I say this for many reasons but a prime example is when I went to register Iris at her new preschool this past week where she threw a huge temper tantrum. She sat quietly at the little kids table in the middle of the office and played with the puzzles while I filled out the paperwork. She was behaving like an angel. Then, when I was done, I helped her put the puzzle back together so we did not leave a mess and went to pick her up to leave. When I did, she screamed---and I mean screamed at the top of her lungs. She then grabbed the puzzle and threw it across the office with pieces going everywhere. I say puzzle but this was one of those wooden type puzzles and it was a clock so the pieces were wooden blocks that were quite large. Three women came out of their offices to see what had happened. All I could think to was that I was sorry and she really enjoyed their puzzle. The Head of Admissions then walked out of her office and introduced herself. I had to introduce Iris as she was still crying and flailing around as I was crawling around on my hands and knees picking up puzzle pieces. I was mortified. Iris was happy again now that she had her puzzle back and I spoke to the lady for a minute. Then I warned the lady that I was going to grab Iris and just run out the door because she was going to scream again as soon as I picked her up. Fortunately she was very nice and said she understood. So we did it. I picked up Iris and walked as fast as I could out the door while she screamed and kicked. Thank goodness I had signed the contract and wrote the check before she showed herself. Otherwise, they may have kindly rescinded her spot in next years class.
So as you can see, Iris is a handful. Therefore, instead of writing about milestones Iris has achieved this month, I thought it was a good time to write about lessons I have learned from raising Iris.
Lessons learned:
1. Stickers are hard to remove from hardwood floors, particularly foam stickers.
2. Strawberry Banana V-8 Fusion may have a full serving of vegetables and fruit but those health benefits do not outweigh the labor involved in removing the red stain it produces on a seagrass rug.
3. No matter what the "experts" say never teach your child sign langauge because it's hard enough to say "no" to a cute little face looking up at you saying "more, more" over and over again but once they start also signing the word "more" it's so darn cute you'll give them whatever they want.
4. Do not take a toddlers diaper off and tell them to get in the tub if an inflatable pool full of balls is in close proximity. They will bypass the tub, jump straight into the pool, and pee. Then you will have to wash not only a toddler but also an inflatable pool and 100 plastic balls.
5. In February buy a years supply of the little sweetheart candy boxes. They will get you through an mundane errand that you must do with a toddler in tow.
6. Teaching a toddler how to push the garage door button may be helpful to you when you are carrying them plus and load of groceries but be advised that they will consider this their official "job" and you will never be allowed to touch that button in their presence again.
7. If you are Catholic and your church does not have a nursery like most other churches, just use that hour to quietly pray for your sanity because you will never hear a word the priest says anyway.
as you can see he gets very excited. Iris looked on from her safe spot on the couch so she wouldn't get stepped on by all the big kids and started collecting her favorite thing--"boons."
and Valentine's Day would not be complete without heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner!
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