My Turn

So, I got to watch the girls today. All I can say is thank God the day is over.

My agenda featuring smiling, rosy-cheeked, fairy tale children looked something like this:

• Pick up B around 9 am
  
• Drive two giggling girls to Petco to buy dog food
  
• Wander slowly through the store letting the girls admire all of the animals
• Head to the swimming pool
• Frolic in the cool water
• Have a delicious, healthy picnic under an oak tree
• Play enchanting games in the playground
• Read a few stories at the library
• Stop for a surprise ice cream cone on the way back to B's house

OK. I'm not that delusional, but still, I had a pleasant, fun day planned.

From the beginning, the actual day was off to a poor start. First, Sarah slept in well past her usual wake-up time. Remember the nap skipping I talked about a few days ago. Well, she hasn't quite adjusted to the earlier bedtime that this new schedule demands. So, she's frazzled - just tired. Still, I went against my instincts and stuck to the fairy tale plan.

We got to B's house around 10 am. Ding! Ding! Plan is already failing. My cranky daughter then refused to get out of the car, became upset with the placement of B's car seat in our car and enraged that she had to get back into the car. She was crying, angry and irritable like a bowel.

During all of this, B was just a delight - giggling, smiling and rosy-cheeked.

At Petco, Sarah again refused to get out of the car. She slammed her body on the floorboard and wailed. A Hispanic grandma walked by and gave me the "just spank her" look. I came very close to acting out her thoughts. Instead, I got Sarah composed without any violent actions and marched the girls into the store.

B was so excited. She'd never been to a pet store before. She wanted to see the doggies. There were no doggies, but we did find kittens. Sarah and B played with the kittens in a lovely way... after fighting for the cat toy, elbowing each other viciously for the sweet spot in front of the cage and fighting for the cat toy again and again and again. That was all expected. What happened next was not.

One minute we were watching a chinchilla balance on its water bottle. The next minute, we were (all of us - chinchilla, rats, customers, employees, kittens, parakeets) watching Sarah scream, kick and balance on her head.

I think the spark that lit the fuse was my refusal to let her sit in the shopping cart. She and B both wanted to sit in the cart where there was room for only one. This set off a meltdown like I hadn't seen since March 3, 2006. So, just like that gloomy day in March, we left the store empty-handed and shamed.

Shortly after, I sent Mike this message:

To: Mike
From: Julianne
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 11:11 AM

Had to pull Sarah out of Petco. Full tantrum.
Considered leaving her w/ a day laborer.
No pool. Hanging at home where I'm closer to
the vodka.

The rest of the day did go smoother. I gave up all grand illusions of an outing. I turned on the garden hose, cracked open a sack of birdseed and let the girls make mud and birdseed pies.

I only hope those pies are to Sancho and Lola's liking. We're just about out of dog food, and I'm not showing my face in Petco any time soon. I hear chinchillas have great memories.