Winter Guard 180

I am really beginning to enjoy the winter guard season again. This year started out really good, a great set of kids and a wonderful show. However, somewhere down the line it got a little out of hand, a little...aggressive - kids vs. staff. They weren't behaving the way we wanted them to, so we screamed a lot and lectured them even more. Every time that happened...and we yelled at them to improve their attitude...they got worse and worse.

So our director, who has always been a particularly clever person, had the insight to completely change the attitude of the staff. We have made strides to be positive and patient and to (in his words) "not want it more than the kids do".

And guess what...

the kids' attitudes changed too. They are behaving closer to what we hoped for than I have ever seen before. Practices have been delightful and everyone is in a better mood. Even this past weekend, when we all had to be at practice at 6:00 am on Saturday, everyone was tired, but in a good mood (unheard of!). We have all shifted from trying to achieve perfection at all costs, to having a fun and doing the best we can. That might sound like a no-brainer, but when you are in the middle of it, it is not so easy to see. Even with all the talent these kids have, are we going to come close to winning this year..?...No. Are we going to have fun and enjoy each other's company..?..that is already happening.

I think it is fortunate that our director took a moment to see it from the kids' perspective and weigh what was more important - for everyone. It is a lesson that I hope I can remember years from now if my daughter and I are at odds. Stop and take a look from the other point of view. Sometimes its o.k. to ease up and see the situation for what it really is. Not only is is wise to choose your battles, but also the way in which you fight them. It may turn out in the end to be the only way anyone is going to win.

3:00 'Antsies'

Lately, I have had a better time dealing with being a working mom than I did in the beginning. Daycare is going so well that any nervousness I may have felt before is gone. I still take myself for a guilt trip every so often because I am not there for her, but generally things have been o.k. concerning my return to the workforce.

However...

everyday at 3:00, this crazy sensation comes over me and all I can think about is going and getting my daughter and going home. I get an extreme case of the 'Late Afternoon Baby Antsies':

I fiddle with a pen and look at her picture on my desk.

I put the pen down and flip my stack of Post-it Notes.

I look at the other picture of her on my desk.

I put down the Post-its and pick up the foam pig on my desk (don't ask).

I pound it's snout into my chair and wait for my screen saver of Hailey pictures to pop up.

It's like a madness that comes over me. The clock in the corner of my computer screen stops....moving....entirely. I cannot wait for 5:00 to come. Its worse than Christmas when I was 8 years old. Its worse than waiting for my bagel to pop out of the toaster in the morning...AHHH! Forget 'Generation X' - I am part of the 'Instant Gratification Generation' and I want my baby NOW!

I used to linger a little at work. Check e-mail one last time, then finally start shutting things down at 5:00. Nope, not any longer....I shut down at 4:50 and I am starting my car by 5:01.

Who would have thought that something so small could get me off my lazy butt and get moving as fast as I do? Babies, I've learned, are great motivators!

Videos!

I figured out how to post videos onto my blog!

To celebrate...here are two videos of Hailey. It takes a while for them to load, but if you are patient, they are pretty darn cute. If you click on the play button, then wait for it to load (the bar will turn grey, then you can click play again and it should play just fine.

In this first one, I tried to put her down for a nap....I don't think she was sleepy.



This next one is of Nathan feeding her her first real food...Bananas!
Of course the dog has to inspect her food and gets shoo'ed away (only to return again).



Things are going very well - she is eating 'solids' and liking them (bananas, carrots and peaches so far). She will be 6 months old this Saturday! I can't believe the time has gone so quickly. She is grabbing at everything and smiling, giggling...all the things she should be doing. She rolls over onto her stomach great - she just has a hard time rolling back (those darn arms get in her way). No teeth yet, but she has started to chew on everything!

The fire is so delightful...

O.k. folks...it is cold here in Michigan.
really
really
cold

I was under the false hope that we were going to have a rather tame winter this year. December was downright delightful and January was not as bad as it has been in the past. After all that time, you start thinking that February is going to be downhill and then...

BAM!

You get hit with weather like this. They cancelled school today - even the local colleges were cancelled. I was a bit shocked because I expected the roads would be really bad this morning, but they weren't. The only reason I can figure for cancelling school is... it was just too darn cold. Can you believe it?!? Cancelling things because it is just too cold out. Not to sound old and bitter, but I remember from when I was young that it would take snow drifts over the top of the school to cancel classes.

To add insult to injury to all of this...my 'snowbird' parents are wintering in Alabama until March. When I last spoke to my mother on the phone, she talked about the weather and the ocean and then she bragged that she was going to sit out on her balcony and read a book.

I had just gotten done walking the dog and picking up his frozen business so I needed to counter that with the only ammunition that would still fire in below zero temperatures.

"O.K. mom...I am going to turn the heat up and play with your Granddaughter!"

That was below the belt....I think I won that conversation.

Arctic Circle -1
Ocean Paradise - 0