We got off to a late start today since the kids slept until about 7:40. Riesling rolled out of my bed and smacked her eye on the corner of my nightstand and that’s how we started our day. I sat on the couch with her for the few minutes it took her to calm down. As Joe was heading out the door (we weren’t the only ones off to a late start) he wrote something on a piece of paper and said that 45,000 was the biggest number and put it in his pocket. Riesling shouted out, “No, 65,000!” This continued for a few minutes until Joe left.
She said that she wanted to watch Disney’s Beauty and the Beast so I put in the tape and started the smoothies. Cashel woke up and took his place on the couch next to DD (which is what Cashel insists on calling Riesling, even though he can say her name and we never call her DD). After about 15 minutes Riesling asked me how much of the movie the Beast was in. I told her that I thought he was in most of it. She said she didn’t want to watch it anymore and turned off the TV. Cashel started hollering that he was watching it and to turn it back on!!! I stopped the tape and asked them to help me figure this out. At first Riesling made rude nonsensical remarks that sounded like some of the kids at SVCS. I asked her to help me understand how her remarks were helping. She didn’t answer my question, but instead switched her tone and added some useful comments. She finally decided to go in her room until Beauty and the Beast was over. I finished the smoothies and brought Riesling’s to her. I sat and folded wash and watched some of the movie with Cashel, asking him what was going on and why all the things had come to life. Riesling would periodically come out and ask if the Beast was on or not and then go right to the back of the house. Cashel said that the Beast was scary a couple of times, but he stayed glued to the TV.
Finally B&B was over and I had the privilege of talking through why it wouldn’t be fair if Riesling now watched Arthur because Cashel would like to watch Arthur and she did not want to watch Beauty and the Beast. They put on some music and Riesling dressed up. They dragged lots of blankets out and around the house for their babies. Cashel played with the huge beads that snap together today and yesterday. He and Riesling got into a big altercation because he wanted them all and she took some.
Riesling surfed the Strawberry Shortcake website and then the Care Bears site for 45 minutes. She and Cashel both clicked on the colors that they wanted the picture of their bears to be and then they printed them out. Later Cashel kept taking her picture and insisting it was his. Riesling wrote each of their names on their pictures so there would be no confusion as to whose was whose.
After lunch the kids were crazy. I think because I didn’t give them much of my undivided attention in the morning. They ran from one end of the house to the other, Riesling in her outfit of the moment and Cashel in his PJs with their teeth still unbrushed and faces still unwashed. It’s no wonder they get crazy when the day is so hectic and even the basics are missed. But they did calm down after a bit and then settled in together on their couch to look at books.
Finally, after snack I took a shower and the kids got properly cleaned up and we headed off to get our Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) box and to Martin’s Food Store. Completely Off Topic (OT): When we went to pick up the CSA box the nice Mennonite man that grows our organic vegetables was wearing a hat that said BeefCake 
That kept me chuckling all the way to Martin’s!
Cashel and Riesling had $0 left to spend in Martin’s and were quite sad that they couldn’t hit the candy machines up on the way in. Riesling followed me into the store and Cashel stayed on the foyer, checking each machine. As I was watching him, he picked something up and was really excited. I thought it was some candy off the floor so I mentally prepared my “Why we don’t eat things off the floor” schpeel. But it wasn’t candy…it was a quarter. He shared the candy he got with Riesling and we started shopping. We got to the organic section’s bulk aisle and there was more disappointment that they didn’t have any money. So they weighed their milk containers that I had brought into the store, entered a random bin number and printed out a label for each container. I used this opportunity to talk about how much each container weighed and which was more and how much per pound the label said that they cost. Riesling was mildly interested in my blabbing, Cashel just wanted his sticker.
They listened to Thomas the Train stories all the way to town and all the way back–the whole CD, almost twice.
While Joe and I carried in and put away the groceries, our two children decided that 7:45PM was a great time to have a scavenger hunt in the dark using flashlights. They were in full swing by the time we were ready to get them into bed. By then my brain was really tired of thinking, so I must have pulled this one out of the other end. I got really excited and helped them turn off all the lights in the house. Then I said there were 7 items that they needed to find. Two children’s toothbrushes, two small washclothes, Riesling’s PJs, Cashel’s PJs and a tissue for Cashel’s nose. And they were off in a flash with their lights bouncing ahead of them. They found all the items and met back at home base (the bathroom). After they were ready, I had them hunt for their books and the rocking chair. Riesling found A Weekend With Wendell by Kevin Henkes and Cashel found The Emperor’s New Clothes by Van Gool.
I read the books and tucked Cashel in and Joe tucked Riesling in. It was late, they were tired, sleep came quick.
tags: Cashel, imaginary play, literacy, math, reasoning, Riesling
