how to get a child to school almost on time

Things have been a bit rough around here trying to transition back to our time zone.  Sleeping until 10.00am has not seemed even plausible for me in the last 5+ years.  But now, 10.00am seems like just about right after falling asleep at 2:00am or later.  The first week, Sophie was all in. She too could sleep until 10am, too.  But now she's back on track.  That meant this morning she woke up at 7.30-8.00ish then came into our room and lectured me about sleeping too much (that's what I get for being the one awake to listen).  Dang, that was stone cold but so true. What Sophie didn't take into consideration, though, was that her words meant that I was going to hop out of bed and shuttle her off to school.  That's called unintended consequences, Sophie.

first lego kit

Today Sophie, with just a little help from me, put together her first Lego kit.  She followed all the steps from 1-10 and ended up with an ice-cream cart.  Frankly I was surprised she completed it and even more surprised by the spacial skills needed to put one of these things together.  Afterwards, she changed up some things she didn't like.  For example, she didn't want a roof on the ice-cream cart or the order of the ice cream.  Then we proceeded to play with her new cart. It was pretty complex playing for a 4-year old, I thought.  It made those bigger duplo blocks that I just got rid of seem way beneath her.

let's play day spa

The other night Sophie played day spa with me.  I don't even think she knows what a day spa is or what you would do at a day spa. Or if she does, I don't know who she learned it from.  Regardless, this is totally something she likes.  Without any direction, she first gave me a pretend pedicure and massaged my feet while I sat on the toilet seat.  Then she gave me a neck massage and then washed my hair.  I let her wash my hair in the bath tub and I think she loved that.  She even had the small-talk down from getting her own hair washed at the salon.  Then she tried to pay me.  I had to explain to her that I was supposed to pay her.  I gave her a twenty and she sent me on my way and reminded me to come again.

Still jet lagged or cold french fries for breakfast

The time change getting back has been harder than we first thought.  It's painful to get out of bed before noon.  Sophie's adapted a bit better, she can managed to crawl out of bed by 10.30.  By the time I got up today, I think at around 11, Sophie had already "snacked" on her leftover, cold french fries from the restaurant from the night before.  She also had a couple of bites out of a candy cane she found, that was left over from Christmas.  At least that made it easier when I did wake up--Sophie didn't ask for breakfast.  Our goal tonight to get everybody to bed before midnight and up before 10.00am.

back to life, back to reality

Day 1 after returning from Hawaii seemed fine. We were up by 8.00am and ready to go.  Jetlag beat! Nope, totally not the case.  Last night, Sophie had a hard time falling asleep and wasn't asleep until 10ish.  We weren't much better.  I turned my light off at 2.00am just to make myself sleep.  This morning, I woke at 9.50 (I had a 10.00am meeting).  Turns out, nobody else in my house was awake either.  We all rushed out and took ST with us to the meeting.  As I pulled into her school at 11.00am, she reminded us that she hadn't had breakfast and she was hungry.  This was totally a ploy to keep her from school I think.  But under the guilt of being a bad parent (I already messed up by forgetting milk on milk day!), we took her home and fed her breakfast, then diligently returned her to school at 11.30, just as they were getting ready to sit down for lunch.  I'm guessing she's not going to eat much lunch or be ready for a nap after that.

new year's on Poipu Beach

We celebrated New Year's on the beach at Poipu with fireworks again.  Last year, Sophie fell asleep minutes before the fireworks started.  This year, she was determined to stay awake.  Luckily, their fireworks start at 9.20 so she didn't have to "suffer" too long.  I think Sophie was a bit underwhelmed. She found them too loud and bright.  The rest of us found them delightful.  She only had to make it back to the car before she totally passed out asleep.  At least she can say she's seen the fireworks this year.

kauai

Kauai is starting to feel oddly familiar.  Sophie talks about it as something of our second home, which frankly isn't a bad idea. We spend our days languorously visiting the beaches surfing, snorkeling and swimming.  Sophie has started swimming under water this trip.  We told her if she can swim by next winter, she can take surfing lessons.  I fear, however, in one winter she'll surf better that her parents.