Experiments in Life

So, looking at the NOAA map, we seem to have gotten somewhere around 8 inches of snow over the weekend. That amount of snow hitting the Deep South means that town pretty much shuts down until the roads clear themselves. One consequence of town shutting down is that Ashley, Emily, and I are all cooped up together in the same house for 3–4 days straight. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my daughter. However, she is very much 3 years old and has decided that she really doesn’t need to have a nap at all. Now, this wouldn’t be too much of a problem if we could get her out and about for a bit, but when we are snowed in, that doesn’t really happen. So, over the course of the past few days, Em has been, let us say, creative in figuring out things to do.

Sunday afternoon, while she was supposed to be napping, she managed to “paint” her fingernails and toenails along with applying makeup to her three Barbie dolls. Monday afternoon, while she was supposed to be napping, she somehow managed to pull over the changing table that we use as a dresser in her room. Luckily, she did not pull it on top of her, but it did hit her on the way down. When I figured out what was going on and got up there to right the changing table (and trying to call down the screaming child), I noticed that she had taken a marker to her forehead and, strangely, to both of her feet. I never could really get a straight answer out of her as to what she was doing to pull the changing table down, but she had to have been climbing on it. This morning, Ashley and I made the mistake of, at 6am, telling her to go up to her room to play quietly instead of getting up with her immediately. Instead, she started drawing on her mini-easel with marker and, getting bored with that, drawing on the coffee table. Luckily, I was able to get most of the black magic marker out of the oak table, so no real harm done.

By lunch today, I braved the cold and lingering snow so that I could go in to the office and get 4 hours or so of peaceful work done without a running, questioning commentary on what I am doing.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out my new site, peruse my thoughts on having a Kindle and an Apple TV and how that is changing my media consumption.

Popularity: 7% [?]

When Did I get a Teenager?

• One of my top picks for Emily’s name was Massey — it would have been fitting given her red hair.
• Kids grow into sassy little teenagers sooner than you think — this picture nails Em’s attitude exactly.
• Apparently, the boy–girl divisions start around preschool. Last week, Em informed me that boys are yucky and since I am a boy, I am yucky too.
• Kids become devious sooner rather than later. After telling me that she didn’t love me and was not my friend, I informed Em that I only read good-night stories to my friends. She then quickly changed her mind and stated that I was her “best friend”. This lasted until I put her to bed, where she grinned and told me that I was yucky once more.

Popularity: 8% [?]