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Stroke of Genius

I never think of parenting as one of my greatest skills - it's something I have to constantly work on, but this week I had a stroke of parenting genius.

Adam and I have been thinking that Little A's beloved "Pink Bear", the stuffy that goes EVERYWHERE with her, may be responsible for her frequent illnesses. After all, our little pigpen has a knack for finding mess, filth and grime where ever she goes, and she drags Pink Bear with her and then brings him home and sleeps with him every night. We can only wrestle bear away from her so often for "a bath".


My first instinct was to forbid her from bringing him to daycare, however, when I tried to implement this rule last week it led to tears and much drama.

Given our other problem of trying to get Little A back to napping, I suddenly came up with a better use of her attachment to this object: a new rule whereby bear can only go to daycare if she takes a real nap every day! Guess what? She's napped every day this week and evenings are SO MUCH EASIER!! (I'm taking a bow right now, humbly acknowledging my brilliance as you all applaud loudly). Admittedly, we still have the issue of Pink Bear being a germ factory, but perhaps if Little A starts getting the extra rest she so desperately needs, her immune system will be able to fight things off better.

I am particulary relieved that we found a solution to the nap issue NOW since Adam starts travelling to Ottawa regularly next week to begin research for his next book. I'm going to be a single parent a lot over the next few months and ANYTHING that can make things go more smoothly is critical for me!

Here are also a few funny things my kids said/did this week:

Big A and I were cooking in the kitchen:
Big A: What is that mommy?
Me: Olive oil.
Big A: Ohhh...mommy, did you know that oil is a miracle? (clearly this kid has spent too much time in Hebrew school!).

On the way home from daycare:
Little A: Mommy I want a snack please.
Me: Blueberries, grapes or raisins?
Little A: Mommy, I want raisins, capiche?
Me: Did you just say capiche?
Little A: Yep.
(Okay, I know she's picked up some Spanish from watching Dora, but where the heck is she getting the Italian from?)

And one evening this week we were playing in the living room when one of the cushions on one of the couches began sliding off. Suddenly Big A and I noticed that (along with the raisins and Cheerios hiding under there, unquestionably dropped there by Little A), all the money from the girls' play cash register was stashed there. (It seems that Little A has been reading the business section recently and decided this was the best place to invest their money?).

Have a happy weekend!

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