Artemis

I ate at a restaurant yesterday and on the placemat they had questions that were used as conversation starters. One of them was "what would you do if you were President for a day?" Since then it is all I can think about. I don't know if one day is long enough to reverse all the wrongs that this President has done to our country. Assuming that I would have full power as the President and wouldn't have to pass things with the other powers that be, my list is endless. As I started thinking about it, more and more things popped into my mind. I would definately need to stay awake for the full 24 hours and not bother with eating, bathing, etc. Tasks would need to be given to as many people as possible so I could cover as much ground as I could. I would hire my sisters as my aides to help me out with everything. The first thought was the war, I would end that... then the environment, I would put us on the Kyoto agreement, toughen all the pollution and emission laws, stop the...

I learned something about fathers and daughters today. Their urge to protect and make their daughters happy starts at birth. The baby had a doctor's appointment today and I got to go with. The doctor gave advice on sleeping and eating habits. When we got home, the mother was telling the father about what the doctor said; he seemed to disagree. Here's how it went: Mother: The doctor said that the baby should be eating every three hours. She said that if she is fussy in between it means that she is not getting enough to eat when I feed her or she is gassy. Father: No, you feed her when she wants to eat. Mother: No, because then she will think that whenever she cries, she will get food. She needs to start on a schedule soon. Father: No, you feed her when she is hungry. Then he walked away. Even though the doctor (and a how to book on the first year of life) said how her eating habits should be, apparently doctors and experts are wrong, at least to this father. As annoying as it wa...

I think this area takes the term "snail mail" too seriously. My wonderful mother has taken on the task of sending me all the things I couldn't take on the airplane. In the first package, she sent two of my quilts, one my grandmother made and the other my friend made. She sent it right away because she knew how much I wanted them and that I would sleep better with them. Sixteen days later (eleven business days), I finally got the package! I understand that I am a long ways from North Dakota, but that is just ridiculous. And when you are homesick and wanting something that reminds you of home, it seems to take forever. She already sent the second package, I might get it by springtime!

Today was a good day. Don't get me wrong, the little girl was still a pain in the ass. But for the first time since I have been here, I feel like we are making progress. She started out her day with a huge temper tantrum and while this may sound bad, it was really a good thing. It was the only time the mother has said no to her daughter and then disciplined her for not listening. While she did not stay in the time out, I take it as progress on the mother's part, it isn't easy telling your child no when she is crying. The little girl is finally starting to show me some respect, which is a great feeling. This morning when she lied to me about something, I looked at her with a sad face and told her that when she lies to me, it hurts my feelings (the best method I have found for dealing with lying). She looked right at me and told me she was sorry... progress. When we got out of the car today, I told her to take her coat. She looked at me and told me in a snotty voice, "Yo...

Kids must have some sort of bad day radar. When they sense you are having a bad day, they decide to be a pain in the ass. I didn't sleep well last night, am completely exhausted and not feeling the best, so the little girl I watched decided to make my bad day even more miserable. One would think that a 4 year old girl wouldn't be all that vindictive, but one would be wrong. They are great at being bossy, lying, ignoring, and making babies cry intentionally, all while fooling their parents into thinking they are angels. Oh, but beware little girl, because I see through it all. I see when you color all over the carseat after your mom tells you not to, I see when you give the dog 7 dog biscuits and tell your mom you only gave him one, I see it when you take out the baby's pacifier and say "it just fell out" and when you poke at her until you make her cry so you can hold her after your mom says "she is happy, just leave her alone, only pick her up if she cries...

When did we reach the age that we cared what people thought? There is a guest staying here this weekend and it is a teenage boy. The little girl I watch had never met him before. Last night she was running around the house with her shirt off, sitting on the boy's lap. I asked her why she had it off and she said because she was hot. She obviously doesn't care about her body yet, it has to be great to have such freedom. On another note, when I moved here, I never considered that a different place would have different spiders. I have had to kill two so far and I had never seen either kind before. Do they have poisonous spiders in Connecticut?

When I started my blog, my sister insisted that I write everyday. I negotiated it down to two or three times a week and both weekend days. I am holding up my end of the bargain, however I lack a subject. Nevertheless, it counts as a blog!

When I got to Connecticut, I was excited because the trees had just started to change. Since they have had so much rain here, it delayed the fall color peak, so it was beautiful. The trees are colors I have never seen anywhere else, some have even turned light pink! But as luck would have it, the colors changed really fast and a few windy days have made a lot of the leaves fall to the ground. I have been so busy this week and it is dark by the time I am done with work, so I have yet to take any photos of the trees. I am hoping that they will hold off a little longer so I can get out there on my weekend off and take a few photos of the beautiful New England fall colors.

I didn't expect to be so tired! I knew that I would be working with children all day, which is always exhausting, but I am more tired than I expected! I am sure it has something to do with daylight savings time, a time change and getting up early. Or maybe it is spending all day with a crying baby and a little girl that is so energetic! The little girl was even in school for half a day and the mother was home for most the day and I am still worn out. But I must say, I love it!