Taking Her Job Seriously

Well, the tables turned, and Samantha, on Morning 8, needed to have her sheets changed.  I know that the process of staying dry at night isn't a perfect one, and that there will be bumps in the road.  While disappointed, I am staying encouraged and positive, and know that there's always tomorrow.  Every morning I can't wait to go into her room to see if she's still dry.  Not sure if this is annoying to her yet or not, but I think she's still been thoroughly enjoying the accolades (until today, of course, but I just kept it light for her).  I really don't know what changed - it was literally overnight.  We hadn't really been working on it actively or anything, but it's like something just switched on and she decided that if she's going to be a big girl, she has to do it fully and completely (even with the little bumps).  Yep, there's always tomorrow...

Saturday was quite a busy day, starting off with a few hours at the local DSA's annual spring picnic.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, and Samantha, while sleepy, had a good time.  Can't go wrong with a bouncy castle, a playground, a petting zoo, hot dogs, and lots and lots of mud.  Yep, turn your back for a second, and she'll find the closest puddle to walk through in her new white sneakers that I'm not sure I can clean...  But that's what childhood is all about, right?  I actually am looking for opportunities for her to "jump up and down in muddy puddles" a la her tv hero, Peppa Pig (if you've never watched it, I recommend it...funny for parents, too!).  Every time it rains, it all dries up too quickly to give her the opportunity to put her pink rubber Hello Kitty boots on and go hog wild.

Flying right off-focus here...about those pink boots...  Does anyone else find rain boots highly impractical?  Maybe it's just me, but when I put them on her, they practically fall right off of her again if she even shakes her foot.  Sometimes she even walks out of them.  I didn't think they were too big, but the lack of constrictive structure makes them kind of a challenge.  And then, if you're sending your kid to school, do you just not use the rain boots?  I mean, when they get to school, do they just leave the boots on all day, or do you have to send another pair of shoes with them and hope everything makes it home in their backpack at the end of the day?  I know it's trivial, but it's one of those mysteries of young-child-parenting that I haven't yet figured out.

Anyway, after a little nap (afforementioned in my last post) during which I ran a few birthday party errands (yes, I broke down and bought a hot glue gun at AC Moore - might not use it for crafts for this party, but if I'm eventually going to be able to compete in the leagues of those inspirational, crafty, glue-gun-weilding, sewing-machine-toting, party-planning mommies, it's a heck of a lot cheaper and lighter than said sewing machine), "we" washed the car.

Rather Daddy, a consummate perfectionist, washed and detailed the car (and it's now absolutely beautiful, inside and out!!).  Sadly, this is not the car I drive to work every day.  Oh well.  Samantha was a fantastic helper, while I snapped photos and made sure she didn't venture out of our parking space and into the road.

As you can see, she took her job very seriously.  She's already much better at car-washing than I will ever be... 

Yes, yes, I know, she's still in a pull-up, even though she's been dry for ages during the day.  Told you I'm a chicken...