Caterpillar Races

Today is Thursday which is the day W is supposed to have ballet meaning the day I get to relax for 45 minutes and the day I see Benny in the car. For some reason, W didn't have to go to ballet today. Instead, she got a playdate with her friend, O, who's in ballet with her. For the first time we got to use their service car coming home from school. Mercy had come in it and picked us up in the car and she and M got dropped off at B's and then the 3 of us went home.

I love O. She's a hilarious girl. She's so outgoing and will talk to anybody. It's funny though because once we got to our house she became more reserved and W was very outgoing and being so generous with all her stuff. They reversed roles once we were on W's territory. I made them tea and gave them their snack. I'm glad W has a friend who loves playmobile as much as she does because she was finally able to play the game with someone who invests a lot into it. M came home once they were done with their snack and the 4 of us played together. They made a fort in W's bedroom and we played monsters/cats. The girls were cats who could change into whatever animal they wanted to and I was the big monster who was chasing them. I actually had a lot of fun. I was running around so much and picking them up and got really hot and sweaty. We made a mess of the room because they took all of W's stuffed animals off of her shelf and strewn them on the floor. I helped Mercy clean up later, I felt so bad. Eventually O's mom came to pick her up but we were supposed to meet her downstairs. M, W, and I escorted O down to the lobby and waved goodbye to her.

Because of the playdate they had very quick baths and a quick dinner. The mom finally sat with them again so I could have a minute to scarf down my apple. When they were brushing their teeth they were fighting like crazy and driving me even more crazy. M accidentally hit W in the cheek with the mirror and W started crying and M hid under the bed. I'm so tired of the sibling drama. I don't get it- they used to get along so nicely and now they fight constantly. M was in another one of her moods tonight and I could see the tears coming on so I tried to get her to talk to me about her feelings and why she was sad but the mom asked me to clear their dinner plates off the dining room table. I guess it IS a lot of work to clear the plates yourself. I understand you have absolutely NO time to clear them into the kitchen while I'm consoling your troubled daughter.

When I came back M started sulking again and said she doesn't feel like her normal self. I asked her what she meant and what her normal self felt like and she said her normal self feels happy. She said she doesn't feel pretty anymore either. This girl needs therapy and she's 8 years-old.

We lightened the mood by having caterpillar races in their sleeping bags down the wood-floored hallway. They both have Disney princesses sleeping bags and they raced like caterpillars on them the length of the hallway and got several laughs through that.

Because of the nasty snow and weather, T was 15 mins late for tutoring M. The mom had retreated to her bedroom right after dinner and I never saw her again for the rest of the evening. She went M.I.A. and I thought she went to bed super early. She was lounging around the house all day in her pj pants that look just like mine and her cashmere sweater. She looked so comfortable and it made me mad that I'm working like crazy to keep her kids occupied and happy and she's just lounging around in her comfy clothes.

It was weird that the mom didn't come out to say goodnight to the girls or read with W like she normally does but I didn't mind. I had my regular bedtime routine with them. After I read to M and said goodnight to her I went to get my stuff together to leave. Before I did though I went back in W's room to turn out the light and make sure she was going to sleep. She told me she's been having bad dreams about there being a fire in their house. She's brought up her fear of fires lots of times and it's very clear that she's very scared of them. I sat down on her bed and talked her through why she doesn't need to be scared of that happening. She asked a lot of questions and I explained the batteries in the smoke detector, etc. I told her the main reason fires start is when people leave candles burning and then forget to blow them out. She got concerned and said "what if people light the Hanukkah candles and forget about them?" I thought that was so cute and told her I've never forgotten to blow them out and that they go out really quickly on their own. She was calmed by that answer.

Then she said, "what about burglars??" I told her she was in a very safe building and that the doormen would never let a burglar in. Then she got concerned because their house in Purchase has no doorman. Then she told me she doesn't like going to Purchase because it's too scary. She and her sister don't share a bathroom and her sister's room is farther away. She said she bumps into things when she wakes up to go to the bathroom and I offered to get her a night light to remedy that. She seemed into that idea.

I must have sat with her for a good extra 15 minutes trying to calm of her fears for fires and burglars. Then I tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead, and told her to have sweet dreams.

Not that I mind, but where is the mother for all of this???