Routine Adjustments

I love the phase where books become a toddler's favorite toy (unfortunately it seems to be a short-lived phase for my kids, or at least it was for Claire). The twins both spend a lot of the day pointing at pictures in books and asking me for the word (or occasionally, telling me the word for the object). Bedtime has shifted from a singing to a reading routine because they'd rather listen to stories and point at pictures. Molly has to take a book into her bed to be able to go to sleep each night now. Of course, hours later I'm sneaking in to pull the book back out of her bed. It would probably be a fantastically freakish feat to choke on a book, but trust me, my brain believes it's fully possible and so a book will never stay in her bed all night long.

Routine is numbing, oh so numbing, so I did a crockpot dinner (um, three-bean chili is fine for a 100-degree day, right?) and instead took the girls to the neighborhood park while I'd normally be prepping dinner. The change of pace was refreshing. I've had three days of twin crankiness (I assume molars again) but I've found that getting them outside nearly always cures the bad moods.

The 16-year-old babysitter had another good week with us. I just learned she's not yet 16, so I commend her on her maturity and ability to handle my household. The girls have fun with her and the house is clean when I get home from work. "Sam" has figured out that Claire is a sneaky little thing. Claire has now lied to get Coke, lied about being allowed to watch SpongeBob Squarepants, and stole her sister's drinks rather than asking for her own. I'm getting super tired of this lying phase and would love to know when (if?) it ends. And I need to get some good tips for teaching her that lying is not appropriate.

Tomorrow is another WFH day, and I'm hoping to get the kids out of the house in the morning. I don't think I can suffer through another morning of Molly crying intermittently for four hours. We need another routine change and work has slowed down enough to allow some play time tomorrow.

Photos are from the neighborhood park tonight.