Nadia’s OCD

Can a three year-old have obsessive compulsive tendencies? For the past several months Nadia has been overly conscious of ‘food’ getting on her pants. I say ‘food’ because she thinks it’s food, but more often than not it’s nothing, maybe a TINY piece of fuse I can’t believe she can even see. She basically freaks, cries, won’t continue eating, wants her pants changed, etc. It’s gotten to the point where she didn’t eat lunch at school today because the first bite she took she thought got on her pants. I’m hoping I didn’t cause this be wiping her hands often with wet wipes…

Both of the girls have been coming home from preschool/daycare extremely CRABBY! I know it’s a big change, but something tells me this situation isn’t good for Nadia. Maybe she should just be going Tuesday and Thursday mornings to preschool and not the daycare hours that make up the rest of the five days a week… Nora doesn’t seem as upset but this change, but she’s older, she eats better at daycare and perhaps just needs less sleep than Nadia.

I’m so confused! If Nadia doesn’t go to daycare I don’t see how I could ever do anything, workout, go to mops…

Preschool Orientation

I honestly thought the preschool orientation would calm my fears and make me more comfortable. You know, address all my questions.

Not so much.

It was kind of a mess with all the kids running around and tons of parents, and one teacher trying to talk over all the noise. We were able to meet the preschool teacher, her associate, and the two main women that work in the day care area. I spent most of my time after the ‘official presentation’ to question the daycare associates. I feel like this is a huge transition, but yet, hardly any information was provided. And yes, I read the entire handbook!

Nora will have preschool on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons, with daycare the remaining times during the week, so all day Wednesday and the other mornings. Nadia just has preschool Tuesday and Thursday mornings, so much more daycare time for her. It’s nice they will get to be together some in the daycare!

I think my biggest concern is potty training Nadia. I knew for preschool they had to be trained, but for some reason I figured the daycare ladies might still assist the kids if there were accidents and such. Like, I know Nadia can stay dry during the day, although nap time is sometimes difficult for her, and she will nap everyday there in the afternoons. I guess I’m just afraid she isn’t 100% potty trained, and therefore I fear they are going to tell me she can’t come back after she has a couple accidents. Especially since this environment is all new to her.

So last Friday was Nora’s first day, and would have also been Nadia’s first, but we kept her home since it was her 3rd birthday. Nadia went for the first time today. And she screamed when I left. Is that still normal for preschool??? I honestly fear she might be too young. The cut off was children needed to be three by mid-September. Well, if she was born around her due date, she wouldn’t have qualified for this program this year… I really hope this wasn’t a mistake.

The pictures below were taken just before we headed to the orientation. I’ll post separately about our vacation last week, Nadia’s birthday, and more about preschool so far!

Last Day of Daycare

Yes, today was the last day! Nora wasn’t all that interested in smiling… Notice the red mark on her head. Remnants of her collision only moments earlier with Nadia’s head.

We stopped and picked up cupcakes this morning to celebrate their last day. Both girls insisted on carrying their own bag of goodies to the car. Nora cried at drop-off… from the first day at this center until the last. Nadia was actually pretty excited this morning to tell her teacher all about the cupcakes! Thank goodness one was happy!

I’m supposed to be doing laundry and labeling their school supplies, but here I sit on my computer. Maybe it reminds me of working, of being productive. I did notice a new house for sale, I should go drive by and decide if it’s worth viewing. And of course, kickboxing later this afternoon before I pick up the girls and prep for our vacation which starts Sunday, our quick trip to Minneapolis to a waterpark! Oh, and Nadia’s 3rd birthday is also next Friday. Dear God, I have a lot to do before then!

I’ll leave you with a few cute pictures I took last night after baths!

Preschool Registration

Preschedule registration was this morning… I was only missing one form, Nora’s birth certificate. I’ll be searching for that this afternoon or ordering a new copy. God only knows how long that takes, and what hoops one must jump through. Another problem of living in a house that was supposed to be temporary, 90% of my stuff is packed…

Nora will be attending preschool four afternoons a week, and Nadia two mornings a week. They offer a daycare type setting the other hours each day which we’ll be taking advantage of. I really hope the girls feel more comfortable in this environment than they do at their current daycare center, as both still cried at drop-off this morning… We shall see. I’m looking forward to them forming friendships that will last through elementary school. Hopefully I can meet some parents as well.

Eric goes on-call starting this afternoon, and he’s been super busy this week, so we haven’t had a lot of time together, and the coming seven days will be worse I assume. It’s so hard not being able to spend time together, feeling disconnected for a week or more at a time. Last weekend was fun together, we attended a family wedding, below are a few pictures.

Those of you whose spouses work a lot, how do you reconnect when you’re time together is somewhat limited? Throw me some ideas!

July Already!

I feel like the title says it all.

Our Hiawatha house is set to close July 15th if the buyer’s bank can get everything ready by then, and I seriously can’t wait. These buyers are annoying the crap outta me. Maybe it’s because I’m a little jealous they get my house… I was there yesterday for a bit and realized how much I really like it, and how much I will miss it. Or maybe it’s because the buyers really are annoying. The house is about a year and a half old, we were the only owners since it was built new. The buyers wanted the carpets cleaned. And touch-up paint ordered for the kitchen cabinets… The carpets and the cabinets are spotless so I’m not sure what their deal is. Oh, and get this, they already set up lawn care services and I’m pretty sure the guy who came to cut the grass broke a window. Ugh, I swear to God I’m not paying to replace that when they had people come to a house they don’t even own yet! The nerve!

Cedar Falls house is currently off the market as there is not a single thing in this city currently for sale I want to buy. We didn’t want it to sell and be forced to buy quickly and move. I assume we won’t list it for sale again until we are moved into something else. Makes it way easier that way for showings too.

I’m in my fifth week of working out for 60 minutes five days a week. The classes are like hell, some kick boxing, some weight training, a good mix really, but I swear they just try to kill us. So far I have survived. We’ll see.

Speaking of dying. I have more concerns about our current daycare. But again, I’m scared to say anything as I fear we’ll be kicked out again… Sad, but true, I really feel that way. In the bathtub last week Nora and Nadia took in Barbies to play, and Nora kept knocking one into the water and saying she was dead. I asked Nora if she knew what dead meant, and she said it means you lay down. I tried to explain, but I think I failed as she didn’t seem to grasp the concept that death is permanent. I let it go, but then later that evening she asked me what a gun was. I was so shocked I didn’t even really answer her question, rather just asked her where she heard the term. She said at school… What the… Why would that be talked about? I mean, I assume it was other kids, not like an actual discussion in class, but what four and five year-olds talk about guns? Or am I really that naive? Thank God they start as a new pre-school at the end of August.

Nadia is still waking once or twice a night. Lately though she has these tantrums. Like she literally throws herself on the floor and screams at the top of her lungs. Yells at me, tried to swat me away from her. It’s awful as she wakes the entire house. I never experienced behavior like this with Nora, although I’ve heard other horror stories of the “terrible twos”. I’m wondering if this behavior is within the range or normal… Or course I’m always terrified it’s not normal, something related to her prematurity, her brain bleed or lack of oxygen at birth. Something else for me to worry about and obsess over.

Enough for now… off to do laundry and meal plan. The joys of my life!

Daycare

Maybe my expectations and standards are just too high when it comes to daycares. I get no one is going to care for my kids like I would… but…

Often in the mornings when I drop off Nora there is an older woman in her room, she’s maybe 60, maybe older, hard to tell. She’s normally there alone in the mornings with up to 12 kids, all either 4 or 5 years-old. And she doesn’t seem to handle it well. I’m not blaming her, I wouldn’t either, but then again, I don’t have that job. She is routinely yelling at the kids, sometimes physically yanks them by the arms if they are misbehaving. Today was one of those days. In fact, when I walked out of the room with another mom, she said to me, “that room is a wreck today”.

I know from experience I can’t complain, as apparently that gets you kicked out. But I just get a bad feeling about the place. The girls start at another pre-school in August, so I thought we could handle this for a few more months, just through the summer. But now I’m beginning to wonder. I could hire someone to come to our home for the next few months, but going through that process feels a bit overwhelming right now. Ugh, I’m so confused.

Time Flies

I seriously don’t know where the time goes… I haven’t written in weeks! Quick updates, neither house is sold, but Hiawatha house is officially listed with a realtor… So who wants to buy it??? There was an open house yesterday and can you believe some neighbor stopped by and said they wanted help in deciding who their new neighbors would be…

In other news I’ve been sick for days. I thought maybe I had a sinus infection but I seem to be getting better without antibiotics, so maybe just a bad cold. I joined a gym and today is the first day of the new session of Next Level classes. Basically where they work you so hard you die. I’m not sure if I’m completely well enough to workout, but we’ll see. I hate to miss the first day. Isn’t that like missing the first day of school when all the important information is given?

Speaking of ‘school’ or daycare, or whatever you want to call it. The girls are still crying at drop-off. I feel so horrible. The only thing that keeps me taking them there is the fact that they are smiling and having fun when I pick them up each day. This daycare/preschool actually has three large centers spaced throughout our city. Apparently it’s the place to go here. Anyway, I noticed on their Facebook page this morning they are looking for a Finance Director. It sparked my interest, well, because that’s what I know, what I’m qualified to do… I’m actually quite over-qualified for what they are looking for, and they are a non-profit, so I assume the pay is shit, but… I feel like I need more in my life, although I’m not sure a full-time job, doing something similar to my career before I had children, will really make me happy. Maybe it’s part-time… ha! Maybe I’ll apply… and just see what it’s all about…

We’re Moved!

Yep, and it snowed here today. HA. Like God must know I love snow or something!

The move itself went well, nothing major broken. I would say I have more than half the boxes unpacked. Still lots of laundry to catch up on though, and organizing will take me weeks. But the place is looking homey and everything we need is in place.

Drop-off at daycare yesterday went surprisingly well! Nadia called for me as I was walking out, but they said she had a good day, other than seeming a little quiet and sad. She even napped and went potty all day for them! Nora was distracted by a teacher when I left, so that was easy! And Nora napped too!

Today was similar. Nadia was even happy when I left, she wanted to give me a kiss and then smiled as I walked out. Nora was more sad, a teacher had to pull her off me, although she wasn’t crying, just didn’t want me to leave. I’m sure, or rather I hope, both are fine now.

I’m off to Lowe’s now to look for cheap blinds as the renters destroyed several of my very-expensive custom window treatments, and since the house is for sale, well, I want it to look nice, but I’m not about to buy more custom stuff.

So all things considered, life is good! I’ll write more when I have more time!

CF Daycare Visit

I just got back from visiting a daycare in Cedar Falls. The same daycare whose wait list we’ve been on for THREE years! Apparently the girls can now start the beginning of April. Um… could we be moved back there by then? Do we move back into our old house there while trying to selling it, and then move again into a more permanent house once it does sell? Do we stay living in our Hiawatha house while we list that one for sale? What is all this change going to do to my girls, who still cry at daycare drop-off? Should I be keeping them home with me once we move and just start them back in August when the Catholic School pre-school begins? Is throwing this extra daycare experience in between from whenever we move until August going to be just too much change for them, and me? OMG, someone tell me what to do? Or come to my house and help my pack and list my house for sale! Just someone take over! Oh, and no more snow dear God. The roads weren’t the best this morning since we got like another 7 inches yesterday. And more snow coming tomorrow night. It took Eric three and a half hours to get to his outreach clinic this morning!

Preschool Visit

Yesterday we attended an open house at the Catholic school/preschool in Cedar Falls. Really cute building, lots of great areas set up in the room for learning, nice teachers, lunch is what the elementary kids get or you can bring your own. They offer daycare opposite the preschool hours, so basically to fill the time between 6:30am and 5pm or so. Nadia would have preschool just on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and otherwise be in their daycare. Nora would have preschool Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons and daycare otherwise. It’s all one building, the preschool and daycare, so I assume they would see each other, and be in daycare together all day on Wednesdays. Only during the school year though. What do people who work full-time do in the summer? As this arrangement wouldn’t really enable me to go back to work full-time. Hire a summer nanny in our home I guess? I liked the preschool though, and it’s where I assumed the girls would go to elementary school, so makes sense. But obviously not as convenient as a true daycare which incorporates the preschool into the curriculum. Should I still visit the traditional daycare centers?? I don’t know! Too much to think about. Too much change in my life! Are we moving? Aren’t we? What about all the houses we own?? I know, I wouldn’t want someone else to make all these decisions for me, but sometimes it sounds easy for others to take care of all this! Or at least tell me what they would do if they were me!