Of course, no day is complete without some remodeling work. Today was meeting the granite guys at the jobsite and repeating 20 times: "The 30-inch vanity has ONE drill hole for the faucet; the other one has THREE."
I had to bring all three kids to the jobsite, never a good idea, but I had no choice. Fortunately, Dave found the time to come with me. Good thing. Katrina first ran around in circles happily, before we went inside and she got all P.O.'d about having to being carried around.
She never lets her brothers hold her hand and guide her anymore, though they're both very willing to leap into the role of caretaker. Bummer.
I took the crew to Lowe's to check out light fixtures. Katrina saw the blue car cart and flipped. This pause for a photo was met with angry disapproval. Naturally, the boys had to get in on the action.
I've finally started reviewing photos for my annual calendar -- yes it's coming folks! -- and can't believe how many photos I have of everyone smiling except Katrina, who's crying and objecting furiously! This is just another one.
Then I took them to the "old" gym, whose daycare was inexplicably open (their hours aren't nearly as broad as the Y's). I plopped them there with lunch at 10:30 and went for a workout, that I needed more intellectually than physically.
And again, Katrina was furious about having to leave the gym daycare.
Her new reaction to anger is to bite herself. Great. She knows she's not supposed to bite us, so she bites herself and even threatens us with her nefarious plot: "I'm goin' tah bi' TREENA!" She also tries to pinch or hit us, but it's half-hearted. Like Gabriel, she lashes out in anger, but unlike Gabriel, she doesn't like being scolded. Either that or she's just easier to scare.
Despite her wily personality, neither Dave or I have ever had to swat her. Talking to her sternly is generally enough and she backs down -- not out of feeling sad that Mommy is angry, but moreso out of fear -- or practicality. Even Julian got a well-timed smack from time to time at this age, turning a long irritating impasse into sad crying and the end of the conflict. Gabriel wouldn't back down no matter what. Katrina doesn't concede the way Julian did, she stays mad, but unlike Gabriel she recognizes futility and looks for other ways to get back at us. She hasn't figured out yet that biting herself isn't the way to do it.
The kids had had enough buzzing around for the day and spent a relatively quiet afternoon at home. Downtime. Ah. And I survived it!
12/29/08
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