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Published: February 6th 2008
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Life on the edge
With his deep distrust of clothes, perhaps the climate in Dubai will suit the Toddler. The Toddler’s social calendar is busier than mine. Much busier, in fact. While I’m rather pleased these days to get to the supermarket unaccompanied, the Toddler has gym membership, a wide circle of friends he sees regularly and a chauffeur to ferry him to music class, the zoo, library and children’s museum. Organizing his diary - and getting him to all these activities wearing clothes, clean and on time - is no small feat. Excellent time-management skills, the negotiating skills of a presidential candidate and the strength of an ox are required.
Loading the car with all his paraphernalia - his sippy cup, snack, back-up snack, the dreaded coat, mittens and hat, diaper bag and spare, back-up snack - is my first test. Forget any one of these items and the whole outing is doomed (admittedly, my husband is somehow able to waltz out the house without any of these things and wing it, somehow avoiding the meltdowns that are reserved for Mom). Once the car’s packed I’m faced with my biggest challenge - catching him. Leading me on a merry dance round the house is one of his favourite pastimes and keeps me fit. Upon arrival, the success of
that day’s activity depends on numerous factors, including how well he slept, how much he’s eaten, what mood he’s in, whether his teeth hurt and the alignment of the planets.
Playdates can be closely-fought contests. In my experience, the best playdates take place on neutral or occupied territory. Neutral territory means neither child owns the toys, making sporadic skirmishes more likely than full-blown fights, while occupied territory (ie, someone else’s house) means the Toddler is usually better behaved because he’s distracted by his mate’s stuff.
Playdates that take place at our house can go either way - the Toddler is either really excited to have visitors, or really mad that someone else is playing with his toys. Things he hasn’t touched in months - and probably won’t ever pick up again - suddenly become ‘must-have’ items the moment his playmate shows an interest in them. The battle lines are quickly drawn and it’s up to the peacekeepers (ie, Moms) to step in to prevent a show-down. I did hear of one Mom who, on witnessing her child steal another kid’s toy, called out, ‘Way to go, good snatching!’ but etiquette and teaching your toddler how to share dictate
Minna-SODA blondes
Minnesota's Scandinavian heritage means the state produces more blondes than anywhere else in the US. that it’s up to Mom to give back the toy or at least organize a ‘trade’.
Given the choice, the Toddler would spend his whole time playing with cars, trucks and trains (rather than adopting a blanket or soft toy as a “lovie”, he got attached to a red London bus). In an attempt to ensure he grows into a well-rounded individual - and because my favourite thing as a kid was cutting up bits of paper (and still is, except now I can call it scrapbooking), I try to interest him in colouring and other craft activities, with varying success. My brilliantly creative friend is also working on this with her two boys, the other week succeeding in getting her eldest to glue marsh mallows onto a collage, which her youngest promptly pulled off and ate. A compromise I’ve come to with the Toddler is going through my old magazines and cutting out the car ads.
Of all the playdates that the Toddler attends, the one that requires the most thought and organization on my part is the birthday party. This involves inviting up to 20 kids and their moms and dads to join us to celebrate
the Toddler’s birthday - a concept he doesn’t even understand yet. The Toddler and I have been to some great parties at friends’ homes, with themes ranging from Elmo to frogs & turtles, but each year so far I’ve opted out of hosting this event at our house and have hired the Toddler’s gym, which is staffed by wonderful people with qualifications in chaos. The kids enjoy climbing, jumping, sliding and other fun activities - but best of all, they get to eat cup cakes and hang out in the ball pit - or hot tub, as I call it. It sure is a hard life being two.
Deep Freeze, continued
I didn’t set out to be a weather-bore when I started this blog, but I did just want to share the most recent temperature drop. Last week it was freakishly cold - with the wind chill, it was minus 45F in parts of the state! I know I mentioned the 'throw hot water in the freezing air' trick before, but my friend just told me she tried it - she said the water turned into frost and then snow instantly, like a magic cloud coming out of
Teasing the (toy) cat
Getting our cats to Dubai is one of our biggest problems - a pet shipping company quoted us more than $4000 to transport two cats to Dubai, with an overnight stop in Amsterdam! the coffee cup.
A teenager I read about learnt a painful lesson this weekend after continuing his family’s tradition of running around the garden barefoot during the Super Bowl halftime. Just five minutes outside left him with second-degree frostbite on both feet, requiring treatment at a burn center. Frost-bitten, twice shy, I hope.
We haven’t put the Toddler on skis yet or anything, but in just about every other way he’s becoming more and more independent. Last week he started calling me ‘Marianne’, to which I replied, “Max, you can call me Mummy, I’ve earned it!’ He also staged a sit-in at daycare, clearly thinking it was far more fun than being at home.
Our thoughts are, of course, turning to our move to Dubai - a relocation that seems to worry some of the moms I meet while out and about with the Toddler. If asked where Dubai is, I reply that it’s by Saudi Arabia, not too far from Iraq and across the water from Iran. The standard response is a look that says, ‘Are you completely out of your mind?’ The next question is always ‘Why’ so I explain about my husband’s new job
and provide reassurance that women don’t have to wear veils, are allowed to drive and don’t have to walk five paces behind their husbands. I’m used to getting funny looks when we say we’re moving, though. People in Florida thought we were mad when we said we moving to the frost belt, yet I’ve loved living in Minnesota. It’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived - apart from the winters -oh dear, I’m talking about the cold weather again. I’d better sign off.
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lindastorey
Linda Storey
Very amusing!
Hmmmmm. I've got all this to come and because you write so eloquently, I can picture exactly what it's going to be like. I thought of you when I was in the Doctor's surgery two weeks ago (Rosie's first ill). There was a small child shouting "I-DON'T WANT-IT-ON!" whilst his mother was attempting to put a coat on him! I look forward to the next instalment. And I know what you mean about Dad not packing for a long expedition when he goes out, like I do! I'm sure there's a lesson to be learnt there. Linda x