Zoo Lessons

(I posted a similar conversation with Mira on Facebook, but this needs to be recorded for posterity. Or when I need to embarrass her as a teen.)

Me: So Mira, what do the elephants eat?
Mira: Peanuts!

Me: And what do monkeys eat?
Mira: Monkeys eat bananas, of course!

Me: And what do the manatees eat?
Mira: Mermaids!
Me: WHAT? Manatees don’t eat mermaids! They eat lettuce!
Mira: Well, I’ve never seen them eat lettuce.

Me: OK…uh…so what do butterflies eat?
Mira: Nectar!

Me: That’s right! And what do polar bears eat?
Mira: Polar bears eat fish! Yum, yum, yum!

Me: What about brown bears? Do they eat fish, too?
Mira: Noooooo, that’s silly. Bears eat humans!
Me: Mira, bears do not eat humans.
Mira: Yes, they doooo!
Me: Bears eat fish and plants and berries…
Mira: But sometimes they eat humans too.
Me: No, they don’t!
Mira: Well, I saw bears eating humans at the zoo.
Me: There’s no way you saw that, Mira.
Mira: That’s what I saw.

Me: [sigh] Fine, so what do zombies eat?
Mira: BRAINS!

I’ve gotta get this kid signed up for a Zoo Camp. She’s learned a lot about animals, but I think the bears and manatees are getting a bad reputation. (I mean, I know bears CAN eat people, but I’m pretty sure they’re not feeding humans to the bears at the zoo.)

 Go on, just TRY to convince her they don’t feed humans to the bears at the zoo.


It Only Took 35 Years To Realize This

As much as I’ve tried to be everything to everyone for years, I’ve finally reached the point where I’m mostly comfortable with who I am. No longer embarrassed by the parts of me that don’t fit the status quo, or apologetic for being unable to live up to someone’s expectations, but instead accepting of all my quirks and the experiences (both good and bad) that have shaped me into who I am.

Still not feeling grown up yet, but definitely feeling more comfortable in my own skin.

Happy birthday to me. If I could pick a gift for myself, I’d wish for at least another 35 years to enjoy who I am.



And Exhale

Yesterday was the first day of summer camp for Cordy and Mira. I worried Mira would have trouble adjusting to a new location that wasn’t her normal preschool. I worried that Cordy wouldn’t be able to cope with the demands of being in the older kid class this year, and that her teachers wouldn’t know how to handle her or wouldn’t like her.

Thankfully, most of that worry is now gone.

They both had a great first day. Mira’s teachers said she’s a ball of energy and fun to be around. Although she started the summer by putting a few well-placed gashes and scrapes into her leg on the playground that morning, she still kept a smile on her face throughout the day. Seeing how she’s such a social butterfly, I have no doubt that she’ll be running her class before the week is over.

At the end of the day, I found Cordy on the playground away from the other kids, laying on a bench and holding a ball. Her teachers reported that she was great all morning, and then a little difficult to deal with in the afternoon. She looked tired, they said, and I can believe she was. A new environment is very stressful on Cordy, so it’s likely she hit her sensory threshold by midday. But they handled her the best way possible – they gave her some space and let her rest for a little while.

She was also very thirsty, probably from not drinking any of her water in the water bottle we’re required to send each day. While I understand their reasoning for asking that kids only bring water (other than lunch), we’ve had this battle of wills with Cordy in the past and she will pass out from dehydration before drinking water. We may have to start spiking her water with a splash of juice to convince her to drink it. I’d rather she drink an ounce of juice in 10 ounces of water rather than drink nothing at all.

But the artwork in her backpack proved that Cordy didn’t mope all day. There were beautiful, full-color drawings of people and animals, and she made a series of flags with each one containing a drawing of one member of our family. (OK, the cats all had to share a flag.) I’m not sure how well she interacted with the other kids, but at least she enjoyed expressing herself artistically.

As we drove away from camp, I asked the girls if they had fun. They both said yes. And then I asked if they wanted to go back tomorrow. They again both answered yes. (Which is a rare moment for Cordy! She generally never wants to repeat something that is new to her.)

I am now cautiously optimistic that they’re going to have a great summer.



School’s Out For Summer! Everyone Panic!

The school year was officially over last week, leaving me to explain the concept of summer break to Cordy and Mira. Neither of them really understands why they have to take three months off of school – I assured them that someday they might be more in favor of the idea, and that if I had it my way they’d be in school year-round.

In the meantime, summer camp is often the solution to the “what do I do with these kids when I still have to work?” problem, and both will be attending a day camp for most of the summer. This year we decided to be smart and send them both to the same summer camp, saving us from having to drive all over half of Columbus to take them each to camp every day.

Cordy and Mira will be in different age groups, and will likely not see much of each other during the day. This is a blessing for their teachers – no one wants to listen to those two bicker and tease each other all day. I have no doubt that Mira will march into her summer classroom and take command of it. When she’s not pretending to be shy, she’s a very outgoing little girl – she’s not the kid who cries at drop-off, but rather the one shoving us out the door. I never worry about that kid in new situations. I could drop her off in a biker bar and she’d be running the place by the end of the day, sporting a pretty new spiked collar she convinced some guy named Pitbull to give her.

On the other hand, I’m preparing for a lot of anxiety with Cordy. She’ll be in the older kids class this year, and will be required to do more on her own. For example, in the pre-camp letter, they explained that kids in her class will need to reapply their own sunscreen during the day. Reading that set off red-alarm sounds in my head. Cordy hates having sunscreen put on to begin with – whether it’s lotion or spray, the feel of it is a major sensory trigger. Having to actually touch it with her hands? That might send her over the edge. I’m already preparing an e-mail to the camp director to address these issues upfront so we can find a solution that won’t stress this kid out.

I fully expect it to be a good summer, though. I only wish camp would have started this week. Instead, it seems all camp programs in our area start next week, leaving a one week gap for parents to scramble for back-up babysitting. Or, if you’re me, selling your kids on the idea of a “movie day” where they can watch every Disney movie with bowls of plentiful snacks around them as long as they’re quiet and let mommy get some sleep on the couch after working the previous night.

(Before you call me out as a bad mom, it was just one day, and it wasn’t the most well-thought-out plan when it came to me getting any rest. Aaron took yesterday off so I could sleep, and my mom is keeping them entertained for the next two days. Sadly, I am not a supermom who can stay awake for 48 hours at a time – although it would be an awesome superpower to have.)

I don’t know how other working parents manage the gap. Do they have backup babysitters on speed-dial? Burn precious vacation days to stay home? Call in the extended family? Turn on PBS, leave out some Goldfish crackers and juice and set up a nanny cam to watch them from work? (Kidding on the last one. Think of all the calls you’d have to make to the answering machine when you see the kids getting into things they shouldn’t.)

By the end of this week Cordy and Mira will be begging to go to camp. And we’ll be happy to take them.

And then all will be right with the world again.

At least until August, when camp ends and there will be a two and a half week gap before school starts.

Better start looking for babysitters now.



Our Day Out With Thomas

I’ll admit I was a little lazy this year and didn’t throw a big birthday party for Mira. However, I’m not totally to blame – I had the option of throwing her a party, or instead taking her for an amazing day out with her favorite TV celebrity, Thomas the Tank Engine.

Sure, Mira likes cake and ice cream, but the opportunity to ride in a train car pulled by Thomas? What can top that?

Mira may be a girly-girl who loves pink and dresses, but she’s also a Thomas fanatic. Her blankets are Thomas. Her pajamas are Thomas. Her entire room is decorated in Thomas and the other engines. I read her a Thomas book every night at bedtime. If this kid could write, she’d probably be sending creepy stalker love letters to Thomas.

Our day started out bright and early with a long drive towards the Cleveland area. The Day Out With Thomas event travels all across the country to different scenic railways – it’s a great way to connect train-obsessed children with the local railway resources in their areas. Our stop was at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway, which had been taken over with everything Thomas for that weekend.

Aside from the train ride itself, there were lots of activities at the event. They had bounce houses and an activity tent filled with Thomas train sets to play with and activity sheets to color. The story time tent featured live readings of Thomas stories and occasional videos as well. You could also meet Sir Topham Hatt and get your photo taken with him. They had live music and a magician, a spot for kids to get free temporary tattoos, and of course a huge gift shop.

Mira gets her Thomas tattoo

Thomas was the main attraction, however, and Mira was asking where he was from the moment she stepped out of the car. We weren’t there long before our boarding group was instructed to come to the station to line up. And then, from around the bend, we saw him chugging along on the tracks:

De traaaain, de traaaaain!

I thought Mira might faint from excitement at that moment. Even as an adult, I have to admit it was pretty cool. The engine looked just like the toy models on TV, complete with moving eyes and puffing steam. We waited for the previous passengers to unload, then found our assigned car and climbed on board. Two little girls could not be happier.

No, really, they’re happy. Even if they are trying to throw the other to the floor.

The train ride lasted about 20 minutes and took us through some beautiful woods and fields. During that time Thomas music played from the speakers (very quietly) and a short Thomas story was told. A costumed conductor came through the car and punched our tickets, chatted with the kids, and near the end presented each child with their own Jr. Engineer certificate.

When the ride was over, the girls asked for a quick photo by Thomas and then they played in the activity tent for bit.

We played for a short while longer, then took a peek through the gift shop and let Cordy and Mira each pick out one souvenir before heading for home.

Did Mira have a good birthday? Well, this was her 5 minutes after leaving the Day Out With Thomas:

She later declared it was the best birthday ever. Considering all of the birthday parties she’s attended in the past month for her classmates, I felt pretty good that we came through with something that didn’t involve spending a lot of money to rent out a party facility. Parties with friends can come later – for a four year old who likes trains, I think this was a pretty awesome birthday.

Full disclosure: I did receive complimentary tickets for the Day Out With Thomas event in exchange for sharing my honest opinions of it. It was a fun family outing, and I can already tell you we’re planning to purchase tickets for when Thomas travels to southern Ohio in the fall.

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