No naps, Girl flies on her trike and bathing suits in the bath tub

No naps were to be had today. Boy rarely naps at home anymore. Of course, he naps at school beautifully. Must be the peer pressure. Girl still naps most of the time and really needs her nap, but she is often up to shenanigans. This day was no different. After closing the door to her room, I continued to hear quite a bit of loud conversation and movement coming from inside. I opened the door. The light was on and she was walking back to her bed carrying a stack of books. Apparently she "wanted to read right now." I told her she could read for a few more minutes and then she would need to turn out her light and go to sleep. After about 10 more minutes she started banging on the door saying, "I have to go poop poop." I let her out to go the bathroom and then my mom called. About 10 minutes into the conversation, Boy & Girl both burst into the office in full firefighter attire. Apparently they were off to a "very important fire" and this took priority over a mere nap and the very clever manipulation of "I have to go poop poop" had freed our Girl from her slumber of low importance.

We then loaded up the two trikes and headed for a local park that has a wonderful sidewalk/ideal trike course circuit - a big loop around the park. Girl was a vision in her flowered hat, multi-striped shirt, green skort and ankle socks pulled half-way up her shins. Round legs pumping, an intensity on her face of pure concentration, she maneuvered around the bends and was tireless. It was exhilarating to see her really get to fly on her trike for the first time. Just a couple of weeks ago she was screeching in pure frustration as she couldn't figure out how to pedal. Today she was pedaling like she'd been doing it for years. It felt like a momentous occasion. Somehow seeing her little person independently taking to the bike path was not unlike how I felt the first time she started walking. Really walking. And now she is doing it "all by my own" as Boy would say.

Boy wanted to be "in front of Girl" most of the time, which was fine with her as she loved following him. There is a small hill coming down from the parking lot into the park and of course Boy wanted to go down it. He would go full tilt and then stop himself with the rubber toes of his sneakers, skidding to a stop. His ability to go at a pretty good clip and then stop on a dime amazes me. There were some college kids hanging out with skateboards and Boy was fascinated watching them. I can see him on a skateboard already. It is just a matter of time.

The latest thing with bath time is that they want to have their bathing suits and water shoes on....in the bath. I'm not sure who the wise Sage was who originated the phrase of knowing when to pick your battles, and it is good advice, but sometimes by the end of the day I feel more like a freaky Mommy Dearest rather than a calm parent who methodically chooses to let her children have that little bit of fun. When I'm really tired, the battles tend to come out in me. Especially if moments before they've tornadoed through the house for the millionth time that day. However, I did manage to take a deep breath and let them have their fun in the tub. And I felt better for it. After all that bicycling, they were out in about 5 minutes and E and I actually got to watch a Netflix movie. It was a good finish to the weekend.

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