September 24

Dinnertime tonight made me want to give my children away.

Seriously.

Perhaps it's the cumulative effect of many, many dinnertime struggles, but tonight I was really wondering why we had ever had children. My loving husband reminded me that this is just a season, and dinnertime won't be this rough forever. But after the children were in bed (an hour early - they were that bad!), we spent some time discussing our dinner strategy, wondering what we're doing wrong. We couldn't come up with anything. My conclusion is that our children are just hellions, dinnertime deviants. It may be genetic; Chris recalls many dinners where he refused to eat his broccoli, and later his sister Grace rescued him by covertly eating it for him. I recall an incident where I insisted on eating my cottage cheese as if I were a cat until my dad's head nearly exploded. So I guess it really is our fault, even if the fault lies only in the genetic predisposition toward naughtiness that we passed on to our unsuspecting children.

But they were relatively pleasant the rest of the day, so there's that. I loaded the kids up in the BOB this morning (Daisy and Lily strapped into seats, Caleb running at first, then in the footwell) and we walked Caleb to preschool. Once all 40 pounds of Caleb were safely at school, I felt so liberated by the light stroller that I hazarded my first run since... well, it's been an embarrassingly long while. Maybe 9 months? Maybe a year? Yikes. But Lily and Daisy were cooperative and supportive, until it started to rain. Then I ran because I needed to!

After their naps, Caleb and Daisy returned to the new costumes.

This time, Caleb was Batman and Daisy was Wonder Woman, but only because I insisted that Daisy get a turn with her costume. Caleb didn't complain, though, because the alternative was getting to be Batman. I call that a win/win situation!

The magic bracelets and crown were a bit big for her, but she still rocked the ensemble.

Then Daddy came home. He and Daisy gave Lily some loves before our dinner fiasco.

Sweet sister love. If only Daisy (and Caleb) were this sweet all the time!

But after early bedtime, Daisy did something moderately redeeming. She screamed and cried for a while because she wanted more snuggles, so Chris went back in to her room. While he was there holding her, she told him, "I want to eat pine cones. When I grow up, I will be a duck and eat pine cones."

Strange children, I tell you. At least they're sometimes funny!