At least the antioxidants will protect him...

Conner came home from preschool on Tuesday with his thick, blond hair stuck to his forehead. His arms were covered in a glaze of purple and his shirt and pants weren't spared.

Apparently, they had grape juice that day. And boy, was he thirsty when he got home.

I'll Take an Apple Juice, Heavy on the Liquor

Last Thursday was a one-hour test run for Preschool. I'm not sure if it was for the children or the parents, but either way it only lasted an hour.

While in the pick-up line, waiting anxiously for our children, one mom in front of me began a conversation with a mom behind me (might I excuse myself from your sandwich? thanks.)
"Are you ok?" she sniffled. "I was a mess. I looked for you earlier but I was really distracted. (Child's name) was so great. She went right on in without a tear!"

The other mom chuckled, switching her car keys from one hand-on-hip position to the other. "No...(chuckle)... I'm fine! I was sooo ready for this! I thought I wasn't last year but now I'm wondering why I waited so long!! I needed preschool!"

They laughed and began talking about some walking track and a car wash. I tuned out and veered my stroller out of their conversation.

And I thought to myself, I'm not either of those feelings. I'm not boo-hoo-ing uncontrollably at the classroom drop-off, rocking in the fetal position in a dark corner of the bathroom right next door but I'm also not throwing a thank-you-for-this-moment-of-freedom pass-me-a-margarita-and-some-menopause party either.

I'm sad that Conner is growing up. I'm happy he's getting quality peer time in a structured and loving environment. I miss him helping me with laundry and dishes most mornings. I'm a bit ellated that I don't find partially melted dinosaurs in my dryer and rocks in my dishwasher after he's "helped". I think I am going to actually enjoy and take advantage of getting stuff DONE so that my free time when he IS home the other 3 days a week is WITH HIM and not my to-do list.

Yes, I'm also upset that I don't know exactly what he's doing and if he's said something new and hilarious or whether he's picked apple or grape juice that day. But, I've got to suck it up and except my new reality. It's good for all of us.

And although I can't be there to hold his hand or make sure he doesn't pee on the floor, I know if I coax him just right, I'll be able to decipher what he's learned that day.

That he sang his ABC's.

That he colored with "brown and yellow".

That he picked "apple ju-juice".

Sigh. And I might just tear up writing this and try to prep myself for Chase's turn. After that, I guess you can sign me up for one of those menopause parties....

Tropical Storm Fay

It's 10:12 pm on Saturday and boy, is it wet around here. My handy WeatherBug iPhone App tells me that just today (i.e. -since midnight this morning), Montgomery has received 3.5 inches of rain. It started raining before midnight, so I'll chalk that up to 4 inches. And to boot, it's still raining (hard)! (Could see 4.25 by the nights end)

Icing on the soggy cake - 33 mph sustained winds with 50 mph gusts so far. The handy Weatherbug tells me that the winds should get "gustier" as the night progresses.

I'm a little cabin feverish, so as you can imagine The Monkey and his trusty sidekick Bam Bam are uncontrollably loosing their minds. Since we should be seeing two WHOLE days of rain ahead, I forsee lots of coloring. Or timeouts. Whichever comes first.

One Too Many

Me: I'm going to meet your teacher now. I love you and I'll be back in just a little while.

Con: I go wit you.

Me: I'm sorry sweetie. You can't go this time but you will get to see her and your new school on Thursday.

Con:....

Me: Do you know how many days away Thursday is?

Con: 2, 3, 5??!!

Me: Well, it's 2.

Con: Dats 1 too many!

WHAT DID HE JUST SAY? Hahaha!

Picture Update

Fun with daddy! Then last night, Mommy fed me some blue coconut slushie from Sonic. Oh boy, was it good!




Conner also picked out the fire truck at Wal-Mart to ride with his two quarters.
And lastly, I leave you with the 15 frogs we caught. We do this nightly now, and our neighbors think we are freaks. They're right. I probably should have led with that, right?

So Cal

I think I might actually watch the new 90210 (Sept 2 on the CW).

What do you think?

Care for a smoke and a curse word?

Although I'm eternally grateful to good ole Walt for Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Daisy, tonight he's on my poop list.

After watching 101 Dalmations twice in the past 24 hours (which was all Conner's doing, btw), Conner has picked up the phrase "shut up!" from Ms. Cruella de Ville.

Arg!

I'm no saint, but I do try to avoid bad words and phrases in front of Con and have been doing really well, progressively getting better, over the past year.

It gets worse.

The two crooks in the movie smoke at one point, to which Conner asked, of course "What's that?". Sigh. Then, attempted to "fake smoke" and blow heavily.

So, Mr. Disney and your wonderful land of dreams... today you can shove it.

How's that for sweet?