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Monday, July 2, 2012

Fireworks Whining

Happy Fireworks Week, to US Pixies, and happy week to the rest of you.

W: I live too far north for fireworks to be festive this time of year.
AW: New Year's Eve is awesome.

I'll be celebrating independence by walking with the Girl Scouts in the parade downtown. They get to lead this year, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting.

How are you, Pixies? Feel free to share your whines, antiwhines, and stories of independence in this space!

28 comments:

Liz Miller said...

I never thought about what fireworks on the 4th would look like in your neck of the woods. Hmmm.

And hooray for the Girl Scouts!!

AW: I have power, my workplace has power, and the gas stations near me have power.

emily said...

My yogurt container used to be round. Now it is rectangular. I don't like change.

esperanza said...

I never thought about that, either. Do y'all have some term for those of us who are lower-48-centric? I'll guiltily qualify.

Emily, that is epic.

W: the morning routine around here is deteriorating rapidly. Sweet is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to do everything: eat breakfast, get undressed, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. I was unaware a human being could move that slowly. Have you ever seen a sloth? Yep, that's about how fast she goes, if she's moving at all. It is excruciating, even more so if we have to go somewhere. We will not enumerate the meltdowns, nor who had them, to protect the not-so-innocent.

AW: My yogurt container is still round.

Liz Miller said...

Esperanza, have you tried a timer? Or a race? The slllloooooowwwww routine is very very frustrating.

W: My yogurt containers are shaped like dunce-caps with the point cut off. I always feel stupid eating from them.

esperanza said...

We've done a timer some with breakfast, and I'll likely institute it permanently. Up until this week, breakfast has not been a target of Teh Slow on a regular basis. But it is now.

*Part* of what is so frustrating is that, until recently, she didn't want to do anything for herself. So I'm trying to encourage her, and I know that it will take her longer than it takes me. So trying to balance the do-it-for-yourself and the taking-too-long-on-purpose is about to do me in. And she knows it, I'm afraid.

Liz Miller said...

If I remember correctly, one of the things that really helped during that phase was to have Muffin Man race ME. "First one to get dressed gets a prize!"

Setting the timer worked well, for almost everything.

And starting the whole process earlier helped, too.

And for times where the foot-dragging was cutting into errand time, I would say that if we could get into the car before the timer went off, we could get something special at the store, but if we couldn't then we wouldn't have time to do that.

esperanza said...

I'd also like to help her see the connection between getting ready and getting to do something. She's even dragging her feet when we're getting ready to do something she's really excited about. It's like one has nothing to do with the other.

Sarah at Ratatat said...

Oh Esperanza - that she doesn't connect the speed with the consequences - that must be driving you crazy. At least it would me.

I will confess I just a lot of things for kids who moved too slowly. And for my oldest, that was a motivation - she didn't like the way I did it. But for my middle child, the boy, he just liked having things done for him. ARGH!

W: I am putting on one of the largest local parades on the 4th. And I am so tired. So many loose ends. And so much stuff you have to do at the end.

AW: Feeling about as zen as I can be. In perspective, this will all work out.

W: a path needs to be graveled for me tomorrow. It is now 4 days late.

W: No rain. And we're having fireworks. Please don't catch anything on fire. Please rain!

kathy a. said...

emily for old school.

yay for parades! crossing fingers nothing catches on fire.

my beloved decided to make iced tea, and lots of it. half the fridge is now devoted to the 3 gallon jug. AW: it makes him happy.

JenR said...

Now I want iced tea. Yum :-)

Yesterday was my birthday. Over the weekend my son and mom made me a birthday cake and he called it roast beef all day as if doing that would stop me from seeing it sitting on the counter. He wanted to save the surprise for after dinner. It was really funny.

I have completely forgotten my whine. But I will second Sarah's request for rain. It is looking very brown 'round here.

Liz Miller said...

AW: Metro is coming to Loudoun. Woohoo!!!

emily said...

Esperanza, "This too shall pass." repeat as needed:-)

kathy a. said...

happy birthday, JenR! the cake story is fabulous.

yay for metro extensions!

esperanza said...

I love the "roast beef." That is classic, and so sweet.

AW: whining works! This morning was much better (we were, however, getting ready to do her favorite thing ever, which may have helped). She raced to get her clothes off while I sang the ABC's. (Leading me to think part of the problem is a developmentally-appropriate absence of a concept of time). Then (this next was her idea), every time she accomplished something (pants off, shirt off, etc), I yell "surprise." I have no idea why that was so funny, but I'll do it till the cows come home. We were ready early, and nobody had a meltdown.

W: now I'm worrying that I've AW'd too early about that. But swimming with daddy is on the agenda for tomorrow morning, so we'll be putting on swimsuits, which is inherently fun for some reason.

Sarah at Ratatat said...

I think I have heat stroke. That's a whine. The parade was great. But it was just too hot. I should be selling beer in the beer tent, but I am too hot. So I am at home in the A/C. That's an anti-whine. The heat is keeping people away, so sales will be done a lot. Whine. But they won't miss me for a while. Anti-whine.

Happy 4th of July.

Experanza - is there a trick to surviving heat like this? Hope the swimming helps. And the "Surprise"
trick, which is cute!!

kathy a. said...

oooh, esperanza! between the ABC song and "surprise!", that is a great story about your sweet picking up speed!

oh, sarah! you deserve a prize for doing the parade in the fireplacing heat. sending ice and beverages, palm fronds for a gentle breeze, and whatever else you need.

AW: finished a big fat albatross that's been hanging around my Giant Project to-do list for too long. yay!

tonight: pizza. and if the evening fog doesn't roll in too soon, we'll watch fireworks around the bay from the top of the back yard. yay!

esperanza said...

oh, Sarah. I just saw that weather report for your area. You're actually a bit hotter than we are. Um...secrets? Stay inside in the a/c. Crack car windows. Being wet (swimming, etc) definitely helps. If it's not also stinking humid (which it usually is in my part of the state), if you can blow a fan over some water, that sometimes helps. Or some kind of mist. Drink lots of water. And stay inside. ;) Sorry, hope it gets better soon.

We had the traditional chicken fajitas for 4th of July supper.

Liz Miller said...

Drink lots of water. Drink lots of water. Drink lots of water.

Soak bandanas in water and put them in the the freezer overnight. Change them as they dry out.

Wear. A. Hat. (bonus advice: soak the hat in water)

Did I mention drink lots of water?

kathy a. said...

much sympathy to all who are stuck in the heat. good suggestions, esperanza and liz.

i don't live in a heat zone any more, but just tell my hot flashes. so i'd add -- wear light, loose clothing, cotton if possible. keep your hair off your neck. when overheated, put something ice-like on the back of your neck, pulse points (temples, inner wrists and elbows, back of knees) and anyplace else overheated. fans are good -- electric, and even handheld.

Sarah at Ratatat said...

Such good suggestions. Staying inside has been working too.

Whine: feeling whiny. This too shall pass?

esperanza said...

oh, yeah. A hat. I'm terrible about that, but it really does help.

W: I'm up way past my bedtime. With a wheezing/coughing Sweet. *After* three back-to-back nebulizer treatments. Not my favorite pastime. I have a feeling a call to the pulmonologist is in my future.

Sarah at Ratatat said...

Oh Esperanza - hope she's feeling better.

Liz Miller said...

(((Esperanza)))

W: The B on my BLT is stale. BLEAH.

kathy a. said...

poor sweet! hope she is feeling better today. have you tried sitting in a steamy bathroom with the shower running hot (mom recommends singing), then going outside to the (hopefully) cooler night air? that used to help when my son had those nighttime attacks.

eww, liz.

my beloved decided to take a day off and work on his fence project. right outside my office window. i got stuff to do today. every time he walks by, he stares at me, and diva cat tries to kill him through the window. then she jumps on my desk, scattering the piles of paper. so no, honey -- not distracting in the least...

esperanza said...

Thanks, everyone. She's better today (not uncommon for her to have a night attack). Doctor says start oral steroids. Ah, kathy a, we'd be more successful to go outside and breathe super-humid, warm night air and then come into a/c.

Stale bacon is unacceptable.

JenR said...

We skipped the parades (sorry Sarah) ... I didn't think I could handle the heat, and I'm sure the kids would have been miserable before the first fire truck rolled by. I started hearing "drought" thrown around at the end of the week just as I noticed tree leaves falling and corn fields with curling, dying leaves (the grass all died weeks ago).

Redzils said...

Awards still coming, feel free to keep whining ...

kathy a. said...

oy, drought...

esperanza, i forgot about the a/c and your temps. but i stand by the hot steamy bathroom method. oral steroids tend to work wonders. the pulmologist might be able to recommend preventive measures. sweet might be too young for some of the preventive meds, but i don't know the current state of ped meds. xoxo