Antidisshenanigantarianism

It's been a while since I've shared any of Sadie Lynn's crazy shenanigans, and you may be under the impression that she has slowed down, mellowed out, or taken a sabbatical from mischievousness. You could not be more wrong! Our beloved Sadie Lynn is just as "spirited" as ever and the list of lunacy is getting longer everyday.

A couple of weeks ago she decided to paint fish at preschool. Aw, isn't that a cute art project. The problem was that the fish were alive and still in the tank at the time. None of the fish turned orange, which was her color of choice, but the water did as well as the sides of the tank since she decided to paint those when getting the fish didn't work out. We learned several lessons that day- one, you can't paint fish while they are swimming; two, you shouldn't try to paint fish that are swimming; three, fish need oxygen and the more paint there is in the water, the less oxygen thus resulting in several dead fish; and four, Sadie Lynn cannot be unsupervised in the art corner.

Continuing with the paint theme...
I'm lying in bed the other night and all of a sudden I get a whiff of what smells like nail polish remover. Naw, it can't be. The remover is in my bathroom and all three girls are quietly in bed for the night. Sniff sniff. Wow, that really does smell like remover. Could one of the girls have sneaked it out when I wasn't looking? Then I remember the time that Sadie Lynn drank nail polish remover, and recalling that she was about the same age as Sydney Joy is now I started to panic. I ran to the bathroom, switched on the light, and there on the counter sat my bottle of polish remover. Whew!
Wait a minute, then what the heck is that smell?
Turns out that I was not sniffing remover but the actual nail polish. And while you may have figured that out five sentences ago, it really took me that long to get it. Upon entering the girl's bedroom I see Sadie Lynn AND Sydney Joy sitting in bed painting their own nails. Now, take a moment to picture what a 4 year old's nails would look like when she has attempted to paint them herself. Then picture what a 2 year old's would like...yeah, it was that bad. Actually Sadie Lynn had painted Sydney Joy's finger nails, but Sydney Joy had moved on to her toe nails, which included the painting of her entire feet. And if that weren't enough mess add in that both girl's has dripped polish on their pajamas, and had spilled what looked like half the bottle on the bed spread. Could it possibly get worse you ask? Yes it can! The color of choice- a nice shade Sarah Jane had picked out a while ago called electric blue. Yes, I said blue.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Those were my exact words when I turned on the light to get a full picture of what was happening. Needless to say both girls took a bath in nail polish remover and then a real bath to get off the remover. It took several days for Sydney Joy's feet to loose the blue tint though. I threw out the polish and Sadie Lynn will not be allowed to have her nails painted by anyone for an undetermined amount of time. At the time I wanted to say until she was 16, but now that I have calmed down, maybe 15.

Not only can she not have her nails painted, but she is also not allowed to have bubble gum for a while. Why not? Well, it may have something to do with her shoplifting a pack of Watermelon Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum from our local Wal-Mart. She said that her hands were in her shirt because she was cold. We had spent significant time in the frozen foods section, so I thought that was it. But when we walked across the 90 degree parking lot and she still had her hands in her shirt I knew something was up. After she had stopped sobbing we walked back into Wal-Mart, found a manager and returned the gum along with giving an apology and a promise never to take things without paying for them ever again. Hopefully she sticks to that promise.

So, rest assured that our Sadie Lynn is just as spunky as ever, and has yet to cease her "keep my mom on her toes" philosophy.
Lord help us.

Yours 'till Sadie Lynn can take a bath in hair conditioner and come out soft and manageable.

FYI

If anyone is interested in checking out Delta Elementary Charter School, click here to go to their website.

It's a Good Thing

No, I'm not Martha Stewart, who may very well hold the copyright for "It's a Good Thing." But I am Erin Hinton and there are definitely some good things to talk about.

First, I took Sarah Jane to school today with the plan that she will ride the bus home this afternoon. This is a big step for her, and she was very nervous about it. She was almost in tears last night dreading what the next day would hold, and awoke this morning in no better spirits. She tried to convince me that she had a stomach ache and couldn't go to school. When that didn't work, she mysteriously came down with a headache also. However, the offer of liquid Tylenol (yuck!)seemed to clear it right up. The whining and whimpering began shortly thereafter and continued until we got to school. I walked her in and we had a chat with Ms. Ramos, her teacher, about our plans for the ride home. Ms. Ramos was able to show Sarah Jane where she would go after school to get on the bus and told her that Anna, one of her friends in class, also rides the same bus. She then remembered Anna's first day on the bus, just last week, and how nervous she was too. But now she gets on everyday and everything is just fine. In fact Ms. Ramos would be sure to have Anna wait for Sarah Jane so they could walk to the bus together, and maybe even sit in the same seat. Sarah Jane kissed me goodbye and walked to the playground with a smile. I wasn't so sure a couple of hours ago, but this just may work out after all! If it does, it will save us an hour everyday and an incalculable amount of gas money.

Another good thing is that I am actually looking forward to going back to work today! I have never really had a job I dreaded going to (except that summer at the bank- sorry Aunt Judy) but a job is a job and I haven't ever been excited either. Yesterday was good old Labor Day and while I enjoyed the day off I am honestly happy about being able to get back to school today. Now, by Christmas I may be begging for 2 weeks off, but it's all so new right now, and I'm having so much fun that I'm actually excited to go to work. Odd feeling really.

One more good thing is that since yesterday was a holiday, I had a chance to make banana nut muffins. And a cheer roared through the Hinton Huddle!

Yours 'till Bear Mountain has cubs.