Uh oh

As I'm in the bedroom changing Tory, I hear a noise from the kitchen. It sounds like dozens of small, hard objects hitting the floor. I finish with Tory and hurry into the kitchen. Ian is standing over a pile of chocolate chips with a torn chocolate chip bag in his hands.

"I need to go to my room," he calmly says.

I have to admire his problem-solving skills.

Can't ... Take ... Any ... More ... Burl ... Ives

The kids have a DVD of the TV special of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. I believe they watched it about a half-dozen times during the trip to see grandparents and back these past few days. They also have a CD soundtrack of the TV special, which I believe they listened to at least a dozen times in the car. Those two discs are getting locked away for the next 11 months.

12 something something, 11 mumble mumble, 10 mrrh mrrh...

Abbie can sing the 12 Days of Christmas. The entire song. I don't even know the words to the whole song. Looks like preschool is really paying off.

Long Work Days

I woke up this morning, got the kids ready, and dropped them off at the childcare center. It was a normal morning until I hopped back into my car and drove home. Today was the first weekday of my break from law school.

I had planned to change the kids' childcare schedule. I'm home from school for a month, so I wanted to drop them down to part time. I still have a little work to do for school during break, and could use the childcare for a day or two a week, but it doesn't make sense to leave the kids in childcare full time while I'm home all day. If I kept the kids home with me most of the week, I would have time to do the work I need to do, plus we could save money on childcare. Oh, and there's that thing about building stronger relationships with my children by spending time with them, but I was really excited about saving money.

It turns out childcare centers don't let you do that. My request to drop back to part time was not well received. They didn't quite laugh at me, but that may only be because they're perpetually cheerful in that place. Their schedule is locked into full time. We pay for those days whether the kids are at the childcare center or at home. It doesn't matter if they're home because I'm home and able to care for them, they're sick and can't go to the center, or it's a holiday and the center is closed. We pay for full-time childcare every week until we drop out. Ooh, but after a year we get a whole week of "vacation" where we can keep the kids out of the center without paying for it.

I couldn't decide which would make me feel more ridiculous: Dropping the kids off for childcare I didn't need, or paying for childcare we wouldn't use. After much deliberation, I settled on the latter as more ridiculous. So this morning I dropped the kids off at childcare the same as always, and returned home to work on a few things. A couple hours later, I needed more work to do. Obviously I should find more work to keep me busy.

Things I Should've Seen Coming

Abbie has discovered "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." We own a DVD copy of the classic television special featuring stop-motion animation that looks kind of creepy by today's computer animation standards. Abbie doesn't care about the potential creepiness of the animation, though. Abbie likes the music. And the story. But mostly she likes the music.

When Abbie asked to watch Rudolph today, I tried to have a little fun with her.

"Can I watch Rudolph?" she asked.

"Rudolph?" I asked. "Does he have a very shiny nose?"

"Yeah" she replied. "He has a very shiny nose."

"He does!" I said with encouragement. "What would you do if you ever saw him?"

"I would even say it glows," she answered dutifully.

"You would? That's great!" I said excitedly.

"I would laugh and call him names," she continued.

"That's ... that's not so great," I said loading the DVD. Like I said, she pays more attention to the music than the story.

How Would You Rate Our Service for Saving Your Child's Life? 1, mostly satisfied. 2, somewhat satisfied...

I got a phone call today from Poison Control. They wanted to do a follow-up survey with me, and make sure they helped us when I called them last week. That was one of the many exciting things that happened while I was dangerously absorbed in final exam preparations last week.

I'm tired when I pick up the kids from childcare. I've been working hard all day trying to interpret obtuse written words. My mind is stuck on passive reading mode, and switching gears to active childcare mode takes a few minutes. The kids take advantage of this time by running wild when we arrive home. I have to shoo them one at a time from the garage into the living room. While I focus on one child, the other two take this time to investigate any pretty fragile items I might have foolishly left within their reach.

On the day in question, Ian went into the living room first. I herded Tory into the living room, and found Abbie juggling glass Christmas ornaments. As I rounded the corner, I found Ian chewing on something. Upon closer inspection, it was a bottle of superglue. I snatched it from his mouth, and he screamed the kind of scream a child might make after ingesting a large quantity of a highly toxic substance. Since the bottle was half-empty and glue was all over his mouth, I figured I should call someone.

Many months ago I added the phone number for poison control into speed dial, and on this day it finally paid off. Within minutes I was talking to someone who had an idea of how toxic the glue was. The answer: Not very. It sounds like superglue is like alcohol; it might make the child act drunk, but a little bit probably won't hurt him. The bigger danger is getting it in the eye, or inhaling it and getting it caught in the airways.

Ian seemed to be acting normal, so I stopped worrying. If he swallowed any, it was a very small amount. Most of the superglue was on the floor. And on his face. And in his hair.

Ian suffered no serious injury besides a bald spot where we cut off a chunk of glued hair. I told the survey taker that I appreciated their service. They might have saved us a trip to the ER, and it would've taken me forever to shoo everyone back into the car.

I'm Not Dead Yet

Sorry I went dark for a while. I just finished my law school finals. I went through two solid weeks of cramming every obscure legal detail into my head. Now I get to spend a couple more weeks worrying about how I did on the finals. Oh, and I have to write a Christmas card letter. And write a resume. And find a job for the summer. And travel back and forth for the holidays. Otherwise it'll be an easy break for me.