Hi!

Remember me?

Sorry for the downtime. We had some server issues here at the Childsplayx2 household which hopefully has been resolved.

Thank you to those of you who inquired of my whereabouts.

We will return to regularly scheduled programming soon.

I have been meaning to get caught up in my photo posting the past few weeks and I have finally been able to upload photos through July 5th. My usual practice is to upload 10 photos at a time so they match the photo buttons you see on the right. Since I have like 6o or so photos to upload, I thought I’d present them differently. You can see the entire photo stream below.

My favorites? I love the photos of Swee’Pea splashing in the pool on the Fourth of July. Let me know if you have any other favorites. Enjoy!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: A Storm Alert has been issued for Southern California as Tropical Storms Monk and Swee’Pea are gathering momentum off the coastal waters. It is estimated that the these two separate storm systems will join forces and hit land sometime between 6 and 7 a.m. Saturday morning. It is estimated that by that time, the two storms will be upgraded to Hurricane status and wreak havoc throughout the day.

The fact that this impending storm is due to hit on a weekend can only add to the destruction. It is feared that thousands of dollars in damage could result from toys being strewn throughout the area with only a couple of week-weary adults left to clean up the scattered remains of a once-clean environment.

The local residents are holding out hope that the hurricane forces will subside sometime by 7:00 p.m. Saturday, giving them time to clean up and get ready for the likely return of Hurricane Swee’peaMonk by 7:00 a.m. Sunday. Those traveling in the region are warned to take shelter and proceed cautiously.

7:10 a.m. – Swee’Pea asks for two of three pears that are sitting in our fruit bowl on the counter. Seeing little harm in letting her look at them, Daddy complies.

7:27 a.m. – After playing with the pears for a while, one becomes damaged. Swee’Pea points this out to Daddy and wants another pear. Daddy misunderstands Swee’Pea and switches the damaged pear for the remaining good one rather than giving her the new one while also allowing her to keep the damaged one. Daddy apologizes but refuses to give back the damaged pear. Apparently, Daddy’s mistake is not forgiveable and Swee’Pea breaks into tears and starts to scream while collapsing into a heap on the kitchen floor.

7:28 a.m. – Daddy steps over Swee’Pea and continues to get ready to leave. Swee’Pea, undeterred by Daddy’s indifference, continues to scream and flail about.

7:33 a.m. – Daddy has finished cleaning the kitchen. TheMonk has come over to see what’s going on with his sister. Apparently he does not have the patience of Daddy and asks Daddy to put Swee’Pea on a timeout. “Swee’Pea, timeout? Swee’Pea crying? Swee’Pea timeout?” asks TheMonk. “No, Monk” Daddy replies, “Swee’Pea’s just having a bad morning.”

7:35 a.m. – Daddy needs to go upstairs to brush his teeth. He tells TheMonk to go watch Clifford while he runs upstairs. TheMonk complies. Swee’Pea, continues to scream and kick. Her face is red and snot has started to smear across her face.

7:38 a.m. – Daddy finishes brushing teeth and can still hear Swee’Pea screaming in the kitchen down below. He goes back downstairs to find TheMonk sitting cross-legged in front of the television. Swee’Pea is still flailing about and screaming. Daddy asks Swee’Pea if she’s all done crying. This is a mistake. It’s like putting a fresh log on a smouldering fire. Swee’Pea erupts to show Daddy that, indeed, she is not done crying.

7:45 a.m. – Daddy continues to get ready to go to work. He makes several passes by a still-screaming, still-rolling, still-kicking Swee’Pea. Every now and then he stops to admire the stamina and theatrics of this determined two-year-old.

7:50 a.m. – Swee’Pea appears to be winding down her tantrum. Unfortunately, Daddy makes his third mistake of the day as he grows impatient as he glances at the clock. Most days, they are out of the house by now. They are behind schedule so Daddy picks up the pace. He picks up the now abandoned pears on the floor and puts them back into the fruit bowl. Swee’Pea howls at the injustice and begins her antics all over again.

7:51 a.m. – First, Daddy tries to get Swee’Pea to calm down by picking her up off the floor. He puts her in a chair and tells her he is going to put her shoes on so they can go “bye-bye”. Swee’Pea is not ready to comply with such a request and begins to kick her legs as Daddy attempts to slip a shoe on the rapidly moving feet. Giving up, Daddy quickly turns his attention to TheMonk. He pulls out TheMonk’s shoes and TheMonk quickly complies with Daddy’s request to don his shoes.

7:55 a.m. – Daddy is done putting on TheMonk’s shoes and gathers him up to take him out to car in the garage. He turns to Swee’Pea, still in her chair, and says, “Bye-Bye, Swee’Pea. We’ll see you later!” He and TheMonk exit to the garage.

7:57 a.m. – Daddy returns to the house to find a quiet Swee’Pea who, it appears by the look on her face, was not entirely sure if Daddy was coming back. Daddy scoops her up into his arm and gives her a hug. He tells her he was sorry that she was so angry but that it was time to go. This tactic seems to work as Swee’Pea allows Daddy to put on her shoes.

7:58 a.m. – Shoes now on, Daddy wipes Swee’Pea’s face with a baby wipe to clean up her mucus and tear-stained face. He picks her up and starts towards the door. Swee’Pea, apparently thinking that Daddy should go towards the kitchen to get the pears, begins screaming, “NO! WANT PEARS! WANT PEARS!” Daddy continues to the garage and Swee’Pea begins her tantrum anew by flailing away in Daddy’s arms.

8:02 a.m. – Daddy is done wrestling Swee’Pea into her car seat. In the process she has managed to kick off her shoes. She is left screaming in her seat as Daddy runs back in to gather some last second items.

8:08 a.m. – Swee’Pea continues to scream but calms down as they near the Daycare Provider’s house. Swee’Pea, it seems, has finally reached her limit. All tired out and ready to give in, she allows Daddy to, once again, clean off her face and then unbuckle her seatbelt. As she is being extracted from her seat she suddenly remembers a toy that she was interested in earlier in the morning. “Duck? Duck!? WANT DUCK!!” As Daddy explains that Duck is still at home, Swee’Pea finds enough strength to scream and flail once more. “I WANT DUCK!!! DUCK!! I WANT DUCK!!!”

8:09 a.m. – Daddy delivers a screaming Swee’Pea to the Daycare Provider. Swee’Pea calms down just enough to give Daddy a loving hug and holds tightly to Daddy’s neck, not wanting to let go and be delivered to Daycare Provider. She whimpers and clings to Daddy and buries her tear-soaked face into Daddy’s neck.

8:10 a.m. – Daddy gently pries Swee’Pea away from his neck and hands her over to a smiling but sympathetic Daycare Provider. Swee’Pea begins to cry again and as the door closes, Daddy can hear her screaming as he returns to his car at the street.

8:11 a.m. – Daddy drives away.

For all we know, Swee’Pea could still be screaming at this very moment.

What’s happening to me?

I mean, I used to be able to just sit in front of the TV and take whatever was presented to me at face value. An alien from the planet Ork living in Boulder? I’m right with you.

Two nubile young ladies living with a man pretending to be gay? Could happen. Nothing wrong with that.

But now? Now, I’m starting to look at seemingly innocuous television shows with a a different eye.

Take Dora, for example. When watching that show (and it’s only been a few times), I can’t help but wonder… Where are this girls parents? She could get hurt! Shouldn’t somebody be calling CPS?

And then there’s Curious George. In today’s episode Curious George was taken away by a kite and was flying high above the countryside (By the way, when did George leave the city for the country? That’s just not right.). While watching George flying above the ground, instead of indulging myself in cartoon fantasy, all I could think about was that poor George was going to plummet to his death. I felt the urge to tell my kids, “That’s dangerous!”

Look what fatherhood has done to me! I mean, all of a sudden the thought of letting some rainbow wearing alien with a fascination of eggs near my children makes my skin crawl. I can’t stand it! I’m being so… so… parental! Aaaaagh! When will this stop?!

Please, help me.

To me, one of the great things of the blog world is that every once in a while you read something that just… fits. This month, when reading Attack of the Redneck Mommy, I ran across a post called Neat Feet.

It’s hard for me to put into words why this post touched me so much. I guess I am acutely aware of being so vulnerable as a parent and how the fragility of the young lives we care for makes being a parent so challenging.

I cannot imagine losing a child. I cannot imagine going through all the challenges that is detailed in this post. But I’d like to think that I could.

Perhaps the best part of this post, the one that will provide a need for tissues when reading it, is how much love her two other children still have for their gone, but not forgotten, sibling. Even now, writing this, I am fighting back tears.

This post touched a place deep in my heart and I hope that you go and read about how this wonderful little boy with club feet managed to leave behind so much joy.

A perfect post indeed.

(You can find more Perfect Posts at Petroville and Suburban Turmoil.)