Thursday, March 02, 2006

I Did It All By My Self!

No, this entry's title isn't a quote from Sweetie (although it is something she's rather fond of proclaiming as often as possible). I'm talking about myself here.

That's right - I did it all by myself!

And what exactly is the "it" I'm talking about? Well, for starters, I took Sweetie to school this morning all by myself. This was my second attempt at this (you can read about my disastrous 1st attempt in the March issue of Audacity Magazine - due to post soon). Today's excursion went much more smoothly.

Oh sure, she was still clingy and would have rathered I stay with her to play instead of go to work (heck, I would have preferred that too). But she at least willingly walked herself into the class and was, in general, happy to be there. When I had to finally leave, I simply diverted Sweetie's attentions toward a little boy in her class who was also unhappy that his mom had to leave. I told her to go with her teacher and help him to feel better. She went off, and I scooted out. So, all in all, not a bad experience. I even showed up to work on time. Good for me!

I also got Sweetie home and into the house all by myself as well as off to bed - earlier than usual, in fact, and with very little drama. Yep, this is one of those Thursday nights I mentioned a couple weeks ago, when Hubby is working late and Sweetie and I are left to fend for ourselves. We've stayed over at my parents' the last two Thursday nights. But this week I wanted to try it on my own, figuring it would make for a calmer, more comfortable night - snuggled tight in our own beds. It's been fun at my parents', but it can get crazy there. Home is where we need to be.

We did great! Sweetie didn't fight too badly when I changed her into her pajammies, and she even asked to go to bed about one hour earlier than she usually goes. I kept her up a bit (not wanting to pay for an early bedtime with an early wake up call on the other end), but she was soon dozing on my lap as we watched American Idol together. So off to bed it was. As expected, she did her usual thing of getting out just once, almost immediately upon my leaving her room. But I quickly walked her back, tucked her tight, and left. And that was that. No tears, no fight, nothing.

That was about 1 1/2 hours ago and I haven't heard one peep from her since. Thank Goodness.

So - it was a good day. Not that I'm proclaiming this as a beacon of hope for the future. I know only too well just how fickle Sweetie can be and that tomorrow may be an entirely different story. Better not look at Sweetie cross-eyed! She's liable to snap! But then again, maybe she won't.

She's unpredictable, that one. That's for sure. But at least we're through today. She and I succeeded together - all by ourselves!

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