So much to talk about
January 20, 2007 by Kristina
I have been busy this past week. Busy. hmmm. Those of you who don’t have toddlers (or haven’t had them in a very long time) might wonder exactly what I mean by that. I don’t have much to show for my week. I haven’t accomplished much. Well, I did do about 3 gazillion loads of laundry, filled and emptied the dishwasher 300 times, washed exactly 75,000 other things in the sink, baked, cooked too many uneaten meals, and chased a naked 2 year old around the house about 900 times a day to put clothes back on her. Oh yes, there’s more. But, it was so mind-numblingly boring that I think I have blocked it out. What really stands out in my mind in how completely, hilariously, exhaustingly frustrating a little 2 year old can be. I turn the light on, she turns it off. I put away something, she takes it back out. I dress her, she undresses. I vacuum, she goes into the closet or refrigerator, takes out food and drops in all over the floor (then screams at the poor dog for eating it). I tell her no, she screams or does it anyway. I say it’s time to eat, she doesn’t want to. I say that snack/breakfast/lunch is over, she wants to eat more. Getting the idea? Busy. Just not productive. Actually, it was counterproductive, if you take into account the fact that all the “stuff” (it’s not really nice enought to be classified as yarn) that I had previously spun became a tangled mess during a particularly frustating attempt at getting her to nap one day. She did eventually nap, but the “stuff” remains in a crumpled, knotted mess. (updated: I just reread this, and it sounds like we had some sort of violent napping episode. In reality, I was downstairs with the “stuff” when she started screaming upstairs. It frazzled me, and things sort of spiralled downward from there.)
So what is my point? It was one heck of a long week. I did not exercise a single day that my husband worked. Instead, I did 5 miles on the gazelle on each of his days off, for a total of 10 miles. Not too bad. Not the 15 that I had in mind, but still good. I am up to a total of 28 miles, leaving a total of 72 to do by April 1st. Barring any unforseen illness, the 100 miles should be easily achieved. Knock on wood…
I also (finally) finished A Tale of Two Cities, which I had been listening to on my MP3 player. I spent a lot of time not liking this book, during some of the dreadfully long and dull chapters. I actually fell asleep a few times, and had to relisten to one chapter 3 times (my MP3 player doesn’t have fast forward, so I had to listen to the entire chapter. As it turns out, I had been falling asleep one minute from the end each time!). Anyway, the last five or six chapters completely make up for all the boring chapters. I cried, I gasped in astonishment, I cried again… it was great. I am definitely glad that I finally have this one under my belt. Next up is Pride and Prejudice!
I am also reading a book called Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing, (borrowed from Kristin). No, I am not an ubermom, and I’m not an ubergeek (I’m a geek, but not an ubergeek), but I was uberworried that my son wasn’t gaining all the reading skills at school that he should be. With some help from Holly Jo, I started working with him a little bit each day, over Christmas break. I have seen an absolutely amazing change in just a couple of weeks. He is actually starting to read! And write! Today he wrote: “Kistini es a pig”. He insisted that I write down the “correct” way to spell it, so he could compare. So I did. He then tried to erase what was wrong. In a moment of pure “mommy-ness” I ripped it out of hands, screaming “no, I want to save that forever”. He then proceeded to write, “Kristina is mean”. He copied the Kristina from the what I had written, and insisted I tell him how to spell “mean”. I am so proud of him…. even if he thinks that I am a pig and that I am mean. ;)
I knit a little, also. Actually, I knit 9 inches of the back of my Ribby Cardi the first two nights of last week. Then, I didn’t touch it for days. I worked on it again tonight, and I have made pretty good progress! I am about halfway through the back decreases. I’d post a picture, but I am feeling uberlazy. I’ll get to that after I actually finish the back. This is a pretty fast knit. I really do dread having to seam it, though. ugh.
And that, folks, is all that I will bore you with (for now)…
I’ve had weeks like that, too. My son was two when my daughter was born and we had quite a few weeks like that, all in a row. It seems like they go through phases when they’re more difficult than others.
Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorite works of fiction. I read it for fun my freshman year of college. I think I’ve read it almost once a year ever since. At the time I found it tough slogging through for about the first 100 pages, but the last bit of it I could hardly put it down. I find that most books written pre-WW I are like that, espeically the Victorian and pre-Victorian Literature. They had more patience, I think, for their stories to develop. The books take time to unfold, but then they have a huge pay-off.
That was funny…actually, uberfunny! And, I guess it sums up the day you had today…
p.s. We had one of those days here today too!
I have a four year old and sometimes still have those types of days. They sure are lucky they are so darn cute.
The one thing that stands out to me is that your son calls you by your first name?!?!?
Ah, yes, so glad I’m childless! –Unless you count my other ‘chids, my ORchids!
I LOVE A Tale of 2 Cities. It’s one of my favorites! The ending is just great. I think, in typical Puritannical English style, it’s supposed to be an allegory for Christ substituting Himself for mankind on the cross. But don’t quote me on that.
Have you read Great Expectations? Don’t read it until you see the 1998 movie remake with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke, Anne Bancroft (THE MRs. Robinson) and Robert DeNiro. It’s a great movie, very sexy, and only THEN was I inspired to read the book.
By the way, stop by Crazy Aunt Purl’s site and give her a shout. She’s decided to eat healthily in an effort to shed some pounds.
cheers.
aw! sorry it was that sort of a week.
ha! at “kristina is mean” ;)
glad to hear your ribby cardi is coming along speedily — I think you’ll get a lot of use out of that one, too. It’s a little more casual than Ariann, but just as wearable. :)
I’m so sorry you had one of those weeks. Two-year olds are certainly a handful. They have to be there with you doing the antithesis of what you are doing. She just learning autonomy. This is what I softly chanted to myself when my eldest was two - I think it is why he alive today. :)
Mean is a great word to teach long vowels with. ;)
sigh, yes, the gleeful laugh as the girl streaks by yelling “NAKIE TIME!!”…
Benjamin was MUCH easier at this age.
Must go get him from school now.