Oy.  The last couple of weeks have been tough.  Until recently, Miss G has been a pretty happy-go-lucky, easy-to-please, easy to reason with little lady.  Even in moments of real frustration, getting down on her level and calmly talking out the problem was a sure fix.  Even when she was very little.  And don’t get me wrong.  That sweet, loving little girl is still here and melts my heart on a daily basis.  But goodness gracious, have we ever been on an emotional roller coaster lately.  Little things, like turning off a light, filling a pink cup with water, or putting away a book can set off a wave of disappointment, whining, and tears.  She wanted to do it.  She wanted the blue one.  She was going to read it again.  We’ve had our first temper tantrums, she’s marched to her room and closed the door loudly behind her, and today she pulled out the big guns and shouted “I NO LOVE YOU, MAMA!” (ugh).  We’re doing our best, figuring things out as we go (thank goodness for Janet Lansbury), and focusing all of the good times, but it can sure be exhausting some days.  Especially given my recent run in with a tee ball bat and a set of stairs which has left me hobbling around with highly unattractive purple and blue swollen foot.

Today was just one of those mornings.  It started well, Gracen asked to go to one of our local play gyms, and we began getting ready.  All was good until she wasn’t able to put her tights on on her own and I was in the shower instead of helping her immediately.  And it just went downhill from there.  By the time we were ready and had all of our issues sorted out, play gym was half over and would have been three quarters over by the time we drove there.  So what do you do when you’ve spent the last two hours preparing to leave the house, but it’s now almost lunchtime and you know that an early lunch and early nap is the best thing for everyone involved?  

An indoor picnic! It was special enough that Miss G wasn’t completely crushed about not making it out the door to play gym, but kept our daily routine moving along and neared us to nap time, which was desperately needed. We laid a blanket out in the living room, gathered a few cushions, and turned on some happy music in hopes of a reset.

Miss G requested a “special picnic lunch” and chose a random assortment of foods cut into small pieces, in true toddler fashion.  Her lunch included orange pepper slices, baby carrots, grilled chicken cubes, chunks of aged cheddar, a multigrain mini bun with hummus, kiwi slices and some fruit water.

This mama, on the other hand, needed something more meal-ish, especially after the morning we’d had.  For me, baby kale and baby spinach topped with fresh veggies, feta, cilantro dressing, and a few mini chickpea patties (yum). 

Grae thought the entire set up was very special and went back to being my happy little sidekick almost as soon as we began putting it together.

And thank goodness for that.  

♥ 

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