Compromised Principles

One of the biggest differences in my life since having a second child is how many things I give in to.  It almost makes me laugh now to think of the stuff I used to be really stern about and the rules I made Zoe follow before when it was just her. (Then I think of how funny that must have been for my Mom to watch, since she had SEVEN of us!)  The most obvious example is her fashion sense.  Not that I needed her to be completely color coordinated, but I definitely wanted her to look cute and put together, and it didn't take long at all for that to change.  Now I don't care if she wears seven layers of clothes or neon stripes with red and green polka dots, so long as her body is covered by some sort of fabric.  I did make her put on some pants the other day because she was wearing a dress that was a size too small and her tights kept falling down, so she was running around on the playground with her (underwear covered) butt hanging out.  She didn't seem to care but I had to explain to her that it was inappropriate and that she had to put some pants on before we went to the party we were expected at that evening.  Mind you, this didn't happen until the afternoon, so I let her waltz around like that for the better half of a day. 

Another thing I've had to relax about is strange food combination requests, ie: pickles for breakfast (still holding strong on that one, actually) and Cheerios mixed in with yogurt.  I don't know why, but the thought of mixing those two things together just makes me gag and whenever she would ask for it, I would literally say "I will give them to you in separate bowls and you can do whatever crazy thing you want with them, but I'll have no part in that because it's weird and gross."  (Think I could stand to lighten up a little or what?)  Sure enough the other day, she asked and I was trying to get Owen's breakfast ready too and we were probably trying to get out the door to go somewhere so I made the (very) conscious decision to say "You know, what? Fine."  I mean, come on.  Really.  Who cares?  If nothing else, it's one less dish to wash, right?

Zoe has noticed this deflated conviction in her mother for sure because whenever she can, she tries to sneak in a request I would normally say no to, just to see what I'll say.  I know she's testing the waters because she has this certain look on her face that's saying "Is she tired enough to let me get away with this?" and a tone of voice that's not quite certain and very sneaky.  Lots of times, she gets away with it and I don't notice until it's too late.  She, very often gets more "treats" than she's technically allowed in a day because I'll have completely forgotten about a cookie or piece of candy she'd had earlier in the day.  Once in a while I'll forget how many shows she's watched and she'll get one extra...stuff like that.  The other day, though I had to laugh because she came bounding out of her first gymnastics class (which was SO fun!  For me AND her!) and, before I even mentioned the potty she said "Mommy I don't HAVE to go poop." Yeah, right.  Or, a few weeks ago when we were about to get in the car to go somewhere, I asked if she had to use the potty and she said "No......Mommy?  Would it be okay if I peed in my carseat?"  Now, not even I'M tired or distracted enough to fall for that one.

Anyway, we didn't get a chance to do too many projects last week since we were busy having fun with Daddy, but we got the ball rolling a bit again today...actually, the other day Zoe got Nathan involved in a project!  I was so happy to come down the stairs and see the two of them working away with the craft stuff.  Nathan made Zoe the cutest necklace that she wore all day long.  I'm really bummed that I completely forgot to take a picture since she's totally dismantled it now.  That day, we were celebrating my birthday so they made this great picture for me:

Today, I made this cool letter out of a wire hanger, embroidery floss and some beads.  I want to make one for each of us, but I think it'll be hard to get the floss to stay on the "O" and "S"...we'll see...

And, just because I'm so excited that Spring is coming and we'll be able to start digging in our community garden plot soon, I thought I'd show off how well our little seedlings are doing!  Yay, homegrown veggies!