all year. I'm kind of blown away. She can't remember to put the top back on the toothpaste...keep her butt planted on her chair during meals...leave the piano alone in the mornings because we have neighbours...etc etc etc. In fact, she'd forget to breathe if it wasn't an automatic bodily function. But song lyrics or academic stuff? Once you jam it in there, it's there for life.

4. Eva stayed home from school yesterday...she's been a bit on the sick side and I just wanted a day with my girlie. We rented "Les Choristes" - a French movie also known as "The Chorus" or "The Chorale" or something like that in English. There's a class photo with a bunch of old-fashioned-looking grubby little schoolboys on the DVD cover.

I'd seen it before - but loved it all over again because she loved it so much.

Worth renting - even subtitled, it'd be awesome, if only for the music.

Okay off to put away the vacuum. Wouldn't want it accidentally touching the carpet.

Can you hear me now?

1. Lost my voice. Well, not GONE but too weak to be on-air today. Wound up coming home and keeping Addie with me for the day - she's a bit sick with a cold, and seems to want a lot of cuddles. She keeps coming up to me and saying, "coller" (pronounced coll-AY). The verb "coller" means "to stick" - so she literally is asking to stick her little body on mine. It's kind of like saying "cuddle" or "hug", only a zillion times cuter. Which is my little bug's way.

2. Found myself on the WRONG side of the back door this morning, begging Adele to unlock the door while she laughed hysterically inside. I had stepped into the backyard to grab a bag of leaves, to set out for the garbage truck to pick up.

Quick as a flash, that little wretch slammed the door and LOCKED IT.

Suddenly I found myself outside looking in, with my TWO YEAR OLD completely free inside the house.

I'm sure it was hilarious for anyone observing from the outside - slightly crazed woman in sweatpants whispering curses and pounding on the back door, peering in through the window and gesturing like a one-armed air traffic controller on Christmas Day while begging to be let in...with all of my pleas completely inaudible because I HAVE NO BLASTED VOICE.

Adele seemed to understand, though, because after a horrifyingly stressful minute, she unlocked the door, smiling innocently the entire time.

Troll the Younger is NOT TO BE TRUSTED. EVER.

3. Eva has begun reading BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO. She's taken to carrying books around with her, cracking them open, and actually reading without us saying, "why don't you read a book?". Her fave is the Geronimo Stilton series. I watch it happen and melt - the whole world is opening up for her and we get a front row seat as it happens.

Kids are miracles, yes they are.

Miracles that ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED FOR A FREAKING SECOND.

Halloween

1 Girls are down for a pre-Halloween eve nap. I've told Eva "No nap = no trick or treat" and she seems to be having a bit of trouble understanding the concept. I hate being the hammer, but she'll be one miserable little coot tonight if she doesn't catch a few zzzs. Not quite sure what I do if she actually doesn't sleep, ultimately. That was a dumb correlation for me to make - am I actually enough of a meanie to TAKE AWAY HALLOWEEN FROM MY CHILD? Probably not. Argh. I always thought I'd be an airy fairy hippy dippy mom. Instead I'm Cruella de Vil.

2. We are sick. All of us. Adele probably has it the worst; she's bubbling snot like Old Faithful bubbles hot water. And she's so fiercely independent, she doesn't even want us to wipe her nose for her - she wants to do it for herself. The result is dried snot all over her face and a toddler that looks like a wee Oscar the Grouch.

I must say, however, I love how Adele pronounces "booger" with a French accent: "Boogeur" with a little roll on the "R". It almost makes it fun to wipe away "les boogeurs".

3. Eva did two class projects out of entirely recycled-recyclable materials. One is a beanbag game, which is the project she actually entered in the competition at school (and lost but who cares). The other is a boat about the size of the kitchen table. I know the size is comparable because it has now been sitting on our kitchen table for many, many days.

And not because we LIKE it.

I have been trying to recycle that damned boat for TWO WEEKS NOW.

TWICE I have put it in the weekly recycling bin, only to have Eva shriek in shock and overly-dramatic offense that we are THROWING AWAY HER BEAUTIFUL CREATION and rescue the blasted thing from the bin. And then eventually it finds its way back to the kitchen table.

This time, I'm gonna bury that sucker SO DEEP DOWN IN THE BIN, it'll take a freaking DRILLING RIG to get it back. That boat is gonna strike oil!

THURSDAY MORNING. THE RECYCLING TRUCKS ROLL.

Random

1. Etienne and I were in the kitchen prepping lunch today, while Addie played on the floor and Eva sat quietly reading in a chair.

Suddenly, and with no apparent reason, Eva said, "You know, sometimes we all have stress in our lives. But that's okay. We can't help it. It's not our fault"

Etienne and I just sort of stopped working and stared at each other...wondering what psychoanalyst's ghost had possessed our elder child. Or what problem she was working through at school. Or what the heck she was talking about.

But that was it...she just quietly went back to Geronimo Stilton.

2. Had a brief but heated debate with Adele tonight, as to whether a camel in a book was a CHAMEAU or a CAMEL. Sorry kid. Check whose lap you're sitting in; that'll tell you if it's a chameau or a camel. And considering your bony little butt is currently destroying my upper thigh muscles, I'd suggest you just accept the fact that AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT IN TIME, IT'S A CAMEL.

3. Took Adder to Tim Horton while Eva was at dance class this morning.

We bought an old-fashioned glazed donut and got ourselves settled to share.

We were sitting by the window - a cold, grey day with rain pelting down. The donut was soft and unbelievably fresh and I was so happy to share such a sweet little moment with Adele.

I broke the donut into four parts and handed one to her.

She didn't even finish it. Took two bites and set it down, disinterested.

REFUSING TO FINISH A DONUT??? THE HECK???

My child, how you disappoint me.

4. Went to Evita's "Green Day" at school (well, it's actually called something else but I have no idea what the direct translation is). Everyone is supposed to send in old skates and coats and clothes and books and homemade cookies and so on to sell, raising money for a school in Nepal. We sent some stuff last week and then made four dozen cinnamon snap cookies this morning (Holy last minute, Batman!) and Etienne went off to volunteer at the sale while the trolls and I were at Eva's dance class.

We stopped by afterwards and watched Eva cavort with her friends and compete to see who could jam the most baked goods into their mouths.

Disturbed but also somewhat impressed by Adele's unrelenting efforts to escape our evil clutches and melt into the crowd. That kid will make an excellent spy one day.

5. Had to laugh at the playground, despite my distaste for graffiti on CHILDREN'S TOYS.

Some jackass had taken a magic marker to the slide and drawn male and female private bits on it.

There were some little lines between the two, as if to indicate motion or something, but the whole thing looked like it was done by some blind kid during an earthquake, so it wound up looking vaguely like an ice cream cone talking to an amoeba.

Kid, if you're going to go embrace danger and anarchy and start making your mark in the hood by scrawling graffiti on playground equipment, KINDLY FINISH THAT ART CLASS FIRST.

6. Swimming tomorrow. It's my turn to swim with Adele in her parent-child class. Gotta go make myself presentable - i.e. scrape my legs. They're like Christmas trees.

Now beat it, kid

Adele, my tiny tornado, shaking her head as she watches me beat some eggs:

"NO NO NO, Mama. GENTLY. We do it GENTLY"

Apparently our little dictator DOES understand when we issue the same directive.

She's just ignoring us.

As I suspected.

Thankful

It's Thanksgiving here in Canada...and more than anything, I'm thankful for my beautiful family.

We had a marvellous, sweet, quiet day.

We went to the park in the morning...Etienne and I hugging our coffees while the girls climbed and crawled and jumped and dug in the sand with chilly little fingers. I pushed Addie in the swing FOREVER - she screamed "FIRE!!!!" whenever her momentum started to drop. I kept trying to explain that the word is actually "HIGHER" but she never quite got it.

This afternoon, the three girls in the house NAPPED (woo hoo!) while Etienne went off on his own for a bit.

And then our awesome dinner...turkey roast, homemade cranberry-orange sauce, mashed potatoes, and maple-glazed brussels sprouts. Everything was easy peasey to cook...but FREAKING DELICIOUS. We didn't really have much by way of dessert, although I'd made applesauce earlier in the day and that was enough to satisfy Evita's sweet tooth.

It really was a wonderful, quiet day...I think we all needed a day at home with no obligations and no commitments...nothing major to do...leftovers in the fridge for lunch...supper all planned and easy enough to put together. We toasted the holiday with glasses of wine (E and I) and apple juice (the girls).

Really lovely.

Really lucky.

Really thankful.

THIS JUST IN

*****BREAKING NEWS*******

Eva L. is dropping out of the Grade One class presidential race.
The six year old made the announcement yesterday at her home in Montreal.
Sources close to the candidate say she'd run out of time to complete a campaign poster and speech.
When family members suggested she already had homework to do and should drop the campaign, Eva had this to say:

DALET 51555
IN: sfx (heavy sigh)
RUNS: :03
OUT: "Okay"

Eva: "Sigh........okay"

Eva says she still may consider a run for class president next year.
Family members say they will support Eva in anything she chooses to do...but homework has to come first.