I’ve mentioned before that I have a hard time with not giving gifts ahead of the actual occasion. So, yesterday in my attempt to entertain Chloe so I could clean the house for Playgroup, I pulled out the Castle my parents got Chloe for Christmas. We’re only a little bit early, right? I justified it by telling myself she is going to get a lot of presents all at once, and it might make more sense to give her one at a time so she can thoroughly enjoy it, and when she starts to lose interest, pull out the next one. It makes sense, right? Only to me? Oh, whatever.
She was so cute when she was playing with it that I started to feel guilty that my parents may never get to enjoy WATCHING her play with the toy they so lovingly picked out. This is one of the major downfalls of living in a different state then the grandparents. So, I turned on the camera, just so they could get a glimpse of the joy I have every day.
I worked in the Best Buy customer service department for four years during college. It was a perfect college job because it didn’t require a whole lot of thought, or commitment, and I could transfer back and forth between Fort Collins and Aurora. However, it was no picnic. If you want a hard cold look at the psyche of the American consumer, work in customer service.
Oddly enough, I think it actually prepared me for my work with difficult children. Anybody who has worked in costumer service can tell you that it can be stressful. Customers can be unreasonable, rude, and at times violent. I actually had a lady throw a phone at me once, a phone that was AT LEAST five years old and there was NO WAY it was still under warranty. I also had security escort out another customer because the printer he sent to service came back saying that the warranty had been voided due to something he had done to it. This is what I loved about that one, he was cussing me out at top volume, while holding his five-year-old’s hand. Excellent lesson for your son, sir.
The Christmas season was the worst. I am still traumatized, it is one of the reason I try to have all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. People really suck at Christmas time.
One time, I was running the register because the cashiers were backed up, and we literally had every register manned. There was a guy in line who was bitching to his kid. “Pay attention, this is what happens when you don’t have a college education, you end becoming a cashier for minimum wage. You’d think they would try to find people who could actually do the job. Jeez this is taking forever. Maybe they should train these people better so the lines wouldn’t be so long,” and on and on and on. The funny thing is, the hold up wasn’t me, it was the little old lady three customers in front of him who was counting out the change down to the penny. When he finally got to my register, I told him off. I explained to him that I was in college and this job was helping to pay for it, I had plenty of training and was actually a senior in the customer service department, and if he didn’t want to wait in line, he shouldn’t shop during one of the busiest times of the season. He asked to see a manager, and I said, “I don’t think that’s going to get you out of here any faster.” Luckily, my manager was nearby and had heard the exchange, he totally backed me up and suggested that the guy find another store if he didn’t like the way things were run at Best Buy.
Why am I telling you about this?
Last night I had a dream where John, Chloe, and I moved to New York. We were living in a tiny apartment and couldn’t afford the rent, so I had to go back to work at Best Buy. I was in the warehouse listening to the drone go on and on about where everything was, and I felt so old and out of place. But, at the same time, I knew the ropes so there was a sense of superiority. A feeling of “I got this.” When I woke up, I was surprised to find myself in my bedroom in New Jersey. It seemed SO real!
I think the dream was brought about by my PTSD when it comes to the Christmas shopping season. They’ve already started playing the music in the stores, and it triggered the fear of having to return to working in retail. I would do it if I had to, but MAN it would be painful!
I am so proud of my little girl. She has taken to potty training like…uh, a fish to water? Something like that, anyway. Between the “Pavlov” effect of the potty monkey, and her growing bladder control, she has gone from having six accidents a day, to having one in three days. And that was in just over a week!
However, we are having some issues with her pooping on the potty. So, all of you veterans parents out there, any suggestion on how to make this more comfortable for her? She only seems to be able to poop standing up (usually in her diaper.) She has tried to poop on the potty, but for some reason, she just can’t. I am starting to worry she is going to get constipated. Because of this concern, yesterday I put a diaper on her after she tried three times to poop on the potty, she pooped with no problem. And today, after trying twice on the potty, she finally gave up and pooped in her underpants. (And, quite honestly I can’t blame her.)
I am just not sure how to cross this physical barrier, so any suggestions would be helpful.
Other than that though, she is doing remarkably well, and barring any setbacks, she should be potty trained by the time we go to Denver in two weeks.
(Disclaimer: I fully anticipate its going to take much longer for her to go overnight, and I am aware that children usually have setbacks of some kind. I am also aware there will be good days and bad days.)
Many moons ago on a planet far far away, I was friends with a humorous fellow named Mike Black. My freshman year of college, we were inseparable. He kept me somewhat sane during a huge transitional part of my life. How, you ask? He kept me laughing. He used to tell he thought I would look so cool if I were fat (I got pretty fat when pregnant with Chloe, and I can tell you I didn’t look that cool). He would tell stories about how when he was younger, he was the menace of the neighborhood and the parents would tell their kids, “we don’t want that Black kid coming over!” And, he nearly got me kicked out of “Playscript analysis,” or whatever it was called, by drawing stick figures getting horribly disfigured.
Well, apparently I am not the only one who thinks he’s funny. He is now earning his living as a stand up comedian, and has been featured on Comedy Central. I gotta say, Mike if you read this, I am REALLY proud of you! Oh, and not at all surprised. I always thought you were freakin’ hilarious!
Chloe had her first movie theater experience today. We took her to Madagascar 2, and it was completely and totally hilarious. And she did as well as can be expected, she certainly did as well as the rest of the kids in the audience. She kept yelling out, “Wook, wook, mommy, brown lion!” At first I tried to shush her, but I quickly gave up. I wanted her to enjoy herself and ALL the kids in the theater were talking. So, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
I highly recommend the movie, even if you don’t bring a child with you. I was enjoying the movie so much, I didn’t realize that at one point she got her arm stuck in between the chairs in front of her. Then she got her hand stuck in the cup holder. Luckily, John was paying closer attention and was able to extract her both times. (shrug) What can I say, it was a really entertaining movie!