Tidbits

Last night Matt was getting Harper out of the bathtub and I heard her say to him, "I'm shaking like a leaf!" She cracks me up, that kid.

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I think we could have 100 Christmas presents for Harper under our tree Christmas morning and I would still be worried that the sight won't be "magical" enough for her. I know, I know, that's completely insane. I just want it to be so special. . . she's at such a good age for the magic of Christmas.

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The theme of any snow we get all winter is surely going to be, according to Harper, "My stupid mom won't let me bring snowballs into the house." She tried to sneak snow in today, clutched in her mittened hands and was exceedingly disappointed when I made her dump it on the stoop. I am no fun at all.

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Harper is suddenly obsessed with time (Darn it, should have added a clock to the pile of presents!) and asks me often, "What time is it?"

She does not like it when the answer is not an o'clock or something-thirty. When I answer her by saying something like, "It's almost one-o'clock," she'll ask, "What happens at one-o'clock?" I often have no good answer for this. (Christmas gift idea for self -- book of creative answers to three-year-old-type questions.)

Although I taught her to ask, "What time is it?" I miss Harper's earlier incarnation of this question which was, "What minutes is it?"


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I subbed in a early childhood center (preschool) today. Kindergarten, I could teach, preschool? That is a very special calling indeed. I do not know how those women do it day after day after day. It is like having 24 of Harper, but there's no TV time, or "play quietly on the floor while Mommy rests her eyes on the couch" time.

Also, it is distinctly more difficult to be in a preschool classroom while pregnant, my brain is already feeling scrambled, and then there's 24 little ones talking over each other all day long.

Parents of preschool age children should have mandatory time helping in a preschool because it sure does make you appreciate having just one of them at home!

(I actually had fun today, despite feeling a little like I'd been run over by a truck before it was over.)