I think I had a pretty good parenting day today. The phone situation with Robin is getting to a boiling point because she has retreated so far into it that she won’t go out with friends or even come out of her room, where she closes her blackout blinds and literally lives in darkness. I won’t tolerate it and I won’t give extra time for any reason, which made her extremely angry. She sulked through food shopping without a word, even when asked direct questions. Finally I compromised and told her she could have the time on two conditions: She could only use it to find drawings to copy, and she had to draw outside, with me, in sunlight. She actually agreed and even smiled. She perked up almost immediately. And then we made pretzel animals, which she also loved and came out of her room for. Those were Christina’s favorite parts of the day, and mine too. I keep hearing in my head that no matter how hard it gets, I have to stick to my guns with the phone limits and working Robin out of her personal cavern. I feel like her life depends on it. And it IS hard. I just want to see her smile. Limiting phone time and pushing her out of her comfort zone doesn’t do that. But I think it will do it in the (maybe very) long term. Anyway, I’m glad we had a good day.
Tag: christina
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April 13
Christina had a dance competition and did pretty well. Her production dance is amazing and got a couple shout-outs on stage from other performers. It won first place and a golden egg, which really looks a lot more like a chicken than an egg. She said it was a duck… either way, not an egg, but a nice nod from the judges nonetheless. I love how much Christina loves it.
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April 6
Did a lot for a day with no plans. The highlight for me was doing some sewing on my advent calendar, now in its third year of progress. For the kids it was making collages. When did magazines get so expensive? I bought two and it came to more than $30. I might as well buy actual books. But they had a ball. It was worth it.
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March 29
It was a light day at work and a gorgeous day outside, so we took the dogs for a walk. It was probably the highlight of my day.
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March 21
Not gonna lie, I am tired. Painting is taking FOREVER. I thought I’d be done on Tuesday. Tomorrow is Friday and I still have another coat to do. I don’t think my room is getting painted this week. But Robin’s room is 90% done and it looks AWESOME. We just need to hang her curtains and some art on the walls and then it’s done. Christina’s room will be at about the same point tomorrow too. We MIGHT finish by Saturday, which leaves me Sunday to watch some college basketball. If we get these rooms done this week, I will say we won spring break this year. Can’t wait to post some pics.
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March 19
I forgot what hard work it is to paint a room. It’s not just the physical act of painting that’s hard, but also the challenge of teamwork. While home improvement was part of my motivation this week, what I wanted more than that was time with my children, doing something together that we could all be proud of and enjoy. I hope my children appreciate it. Not me – but the hard work. It belongs to all of us, and we’ll all enjoy the reward too. Eventually. I’m going to have to step up my game if we’re going to get this done in a week. It’s on.
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February 29
Today I: Prepared and took the kids to school, wrote the tenth page of my novel, worked, picked Christina up from school, later returned to pick Robin up from school, made dinner, did four loads of laundry, including folding and putting it away, and refilled my medicine trays. Today was an easy day because I didn’t also have to take Christina to dance class or drive anyone home from cheer. I don’t mind doing this stuff, but there is a definite lack of time for myself in all of this. I get so excited about and caught up in what my kids are doing that I sign them up for everything and forget that I then have to take them to said activities. I am going to have to be choosier next year and try to remember that my needs count too. Cheer ends in April (they got a bid to the world championships!) and dance in early June, and then we reset. I’m so buried in other people’s schedules that I don’t even know what I’d do for myself with the opportunity. It’d be nice to have that problem for a change.
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February 16
We are here in Atlanta for Cheersport, which is apparently the biggest cheerleading event on Earth. I’m excited about everything except waking up at 4:45am.
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February 4
Christina’s first dance competition was a success! Her production dance got first place in their division, and her other two dances got third and fourth. Two of her pieces also scored platinum, which is the highest score you can get. I don’t actually know what her dances looked like because I was so focused on her, but I was impressed with how far she’s come since last year. I could tell she had a ton of fun, and that’s what it’s all about.
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January 28
Robin and her team kicked butt at their competition. They looked absolutely amazing. For some reason they didn’t place as high as we expected – they got 6th out of 8. But they came out smiling and should be proud. The competition was really tough and they held their own. The afternoon was hectic, though, since awards were at 3 and tire shops closed at 5. First place I tried didn’t have any staff availability, second place didn’t have the size I needed. We just made it to the third place before they closed and luckily they were able to do it. I was really worried we’d have to stay another night. Then Olive Garden for dinner to celebrate and home by 8. Crazy weekend all around, but definitely could have been a lot worse, and the kids were amazing through it all.
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January 19
Some Squishmallows were unintentionally cut out of this shot, but trust they were present at the time of shooting. They joined us on morning car line because Robin took Christina’s bouncy ball and wouldn’t give it back. Sometimes you make trade-offs.
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January 2
This little girl got another year bigger today. Ten years ago she shot out of my body like a bullet and she has been a blast ever since. No regrets!
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January 1
I usually go hiking on New Year’s Day, but this year Billy suggested disc golf. We did great through six holes until Christina learned there are EIGHTEEN holes. She instantly lost interest. We followed this one family through 15 holes and were about to start the 16th after them when this group of eight obvious disc golf enthusiasts with their frisbee carts and visors cut in front of us and told us to go to an alternate hole. Is this standard disc golf etiquette? I hope not. I was angry. But since Christina was done anyway, we decided to go out for ice cream instead of picking a fight and forcing our way through the last three holes. It was the right choice.
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December 28
The girls are giving themselves facials, and loving it. Also today: wrapped up last week’s photo shoot, finished proofreading my website, created and ordered next year’s photo calendar (had 407 nice photos this year as opposed to 50 last year; photo a day project for the win!), organized my craft supplies, and cleaned up my office. Oh, and I built a Lego snowman. I have no idea what I am going to do with the rest of my life.
Year in Photos 