Toy story

I debated about whether to write this post, but decided that what I'm going to talk about is going to be emblazoned on my memory anyway, so I might as well write about it.

Last Saturday, Allie had a birthday party that started at 2:00 p.m. with a trip to Build-A-Bear, then included pizza and a sleepover. Sleepover being a relative term, since she said other girls woke her at 1:00 a.m., so they all ate ice cream. And when Allie got to sleep about 3:00 a.m., someone went around and woke everyone again. Anyway, this story is what happened with me and Julia while Allie was gone.

Late in the afternoon, Julia and I headed up to Madison to do a little shopping, maybe to visit the pet store, and to have dinner together, just the two of us. Greg was hibernating at home, enjoying not have any females around.

The first stop we made was Target. I needed to get some larger spring nightwear for Allie (a fact that was pointed out as we packed for her overnight) and a few other things. One of those things was toilet paper, which I found in a 20-pack and loaded into the cart. After picking up our other items, we headed for the toy section at Julia's urgings. She was riding in the basket of the cart and I indulged her as we traveled up and down nearly every aisle, looking at toys. We talked about things she liked as possibilities for her birthday list, her birthday being only about 3 months away now.

After literally almost 1/2 hour of looking at toys, I told Julia we needed to move on and check out, so we could get some dinner. Julia said no. She said she wanted me to buy her a princess set of some kind. I reminded her that I never said we were going to buy her any toys and reminded her that she had gotten a small toy just the day before, when we bought the gift Allie needed for her birthday party. She refused to leave the aisle, even when I walked away. I walked back and told her we were not going to buy any toys today and that it was time to leave. She wrapped her arms around the princess set and refused to leave the aisle. I walked away again, then told her that if she didn't come with me, our dinner plans were in serious jeopardy. She said no again.

I told Julia again that we were leaving and that now we weren't going out to eat. She whined about her princess set. I said we were now leaving the store and that if she didn't come with me, she was going to be going straight home and straight to bed. She still refused to come with me. I took her by the arm and pulled her over to the cart and she started saying (loudly, needless to say) that I was hurting her. I told her she WAS going to come with me and that I wouldn't hold her if she moved with me. She refused and walked back to the toy aisle.

I walked after her again and pulled her by the arm with me down the center aisle. I tried to pick her up and put her back in the cart and she kicked me. When I had to put her down (she weighs over 40 lbs. now), she ran away from me back toward the toy aisle. She walked back through a good chunk of the store as I abandoned our cart and followed her, threatening most of the way. I picked her up again and held her legs as I carried her back through the store. This is when I started regretting that I really wanted to purchase Allie's nightwear, since I was reluctant to just walk out of the store. In retrospect, I should have just left and gone back alone on Sunday.

Regardless, I eventually had to put her down and I kept hold of either her arm or her shirt as I pulled her through the store to the checkout. She was screaming all the way. Okay, maybe not screaming, but definitely a raised voice, saying I was hurting her and that she wanted to go back to the toy aisle because she didn't remember everything we had picked out. I got in her face and told her I was very disappointed in how she was behaving and that we were definitely leaving and that she was going home and to bed.

We got to the checkout and I heard someone behind me say, "This is why we're not having kids." I paid for our purchases and Julia trailed behind me, way behind me, as I took the cart back. I grabbed our one bag and the damned toilet paper pack and told her to get her coat on (it was maybe 50 degrees out and raining a little). She said no. I had to chase her to grab her arm and I told her fine, then she was going outside without her coat. I pulled her outside and when she screamed for her coat, I let go and tried to get her to put it on. She was still crying about not leaving yet, so I pulled her to the car, which thankfully was not too far away and made her get in. She started kicking and flailing at me as I tried to buckle her seatbelt and she knocked my glasses right off my face.

I had been angry before, needless to say, but that was it. I started crying and I told her that I couldn't believe how she was acting. She didn't say anything, but she stopped hitting me and I buckled her in. I got in the car and almost hit another car backing out because I was still crying. We started the 25-minute car ride home and I told her that I didn't want to talk to her at all because she had been so naughty. She started talking to herself, saying that she was a bad girl and had done really horrible things. I finally told her she wasn't a bad girl, but that she had done some very naughty things. She asked what was going to happen, if we were going to eat, and I told her we were going home.

When we got home, Greg took over, putting her in her room and telling her she wasn't getting any dinner. It was about 6:00 p.m. I didn't feel like talking to her at all or even looking at her. After about an hour, Greg let her out to eat just a peanut butter sandwich, then she went back in her room and eventually to bed. The next day, she didn't get to watch any TV or play with any of her neighborhood friends.

She says she's learned her lesson. I told her I don't think I'm ever going to take her into a toy store or toy section again. Greg and I talked about whether I should have spanked her, something I've never done, but I don't think it would have helped. She was wild. She wasn't listening to anything I said at all.

I've never had such a miserable episode with either of my kids before. And I hope to never again. Just thinking about it again makes me teary since I was so disappointed in how she acted. Julia is 5, almost 6, and she acted like she was 2. I'm just praying this isn't a new trend in our lives with her.

Summer in spring

The girls have been off school an awful lot lately. They had their week of spring break, then another day off for Easter, then Julia was off two days because of next year's kindergarteners, then they were off this Thursday afternoon and Friday for some dumb reason. And we compounded the situation by taking them out of school to take them to the Kalahari indoor water park. All in all, it's amazing that they're learning anything at all lately.

And they are learning. Allie is tackling some cool stuff in math--geometry, division, multiplication, even some basic algebra (though they don't call it that). She's also doing some bizarre and complicated words in spelling, including "miscellaneous," "accommodate," and "quadriceps." How many adults know how to spell miscellaneous? We all know we just abbreviate it. Meanwhile, Julia is plowing ahead with her sight reading words and she now likes to sit next to me while I read something and tell me the words she knows on the page.

And wonder of wonders. Last night, Julia found the book she checked out last October from the school library that had immediately gone missing into the miasma that is our household. We started getting late notices in November and the school hasn't allowed her to check out any additional books because they didn't get "Angelina in the Wings" back. I was seriously going to just pay the school for the book so she could have full library privileges again.

Yesterday, the girls played outside for a good chunk of the day and the temperature was over 80 degrees. Julia wanted to get out the swimming pool. I successfully restrained her. It is still just April, after all.

Spring

We were away for the weekend, celebrating a late Easter with my family. My sister Pam hosted the annual Easter Egg Hunt, which needless to say my girls love more than any Easter Egg Hunt ever devised because they only compete against each other. This year, Allie found 44 eggs full of candy and coins and Julia found 46.

The hunt took place after Pam's kitchen just about exploded from the pressure of all of the food that she and Jeff (and my parents too) prepared. I won't list it all; suffice it to say that the menu for the noon meal alone ran to about 20 items. I think she's trying to kill us all. Not that she was standing there with a firearm forcing us to eat to excess but hey, somehow we all did anyway.

Even the weather cooperated. The lakeshore of Wisconsin can be a chilly place at any time of the year but somehow the weather stayed warm enough that the girls just ran around in spring coats to find their eggs. We have photos of numerous years of egg hunts when they wore winter coats and boots because of all the snow in Pam's yard.

Ah, spring.

Julia's day

This morning, Julia and me took Allie to school and Julia didn't say nyah-nyah about having a day off with her mom.

We went to the library in late morning and Julia played for half an hour on a library computer--various educational games including one where she manipulated a skeleton and its body organs. Then we went to McDonald's and because the weather was so beautiful, she got to play in the outside playland for almost an hour.

Afterwards, we went to the other side of town and walked the Yahara River Trail for about an hour. There were only people around right at the beginning of the trail, but we saw plenty of birds further in, including a very wary goose. There were a large number of tadpoles in the creek, fish in several places, a snake (which Julia was not interested in sticking around to watch further), and a whole bunch of turtles. Seriously, a really large number of turtles, sunning themselves on every log on the other side of the river tributary.

I probably wouldn't have even noticed them but for the fact that a whole mess of them plopped into the water at the same time. It happened in waves, just like turtle synchronized swimming. Bizarre and interesting.

Then we stopped off at a friend's house and Julia played with the kids there for about 1/2 hour. She was whipped by the time we got home; just in time for her sister to walk in from school. Poor Allie--tomorrow she's going to miss baking!

Back to normal

Or as normal as it gets around here . . .

On Monday, after a successful visit to Allie's classroom, me and the Hughes family spent a few minutes chatting with Julia's teacher while Amy and Evan explored Julia's classroom (unfortunately, she had had to go off to gym class). A short while later, we headed off to Chicago and the whole lot of Hugheses headed back to merry old England.

The trip to and from the airport went very smoothly for me despite persistent rain and I understand from Dan that their kids were pretty darn good on the long trip home. The family seems to have all recovered nicely from the brutal west-to-east time change since, per Dan's blog.

And so our family has returned to its normal routines. It's odd, we seem to have so much room in our refrigerator now, and not just because we're not cooling down numerous 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke. Allie and Julia talk about missing their short-term live-in playmates, but I think they'd secretly admit that they're OK with not having to share their toys with anyone other than each other again. Though they definitely miss the iPhones and their games.

Tomorrow and Friday, Julia is off of school because next year's kindergarteners are visiting her classroom. Allie still has to go though. I'll have to counsel Julia not to yell nyah-nyah out the window as we drop her sister off.

Day 11 of 12

Well, the Hughes family is almost done with us. Tomorrow afternoon, I take the lot of them back to O'Hare and they fly back to England, probably never to darken our door again. Actually, that part is true; when next we meet their family, I'm thinking it'll be at a vacation destination (like Orlando) or we'll be headed to their part of the world again.

On Friday, our families did a nature walk and the kids got in some additional playground time. There was also a lake, into which both Hughes children managed to dip their shoes. Actually, Amy fell in when she lost her balance on the rock she was standing on. She wasn't hurt and she only got wet up to just above her ankles, but I figure the water temperature of Lake Kegonsa at this time of year is probably about 45 degrees. She didn't even complain--tough kid.

Yesterday, we went shopping again and had lunch at what we thought was a curiously empty Applebees, until we got our food and experienced lackadasial service, which made us understand why it was curiously empty. Then we checked out the zoo and straggled home, tired after another busy afternoon.

This afternoon, the Hughes are off having Easter dinner with some other web friends, so our house is strangely quiet. The Easter Bunny visited this morning and brought new toys and only a little chocolate (compliments of Dan and Kerry), so our kids aren't too hopped up on sugar.

Yet to come is a visit by the Hughes to Allie's classroom. I hope they don't feel too much on display as they answer goodness-only-knows what questions from a group of 9-year-olds. I wish them luck!

Day 8 of 12

We've been doing our level best to wear out the Hughes family in the last few days. Our task has been made easier by the fact that Amy and Evan have been having some trouble sleeping, which unfortunately means that Dan and Kerry have been having trouble sleeping.

From the perspective of our having 9 and 5 year old children who are sleeping in their own beds and who therefore seldom wake us up at night anymore, we have sincere sympathy for the Hughes family.

Tuesday, we took our girls out of school for the day and the group of us headed off to the world's largest indoor water park, Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Needless to say, we were all exhausted after spending (count 'em) 7 1/2 hours enjoying their attractions.

Yesterday, the Hughes and I went to a nearby McDonald's indoor play land in the morning (Such excitement, huh? Well, their kids liked it!). After they made me a wonderful lunch at home, Greg took them off to an area dairy farm that offers tours. I'll let Dan or Greg tell you about that trip, or you can see the pictures when they are posted.

Then last night a friend of ours who has a business renting jumpies (or bouncy houses, as I have learned they're called in the U.K.) asked us all to come over and try out their brand new acquisitions. Which, needless to say, Kerry, Evan, Amy, Allie, Julia and I were happy to do. And yes, Kerry and I did get inside and jump around. It was a lot of fun.

Today, our girls went to school and the rest of us went off to Milwaukee, to the Milwaukee Public Museum and then to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. On the way back, Kerry and I did some quick shopping at the Johnson Creek Outlet Mall, and yes, Jeanette, Kerry found your Crocs.

We have more activities planned tomorrow. Our time together is going very quickly now, but we're having a really good time. At least my family is. And I think the Hughes family is. Hughes family, you are, aren't you?

Day 5 of 12

Well, we've made it through Day number 5 of the Englishpeople's visit. Or should that be something like Britishers? Or U.K.ites?

Our kids went back to school today and the Hughes and I hung around the house this morning before going on an outing this afternoon. Actually, that's not at all true. Kerry, Amy, Evan and I hung around the house and Dan went wandering through our town for over two hours. Our city's population is about 12,500, so I think by now Dan has probably met everyone.

At lunchtime, we scooped up my husband and drove to Madison, where Dan and Greg each sweated buckets after they tried the hottest of hot wings at Quaker Steak and Lube. Men.

Then we did a little shopping before heading home. Amy and Evan got some time in at the park across the street from our house with their daddy, then they ran wild at an indoor playground at the mall. It was only in the high 30s for most of the day, which means what in Celsius--maybe 2 or something? It was also windy, so it felt really cold.

Tomorrow it's supposed to warm up slightly, then Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be better, about 12 Celsius or about 50 degrees. Still not too warm, but at least the kids may be able to go about without mittens.

In other news, both sets of children are quickly picking up words and intonations from each other. That's a benefit of cross-cultural visits, new language for the rest of their lifetimes. Of course, it's English and English, but still.

It's a blog war!

I know that I can't be as amusing as Dan in writing about our weekend activities, so I'll just wimp out and link to him instead.

And if Dan thought yesterday's activities were exciting, wait until we get to later today! The snow seems to be holding off so far (though the weather gurus are still projecting up to 5 inches), so our tentative plans for today include bowling.

How much more Wisconsin can you get than that. After all, until very recently we had the some kind of Bowling Hall of Fame in our glorious state. The news article I vaguely remember said they were moving because Wisconsin didn't offer enough tax breaks. So I guess my tax dollars aren't supporting bowling. How un-Wisconsinlike.

Day 3 of 12

The Hughes have arrived, en masse, and are currently occupying our finished basement. I don't think Amy had even seen as many pink toys as we own, outside of a toy store, so she was quite dazzled. Evan is young enough that he doesn't mind that most of our toys are pink, so he seems to be having fun too.

The kids are getting along quite well and Greg and I haven't found Dan or Kerry to be irritating yet. Of course, it's only the beginning of day 3. Stay tuned.

In actuality, the visit of our English friends is going quite smoothly so far and we've very pleased that they're here. Particularly since there's a winter storm coming later today and we could get as much as 7 inches of snow. Dan says he has never run a snowblower.

Oh, boy! He's very likely going to get the chance this weekend. The wonders of Wisconsin weather in the spring.

Brownies

That's what we ended up baking yesterday, after I did some cleaning. Today, I just need to finish the three bathrooms and yell at the girls until the living room is picked up and I think we're pretty much ready for the visit of the Hughes family tomorrow.

I hope they appreciate the new paint. Dang project took me almost four days and it was all for their benefit. Just theirs. Sheesh.

Other projects on the list for today--visits to the bank, post office, St. Vincent de Paul, library, laundromat (to wash some big comforters), grocery store and gas station. Goodness, I'd better get moving!