August 12, 2008 by Barbara.

Ken called Tuesday morning, just as Reid and I were having a friendly disagreement over what she would be wearing to day care. I had committed the unpardonable sin of not washing her FAVOURITE yellow dress that has daisies all over it -  the one that got muddy when I inadvertently knocked Reid down into a puddle last Thursday when it was raining so hard - and I was oppressing her by refusing to allow her to wear the clothes that she wore yesterday (also unwashed). To make matters worse, I’d been unable to conjure up a matching pair of pants to a t-shirt. Reid was sure the pants existed and I was equally (and correctly) sure that they didn’t, not that Reid would put our positions to the test by accompanying me to her dresser to look. So anyway, right about this time, Ken called.

Never have I needed to hear his voice more! I was stumped and didn’t know what to try next. I suppose I could force clothes onto Reid’s body but it wouldn’t be easy and I doubt that the clothes would stay put for long. And, really, I was looking to get past the argument more than to demonstrate my (questionably) superior strength. I hoped Ken’s call would break Reid out of her troubles but wasn’t that lucky. I took the phone downstairs and talked to Ken, all the while Reid screamed and cried. She quieted down at one point and so I invited her to come to the phone and she started yelling again.

After 15 minutes of talking with me, Ken asked, “Is she going to talk to me or what?” He couldn’t hear Reid yelling or even that she had once again quieted down. I ran upstairs to ask and she said she wanted to talk upstairs. Back down I ran for the phone and then I held it to Reid’s ear so that she could hear Ken speaking to her but even his voice didn’t bring her around fully. When I told Ken that Reid was having a grumpy morning, she broke her silence to say, “I’m not grumpy. I have a headache. Screaming gave me a headache.” I grinned because, there is a bit of justice in this world after all if she gave *herself* a headache with all of that yelling. Ken gave her a long-distance Daddy kiss to help with the headache and we hung up the phone.

Reid went to her dresser, took all of her pants out and stated, as though I doubted it, that she didn’t have pants with writing on them. She chose, instead, some heavy fleece pants with multi-coloured flowers printed on them and a denim vest. It was one on those mornings when a “I chose my own clothes” sticker would have been welcome. I was too happy to have Reid dressed and happy to worry about the outfit, though. I take my victories where I find them.

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August 11, 2008 by Barbara.

Reid declared herself too lazy to get out of bed this morning. She wasn’t troubled or regretful in the least. In fact, she seemed content with the state of affairs. She was too lazy to get up and so would be missing day care. Oh, well. I was much less laissé-faire about the matter and insisted she get up.

I suppose that I have to take some of the blame since I was the one who insisted we have a “lazy day” yesterday. It took a bit of convincing for Reid to agree that it would be a good thing to do nothing that required us to get dressed all day. I was doing my homework when Reid woke up and she wanted to do homework, too. She joined me on the floor and I realized what bad posture and habit I have in slouching on the floor to work when I saw her mimicing me. I got Reid’s desk from her room and moved my things to the desk where our computer sits and we did more work until my tummy demanded food more loudly than Reid protested when I said we should take a break for breakfast.

On the way downstairs, Reid asked for pancakes. Since pancakes seemed to be a good lazy day breakfast, I agreed. Of course we had no eggs and we needed to go to the store to get some. I needed to get dressed before we went to the store; Reid decided she’d put on clothes, too, and so our pajama day didn’t last very long. We got eggs and some school shoes for Reid from Zellers and went home to make what could only be called brunch by then.

We read many books, watched a bit of the Olympics and some kids shows and even did some more homework. I pulled the worst of the weeds in the vegetable garden and Reid harvested 7-8 cherry tomatoes. I’m not sure since there was never any question of sharing any with me. I picked some rhubarb for cake. Our most ambitious undertakings were to bake a rhubarb cake and cook curry and rice for supper. I was wishing there was curry in the freezer to reheat but that would have been a bit decadent I guess.

I could understand why Reid wanted today to be another lazy day. It was lovely to have a do-nothing day. But I’m not willing to give up our museum trips, special events and travelling altogether.

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August 10, 2008 by Barbara.

I am more than familiar with more than a few types of technology, you might even say that I am a gadget addict but I have to say that I haven’t given the telephone the respect it deserves. Last Thursday, Ken called unexpectedly while Reid and I were eating breakfast. Hearing his voice live brought such joy and excitement! We exchange emails most days, Reid and I have made and posted some videos and we’ve traded digital pics but none of these “new” technologies brought the immediacy and intimacy of the phone call. I’m feeling well disposed toward Alexander Graham Bell (and the inventors/developers of the satellites, fibre-optic cables and the other technologies that were required). I can only imagine thrilling it was like to receive your first phone call but I can imagine a bit more clearly than before.

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August 9, 2008 by Barbara.

Reid has worn her glasses all day, each day since we picked them up on Tuesday. The teachers have been impressed. She takes them off in the car on the way home to day care but puts them back on.

On Thursday night it rained and Reid took her glasses off when we got back to the car from the grocery store, she didn’t want them back on. I’d called Melissa to tell her that Reid would be wearing her glasses to be sure that the kids didn’t react with anything less than enthusiasm. Reid had an attack of shyness, though, and wouldn’t put her glasses on to show them. After supper, she wanted something from Sarah and I recommended that Sarah agree on the condition that Reid put her glasses on. Sarah grinned at my trickiness and asked to see Reid’s glasses. They all said that Reid looked cute - which is true - and Reid was proud of herself.

I forgot Reid’s glasses at home Saturday morning. We’d finished breakfast at Eddie’s and were rushing to the Puppets Up festival in Almonte before we realized the glasses were missing. I suggested that we might skip picking them up and have time to watch an extra play but Reid was committed to her glasses. I zoomed home to get them and Reid showed them proudly to Aunty Amanda. I don’t know if Reid could see the puppets more easily but it’s good to know that her glasses don’t bother her.

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August 5, 2008 by Barbara.

Reid has just started her first lesson of the session. She  didn’t protest when it was time to shower and has had a big smile on her face since we got to the pool. There are 4 kids in her class: 2 other girls and a boy. All of the girls require assistance jumping in but Reid is sooo close to doing it by herself. The teacher didn’t introduce the kids to each other. I caught a couple of their names but the one girl must have an “exotic” name because the teacher couldn’t read it aloud and the girl spoke too softly when asked to say it.

I haven’t managed to get groceries yet this week (other than tuna, peppers, carrots and a box of cheese and macaroni) and there doesn’t seem to be much sense now. We had lots for supper yesterday but my cupboard was kind of bare when I tried to make Reid’s supper. I brought soup in a thermos for me and will have to buy a second thermos for Reid. She would have eaten soup, I imagine. Instead she had some carrots and Craisins that I’d packed and a hot dog from Harvey’s and I ate a few onion rings. I threw most of them away, though. (I haven’t been making the best food choices lately but throwing some away seemed like a good idea.) Reid wasn’t willing to try them and that is probably a good thing.

Reid asked to go to the library as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. It made me realize how long it has been since we’ve been there. I haven’t gone at lunch since I started French training and it’s been at least a month since I went at any time. It’ll be good to get back in the habit. We’re in a bit of a rut in terms of what books we’re reading at home and library books are good for their novelty even if not for their plots.  And sometimes the plots are good! I miss reading Denise Fleming but Reid doesn’t seem to enjoy them as much. Or maybe she just prefers the chapter books because they help to delay bedtime. I’ll look for a couple and try them as before-day care and waiting-for-supper books.

This week has seemed more of a challenge than last week. I’m not sure what is different exactly - perhaps the long weekend away was more tiring or maybe it’s the lack of adrenaline (since I’m not rushing to buy Reid’s flower girl basket and prepare for a weekend away). There is nothing wrong, exactly, it’s more like how walking in sand is more difficult than walking on a sidewalk. The no-plans weekend that I have planned will be a welcome break and there will be many events to choose from if we decide we want to leave the house. Leo and Clio will appreciate a weekend with us in the house, at their disposal for petting. The garden will be very grateful for any attention we can give it. There are tomatoes that, from the kitchen window at least, seem to be ready to pick and rhubarb that is just begging to be made into a pie. Who knows what else is lurking back there?

Update: Reid jumped into the deep end unassisted, while wearing a life jacket. She wouldn’t repeat the feat in the shallow end once the life jacket was removed. Also, we signed out 50 books (only 2 for me) from the library. We have much reading ahead of us, eh? Now to avoid late fees…

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August 5, 2008 by Barbara.

I tried to get a video but Reid wasn’t in the mood. Here are a couple of pics from Lenscrafters:

Thank goodness I was able to convince Reid that she didn’t need to keep her nose crinkled like this all of the time she has glasses on.

There were four more mirrors between this one and the front door. Reid checked her reflection in each. Based on the smile on her face, she liked what she saw.

It’s not too easy to see Reid’s glasses. They tried to sell me bright red plastic frames. I bet you could have seen them easily! They would have been cute for a while but then it would have been “oh, you’re wearing red glasses again today”. The frames are metal with a light purple tint to them. It’s subtle, though. We were only presented with the ones we got and the red ones because she needed such strong lenses, only the smallest frames would do.

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