It felt good to be mostly unplugged this weekend. I still checked my e-mail and Twitter, but didn’t write anything until last night, and didn’t read many blogs. Of course, I checked my Bloglines today and nearly choked when I saw the number of new posts. Don’t you people ever take a break?
Yesterday was spent cooking out at the house I grew up in. The usual gang of relatives were there, and everyone enjoyed seeing Cordy and Mira. Cordy did pretty well, with only a few minor meltdowns. The cause of those meltdowns was immediately traced back to Aunt Dot, of course.
Long time readers know Aunt Dot well. She’s the mistress of bad gifts, and taunter (tauntress? is that a word?) of small children. And when I say bad gifts, I mean bad gifts. My birthday this year? I got a pack of generic post-it notes. Opened. My mother’s birthday gift? The other half of the pack of post-it notes. She was also the giver of the candy pooping cow.
Her Labor Day antics included bringing Cordy a box of Teddy Grahams (which we can’t be sure are cinnamon-free, so she can’t eat them) and a package of Goldfish. When it was announced that we’d all be eating lunch in about ten minutes, Aunt Dot chose that time to bring out the snacks and give them to Cordy.
Cordy came up to me, holding her box of Teddy Grahams, asking, “Eat bears now? Open da box? Bears pweese?” I scanned the ingredients, cursing the FDA for allowing companies to list “natural and artificial flavoring” as ingredients instead of everything they actually used. I had to tell her no, then watch as she ran into the other room and threw herself on the floor in frustration.
The other incident was with Aunt Dot’s Polaroid camera. It makes a loud noise as it spits out the picture. One of Cordy’s triggers is mechanical noises, so it immediately set her off after the first picture was taken. We told Aunt Dot that Cordy was bothered by the noise of her camera, and asked her not to use it around Cordy. But she thought it was funny to torture Cordy, going so far as to quickly put the camera up to Cordy’s face as she walked past and take an extreme closeup. Cordy screeched and ran to me, clearly upset by the noise, while Aunt Dot laughed.
Other than Aunt Dot, it was a lovely day. Cordy played ring toss, she kicked her soccer ball all over the yard, and she got to dig in the dirt in a flower pot, “making a plant” as she called it.
She was pretty good with that soccer ball. The next Mia Hamm, perhaps?
(At this point, I would show you a great video of Cordy kicking the ball, including her amusing run in with a tree. But I can’t work this video camera – it’s a DVD disc camcorder, without a USB connection port, and I don’t know how to convert DVD to a suitable web format. I thought advances in technology are supposed to make things easier?)
Oh, and tomorrow is Cordy’s big evaluation. I’m nervous, hoping that Cordy will show them her full self. I do hope they see the meltdowns, but I also want them to see her sweet, smart side as well. A part of me worries she’ll act perfectly normal and average and tell me she is fine.
Edited to add: Finally found a way to convert the DVD. It’s not a long-term solution, but it’ll work for now. Here’s Cordy versus the tree in a one-on-one soccer match-up.
Your Aunt Dot needs an ass-kicking. What a cruel thing to do to a child, especially after seeing the child’s reaction and being asked by the parents to cut it out. Sadistic cow.
I’m glad the rest of the day went well. Good luck with the eval tomorrow. I hope Cordy does her thing and isn’t doing her angelic impersonation. Sounds weird to want someone’s kid to have tantrums, but you know what I mean. I hope.
Definitely a little ham isn’t she? I love when she goes near the tree, knowing she’ll get a laugh. 🙂
Good luck with the eval. tomorrow!
Good luck tomorrow, Christina. For her sake and yours, I hope Cordy is her full, complex self for the evaluators.
Good luck tomorrow. Hope Cordy is herself.
Cute video!
I can’t comment on the other site without signing up and we’re having a missing underwear crisis over here and I must be fast.
Exponential. Yes. Exactly.
And I would have cracked that Polaroid camera in half. Especially after the Teddy Graham incident.
What a horrible awful woman. Isn’t there anyone in the family that can talk to Aunt Dot?
Good luck with the evaluation!!!
That video is adorable. She’s a ham.
It’s weird, when I read your blog, I forget that you’re from the mid-west, so it has no accent. Hearing the voices on that video was like going back to visit my mum’s relatives in Indiana. I think the mid-west is where all the Boston Rs go after they’re dropped.
Good luck tomorrow and tell Aunt Dot to Buzz off! Haha
PS Love the video!
First off, good luck tomorrow!
Adorable video! I’m impressed with your DVD conversion skills.
I’ll be thinking of you and Cordy tomorrow – as another commentor said, it’s funny to wish for someone’s child to have a tantrum, but I know what you mean. How useful will the eval be to you if you don’t feel they’ve really met Cordy in all her glorious guises?
And Aunt Dot? Clearly due to be struck by lightning any day now.
good luck tomorrow. hope cordy gives em all she’s got.
Major bedhead – LOL! There’s quite a distinction between mid-Ohio and southern-Ohio accents. Most of the people on that video are from southern-Ohio, while my husband and I are from central Ohio. Southern-Ohio accents are a little stronger, I think.
Wow, Aunt Dot’s a real pistol, eh? What a keeper! She really knows how to entertain the kids!
Good luck on Cordy’s evaluation tomorrow.
Aunt Dot needs to be told!
Cordy is awesome with the soccer ball – esp for her age!
Good luck tomorrow, love!
very cute video. and yeah, southern ohio accents are DEFINITELY stronger. to the untrained “northerner” (myself) they sound downright southern! : )
Aunt Dot is a cow.
And that girl? AWESOME futbol skills!
Aunt Dot needs a time out! Glad the rest of the company was pleasant 🙂
Well, soccer is a good way to get the “wiggles” out. She enjoys it and she’s good at it – and it would definitely provide socialization in a “shared interest” situation, which is less threatening than in other types.
Good luck with the evaluation. If she shuts off or only tantrums, speak up to tell them she can also exhibit great intelligence, coordination, etc. Otherwise, they may choose to be rather unilateral in their analysis!
Aunt Dot needs to be put in permanent time out!!
Loved the video!
Aunt Dot needs to be kicked in the teeth. Seriously, it sounds like you have more restraint than I do, I would have totally told her off, caused a huge scene, and made the whole day awkward for everyone. I can’t deal with that kids of stuff, I just snap!
Wow! This is my first time visiting your blog, and I already feel it is necessary to beat Aunt Dot with a stick! I’m angry now!