Valentine's Day

The day before Valentine's Day we had a wonderful day. There was no whining. There were no meltdowns. There was a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry (because it was free for IL residents) with some friends. Miss M ran around and listened and stayed close by while she learned and discovered all kinds of great things like weather systems (age appropriate right?!?).

I had such high hopes for Valentine's Day. I had scheduled her for a trial toddler gym class (she loves to climb and it seemed appropriate).  After the class I planned to take her to lunch and then to the cupcake store for a special treat.  In my head it was perfect. We would converse and laugh together and enjoy each others company.  I realize she can't converse with me but remember it was a perfect day in my head.

It was the furthest day from perfect. It was miserable. And when she didn't take a nap she just added insult to injury.

So...

We went to the gym class. It was amazing. The concept of the place. They had all kinds of equipment for the kids to climb on and jump on which is exactly what she wants to do. The structure of the class is a little like this: free play, group time where we sing and move around, organized activities ie jumping and monkey bars (with assistance obviously), different activities ie swinging on swings and zip lining, more organized activities...you get the point.

Miss M was a disaster. When we first arrived she was so excited about playing then we got into the room she froze up like I have never seen before. She just wanted to cower between my legs. Then at group time she refused to do anything but fight me because she couldn't play on the equipment.  She essentially cried 90% of the time. It was amazing. And defeating. And embarrassing.

At the end of class the teacher proceeded to ask me (innocently) if this was the first class scenario Miss M had ever been apart of.  And there I was embarrassed again. No. The girl has done so much stuff in her short two years of life.  I felt like she thought I kept her locked in the basement and threw food at her occasionally and finally decided to let her out since that is essentially how she acted.

Thus my plans for lunch and a special treat at the cupcake store were out of the question. I couldn't fathom dealing with parking or her attitude.  Therefore we came home. She ate lunch, refused to nap, and continued to cry/melt down/scream at me the rest of the day.  

I guess we can't all have good days but I was so disappointed. I know it's not her fault and she can't control her emotions but it was sad we didn't get to go to lunch or get a treat.

Things turned around when someone knocked intensely at the door over and over again. I have started ignoring the door during the day due to random solicitors. After I realized the person knocking wasn't going away I opened the door to find a Valentine's present from Andrew/Daddy.  He sent a balloon (which Miss M loves), a teddy bear (which Miss M loves), and a dozen chocolate covered strawberries (which Miss M and I love).

Miss M got her sweet treat after all.

 She has hoarding tendencies.

Oh yea and I think we've essentially adopted a homeless man named Carl.  He comes by occasionally asking to shovel our drive and asking for money for things like a replacement transit card.  Hopefully he comes by this summer and wants to mow the lawn for some money!