Double Dipping

Whoa! Tonight you guys get two servings of vitamin me! Nablo ends in 2 days (yay) and I suppose this is my way of trying to go out with a bang! Because truly, my na-novel died a really slooooow, mildly painful death. I did make it to about 6,000 words. Well, there's always next year, right? A. will be in school by then so maybe I will do better. Maybe I'll make it to 10,000. Somehow it's easier to come up with a blog topic every day than to fabricate 50,000 words which only barely have to connect and make sense.

But that is not the reason I'm writing. I'm writing because I've just had a moment. One of those rare moments when your kid is not doing what they're supposed to (like sleep), but what they tell you is so adorable that you just have to humor them. And then when it's all done you're still smiling as you store it in that corner of your memory where you save such rare moments so you can call on them later when your kid is driving you bonkers.

S. was supposed to be in bed. But she's becoming quite adept at making up excuses for why she's not in bed. Usually it's a stomach ache. Every night. At bedtime. Whether that is 8:30 pm or 9:30 pm. Tummy ache at bedtime like clockwork. So she comes out, patting her tummy.

Me: why aren't you in bed? You're supposed to be in bed…

S: (mumbling) my belly hurt.

Me: you're stomach hurts? Do you want water?

(somehow, this always fixes a stomach ache. A little bit of water in their plastic green cup and they walk back to bed smiling. I think A. was the one who decided that water was the appropriate salve for a belly ache. Strange.)

S: no. my belly hurt. You sing happy song.

Me: you want me to sing a happy song?

S: (looks down at the floor and nods)

Me: (thinking, "what the hell kind of happy song makes a stomach ache go away?" I finally came up with If you're Happy And You Know It, since it was the happy song most recently performed.) Do you want to sing "if you're happy and you know it"?

S: (smiles) yeah.

So we sing the first verse of "if you're happy blah blah blah hands", clapping our hands in the obligatory spots, of course.

Once we finish I ask S. if she feels better. She begins to look sullen again (where do they learn this crap?!)

S: no. My belly still hurt. (curls her hands into fists and begins to thrust arms towards the ground for emphasis) You. Sing. Happy. Song!

Me: I just sang the happy song. It's time for you to go to bed.

S: (thrusting fists) you. (thrusting fists, again) sing. (and yet again) happy. (and again…) song!

Me: No more happy songs.

At this point, our moment is gone. Gone is the spontaneous joy of clapping to that song with my then adorable and now tyrannical 3-year old.

And going is my patience for this child who will not. Go. To. Bed. So I do what any smart mom with an incentive would do. Since their dad is out of town for work tonight and he bought them souvenirs, I use that for leverage.

Me: you're not going to get your present from daddy if you don't go back to bed right now.

S: no! I want my present!

Me: then go to bed.

S: (finally sufficiently worn down) ok.

She shuffles off to bed, and I get to go back to drooling- uh, ordering this wonderfully discounted (50% off, baby) Opal feeling sock yarn in colors 1702, 1705 & 1706 that I've had my eye on for months. Before, I just couldn't justify spending $20 per skein when that money could have gone to so many other enjoyable items (mainly, java and books. Even books about making socks.) But at $10/skein, it's cheap enough for me to not think about the peppermint white chocolate mocha's that I'm passing up for yarn (albeit wonderfully soft, colorful, stripey yarn) so that I could make a pair of socks myself. Even though I could get colorful, (different) stripey socks from Target for 1/3 of the cost of this yarn. Some of you get it, though. And for those that don't, I don't know what to tell ya. Making socks is fun.

And by the way, don't you just LOVE a quiet house?!