Cold, But Peaceful

Berit tried really hard today to be a good big sister. She isn't always the nicest to Marta, and in the beginning, when Marta was starting to really notice her, I was hurt for Marta's sake. Now Marta yells back at her, and takes Berit's toys (which only fuels the fire). 

But for some reason, Berit decided to be lovely today, singing to Marta, trying to engage her in play and sharing with her. Maybe it's that Berit's awful bangs are finally growing out and looking a little better, while Marta's getting this fantastically ridiculous mullet and the cute-hair factor is swinging back in Berit's favor. (Though I am so fond of Marta's little curly locks at the nape of her neck!)

I actually think a lot of Berit's attitude has to do with TV and movies. I notice that on the days she's given more TV time than normal, she's a huge stinker. But when she is limited to just one show during each of the two times I put Marta down for a nap, she's pretty good. I have to remember to keep up with the projects, too -- those seem to make her so sweet and inspired. We've been relying on a bevy of birthday gift projects, like play-doh, sparkly paint and a set of plastic princess pictures that she colors then wipes clean (totally up this clean kid's alley). I haven't sought out any hand-made projects lately, and I really need to, but do you ever just get tired of the thinking? I know that sounds terrible. I love being a stay-at-home mom and I don't mean that I get sick of it (OK, I do that sometimes, too, but that's a different post). I just mean the monotony of the entertaining. Sometimes, though it might sound backwards, it's easier to just sit and play with the same old toys than come up with a big plan. In a way the monotony of that is less monotonous than another invention.

Tomorrow we've got plans for both lunch and dinner playdates. (Which means my kids will be sick this weekend.) They've been aching to get out of the house, but when the temperature is in the -20s it's hard. They had a blast just going to Home Depot today to buy seeds for the garden we're planning. We've been talking about it so much we couldn't wait another day to seek them out. We're insisting spring come. We're being proactive about spring. We will force it to arrive.

Trevor and I even thought for a day that we were going to take the kids on a quick long weekend to Florida, just to let them put their toes in the sand and not feel encumbered by coats. We found the perfect family resort and we were two seconds from booking it when the thought of planning, packing and schedule-disrupting made me crumble under the pressure. 

Tonight I am rambling, trying to pass the time without thinking of Twilight, which I finished today (started last night). I resisted reading it as long as I could, and I'm glad I finally caved. Can't wait to pick up the second in the series tomorrow. I've been sucked in.

Trevor is cleaning the floors, I'm drinking a chocolate stout I picked up at The Grain Train yesterday and a reasonable bedtime is a good possibility. All of these make tonight just about right.