Arm paint on their "real real birthday"We invited friends to the mall and played in the play area
I paid $1 for them to ride this roller coaster simulator at the mall. Alex seems to like it!
Week ending October 7, 2007: This week we spoiled the kids rotten. On Monday they got to go to Toys’R’Us and spend the money that people gave to them for their birthdays. I made them walk the entire store and look at everything before we put anything into the cart. What they ended up putting in the cart was very different than the 1st couple items they had the impulse to buy. On Tuesday there was a birthday celebration for the kids at school and they sang “Happy Birthday” and Alex and Chloe got crowns, and I sent in ice cream and popsicles (cupcakes are not allowed at their school). Tuesday was also their father’s birthday so we sang “Happy Birthday” to Daddy and ate more cake. On Wednesday it was their actual birthday or their “real real birthday” as Chloe told everyone. Chloe was so excited to not be 3 anymore. She danced around the house and sang “I am 4! I am 4!”. She also asked me about a hundred times “How old am I?” and I’d say “How old ARE you?”, and she’d say “one two three FOUR!”. The Face Paint Lady was at the mall so I invited some of their friends and they got their arms painted (for free!) and had pizza for lunch and I let them have Sprite (soda is absolutely thrilling for them because I almost never let them have it). Then at home after dinner we sang “Happy Birthday” again and the kids asked us to put candles in their left over birthday cake. Then they opened the presents from us. It was so much spoiling I was really starting to wonder how they would adjust to going back to a life that wasn’t ALL about them.
On Saturday we went to a birthday party at a petting farm. The guest of honor was a friend from school named Natalie. Natalie’s parents only invited 4 kids from school out of the 12 in their class, so I guess Alex and Chloe must have made an impression on Natalie. Since feeding the animals went over so well at the Catoctin zoo, I thought the petting farm would be really exciting for them. Unfortunately all Chloe really remembered about the zoo was that a goat bit her finger. She didn’t think about the dozens of animals that she fed before and AFTER she got bit. At least she did get close enough to pet the animals on the neck as long as the animal’s lips were at what she judged to be a safe distance from her. Alex wouldn’t get near hardly any of the animals. I think the problem was really that all the 10 cousins and siblings at the party would each gather in front of whichever animal we were to pet, and Alex was overwhelmed by the crowding. In the end he did pet a bunny rabbit while the other kids were off feeding pigmy goats.
On Sunday they went to Sunday school. I told them the night before that the next day would be Sunday and we would all go to church. This is the 4th week since summer break and I guess the kids are tired of it. They both told me they weren’t going. I told them they didn’t have a choice. After we got to church and the children were called out of the service to go to school, Alex and Chloe both ran back to the classroom with the other kids, so they weren’t THAT adamant about not going. When I caught up they said they wanted me to stay in class with them. Last year they were excited about Sunday school and didn’t complain about staying in class while I listened to the sermon, but this year they’ve asked me to stay at every class. At least since I’ve been watching all the classes I know that the teacher is very nice, the curriculum is fun, and there is nothing for them to be scared of other than the run-of-the-mill separation anxiety.
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