The Girl

Molly had her first day of nursery school (and I use the word school very loosely here) on Monday. It was fun! But I discovered that Molly sure has a loooooong was to go on the whole sharing and get along with others thing. I think that in our house, most of the toys are not really contentious. Porter doesn't really want much to do with Molly's dolls, and if she howls, he just gives her whatever she wants. And she's used to being around Porter's friends, who pretty much do the same thing. Around a group of kids her own age though, it was tough. There was much grabbing of toys and howling on the floor about the injustice of it all. I'm hoping that it'll be good for her in the end, and that the other moms don't get really annoyed when I leave her there.

Along with that loveliness, Molly has been throwing holy terror tantrums lately. The kind that start with something small, and escalate into back arching, screaming, never ending ridiculousness. I know that this is normal, but looking back on Porter's toddlerhood, I'm realizing how easy he was. He had his moments, but was really easily distracted and very easy going when we were out and about. For the first time ever, I had to leave my shopping cart full of groceries in the store while I carried Molly's thrashing screaming body outside. She did it again when we left preschool. And again this morning at Porter's swimming lesson. When she acts like that at home, I put her right in her crib for a sort of time out. And it works great. She really likes her crib, and calms down immediately in there. It gives us both a chance to cool down, and after a couple of minutes I can get her out and everyone is fine. I am really at a loss on what to do in public places though. She doesn't want me to hold her, will not listen to any kind of reason, doesn't want food or a toy or anything. I've noticed she starts whimpering "go home, go home, go home." Like she knows she's just out of control, but can't do anything about it. And she pretty much just screams and screams until we do get home or into an entirely different situation. I'm starting to dread trips to the store, and I'm really not sure what to do about it. Help!

But! The same things that make her so stubborn and difficult, make her so funny and easy. It's a double edged sword. She play really well by herself, and doesn't need my attention all the time to be happy. She came to me the other night, very proud of her, um, outfit.

And tantrums or not, we've been having a fantastic indian summer here. We've all been soaking it up.