November 3

Sarah and I have had some really rough moments with each other. Really rough. As in, some of the worst ever. There were two dinners in a row where I served things she normally eats with no difficulty and yet this week she shoved them away with loud protest. I didn’t handle it calmly. Her class went on a field trip to a farm and they made chicken noodle soup. That coincided with my serving chicken soup with rice that evening, but apparently after having the noodles at the farm she no longer likes rice. The main troubles though were on Friday. She wouldn’t get dressed to walk Amy to school. Sarah didn’t have school. Since Carl was still at home, he stayed with Sarah, but with the understanding (or so we thought) that Sarah would get ready easily for  attending Amy’s Pumpkin Parade. Instead, there was protest about getting dressed for that. When clothing was achieved then she refused to wear a sweatshirt or coat of any sort. It was 36 degrees. Eventually she wrapped herself in a blanket and we did get to see the Pumpkin Parade. Then we had a slight hiccough in our expected plans and I needed to take Sarah to a neighbor and that neighbor would also get Amy from her half-day of school while I was at work. Except Sarah refused to leave the house. Because it was cold, but she refused to put on anything to combat the cold. She must have been a stubborn donkey in a past life. Perhaps I was too. We were both screaming at each other. Luckily my neighbors/friends were a pair that day so one of them came to be with Sarah while the other got Amy. I went to work, feeling like a hypocrite for the contrast of such panicky rage and then going to be loving and centered. I also took away Sarah’s ipod for the week.  It is residing in my office so I don’t weaken in my resolve. When I got home, Sarah and I had more rough moments and I called my mom in desperation. She helped me settle and helped Sarah settle. Things weren’t great, but they were at least calmer. Now, Sarah and I seem to be back to more of our usual mode of being together. I feel it in my bones, the way you can feel a change in the weather. She even wore a coat yesterday afternoon with no prompting from anyone. 

To back up… Amy was sick Wednesday night so had to stay home Thursday. She was feeling better and thus was quite mad at us for following the school rule of keeping her home. She was heartbroken to miss the Halloween party. Carl stayed home with her since I was teaching a class that I didn’t want to miss. That gave him time to work on his costume of a bus in a sinkhole. Amy painted a picture of him wearing his bus-sinkhole hat while he worked to make it out of cardboard. For those of you not from Pittsburgh or unaware of recent events, a bus had a sinkhole open under it at a stop downtown. No one was hurt and people have had a field day creating memes and ornaments and cupcakes and costumes about it. Carl’s picture even made in the newspaper. 

Amy was completely well for trick-or-treating and the weather cooperated despite a forecast of constant rain. Sarah had been planning on being a mermaid but decided at the last minute to be a witch, wearing a dress that I bought because it was so beautiful that I wished it came in my size. Amy was a leopard. I wore my skeleton dress and stayed home to hand out candy. Amy went around with her best friend and Sarah went around with Carl. Sarah evidently did a wonderful job of greeting each house with “Happy Halloween” and saying "thank you" for her bounty. They all stayed out for two hours! They brought back more candy than ever before and were so tired that they went straight to bed, opting to have me sort the goods. I had to remove any peanut items from Sarah’s stash and anything too chewy from Amy’s. Amy still has a palate expander so she can’t have anything that might pull it out of place. I think they will be set with candy for a year. Perhaps it was the excitement and resulting fatigue from Halloween that fed the struggle for Sarah on Friday. While some might blame sugar, my girls just had their usual after-dinner treat amount rather than anything extra due to the holiday.

Amy has decided to stop doing Girls On The Run. She loved it when it was just running with friends. She stopped loving it once they were pushed to do certain distances with no choice about how far they went. While I fully supported her in doing it and was happy when she loved it, I am also relieved to simplify our schedule in this way. Now our Mondays and Wednesdays will feel downright leisurely with only one after-school activity. This also means Sarah and I get more walks together, which is usually pleasant and is good exercise.