Princess Party

Fin was invited to a 'Princess Party' last Saturday at the Tacoma Children's Musuem. It was Alexis' birthday and she was turning 3. We arrived, and played around for a bit prior to going downstairs for the party to start.


Here's a look @ Fin before the party started....

Sitting so pretty with all the other party-goers.

Fin's Last Day @ New Adventures

It was such a sad day. Two weeks ago now, Fin's last day at New Adventures in Tacoma happened. We loved it there, the teachers were awesome, Fin learned so much, and we learned a lot about ourselves as a result. It felt good to go to work knowing that Fin was in good hands and that we were able to get our jobs done and be a family at the end of the day. Literally there wasn't a day where I thought how am I going to make this work. These days things feel a little less stable while we wait to get Fin into her new school (we love our new place but know it's temporary). Here's some pics of her last day...Fin eating breakfast with all her little homies ;) I couldn't be prouder of what an amazing young munchkin we've raised together!

Snow Day!

Don't my "kids" look excited to be outside in the snow?

These days Fin's more like the BIG sister and Simon is like the step child. She's always telling on him, pulling his hair or tail, and telliing him NO, NO Si-mon. He just looks at her and shakes his head.

Sometimes when she gets home from daycare, she'll insist that she's taking him ow-side to go po-tty. When he squirms aways, she chases him around the house with his leash.

Simonster really can't be bothered....and I love him for that!

bu-cket and shuvel

Tonight, Finley ordered me into her play room and commanded me to, "sit". Once I sat down, she grabbed her sand bucket and shovel and when I asked her what she had in her hand, she looked at me and said, "bu-cket and shuvel, mama". It's so amazing to watch her in action.

Papa, Mama, and uncle Shady dropped by on their way home from the airport. She was soooo excited to see them. She's also grinning from ear to ear when her grandparents are here. When they leave, she always gets a little teary eyed and pouts for a few minutes.

"Da-Da, More Milk Please!"

No time for a long post tonight but lil miss never ceases to amaze me! She came home from her new "temporary" daycare today (which I love) and just seemed so grown up to me. She was wearing her lil H&M gray skinny cords, her thermal lilac top from the gap, and her flower girl shoes (which she loves and would wear only those shoes and her rain boooots every day of the week if I let her). Miss Ashley combed her hair and put it in a pony tail on the top of her head and she was grinning from ear to ear. She ate 2 pouches of fun fruits, a pickle, an apple, a bit of lasagna, made me cook a ravioli left over from when she was a baby (which she didn't eat), and drank my wa wa. Then she almost fell asleep in her high chair. I swooped her up, gave her a bath, and got her pj's on. We're working on weaning the ba-ba (bottle) but she insists she needs one while we rock-a-bye. As such the last few nights, she's sucked it down and I've reached over and asked Jeff to go fill it up for a little more. Tonight, she put her bottle (still half full) in the air and shouted, "da-da, more milk please!" I love that my 19 month is barking orders at her Dad!

PS...ordered a few things for the holidays from Pottery Barn and the boxes arrived today. Normally when my boxes arrive, I run them up to my bedroom in an effort to hide them from Jeff. (What? These old things? I've had them for years!) However, he was aware of my most recent purchase of some holiday items that I ordered. When I brought the boxes in, Fin got so excited (she normally reaps in the benefits of my online clothes purchases) and she yells out, "clothes ma-ma!" She sat down next to me, clapping her hands while I proceeded to open up the boxes. Needless to say, she was a little upset when candles, plates, and decorations were all that was inside. It was a sheer look of disappointment on her face.

Does this mean it's time for me to start hiding my orders from her now too?!

18 and some change....

Finley turned 18 months this month and in a week, she’ll be 19! Time is flying by, I can’t believe how grown up she is.

I don’t even know where to begin with the latest stories but I’ll try to write down a few in hopes that someday I’ll turn this little blog into a collection of short stories to place in a book for Fin about her childhood.

We went to Phoenix last week to visit “ma-ma”, “pa-pa” and “g-ma Audie”. Finley flew down with my parents on Wednesday while I went down with the girls to celebrate mine and Jeff’s pending nuptials. The girls and I had a fabulous time. Stayed at Lon’s Hermosa Inn. Drank by the pool. Had dinner at City Hall. And, went to Kazimierz wine bar, just to name a few things. It was all of my favs from my past life when I lived it up in PHX.

On Sunday, I joined the fam at my parent’s house and we hung out and relaxed for a few days. Fin is enamored with her Pa-Pa and loved to follow him around and call out to him when he left her side. Ma-ma, who has renamed herself chop liver because that’s how she feels in comparison to Pa-Pa, and G’ma Audie got such a kick out of lil Fin calling out to her Pa-Pa 24/7. They would go “weeee” thru the neighborhood on Pa-Pa’s yellow golf cart at least a dozen times a day.

We taught Fin how to say, “Audie’s Girl” while in the back seat of the car one night and Fin thought it was so funny that her Pa-Pa would get upset when she changed her mind and became, “Audie’s Girl”.

One evening after shopping, Fin saw a Chipolte Restaurant. Jeff and I take her there once a week (don’t laugh, there’s not a lot to choose from in Fed Way, believe me, I’ve looked!). She obsessively pointed at the restaurant until I brought her in and got her a ‘nack’….that would be snack for lil Fin.

In other news, we’re starting the potty training thing. She’s so curious about the potty and even tries to get on the big potty by straddling her leg over the seat and right into the water. “Yuck! I yell,” and she breaks into hysterics and calls back to me, “Uck”. So we went out to buy her a potty last weekend and low and behold, last night, there was a little tinkle in the pot. Go Fin! ;)

I sacrificed yoga practice last Saturday to take her to the Lil Gym. I was sooo excited to take her there. Jeff and I woke up around 8am last Saturday, and we arrived. The teacher told us to take our shoes off, and come sit by her and the other families at the gym. The instructions were as follows, “let your kid do whatever, but parents please stay with me, you’ll lead by example and hopefully your kids will stay by your side and join you in the class.” As class begin, the teacher asks the parents to join her in song and clapping. I bet you can just imagine the look on Jeff’s face when the singing and clapping begin. We join in and minutes later, Finley is shouting at the top of her lungs, “no way” “no way” which is her way of telling us she doesn’t want to partake in what we are asking her to do. The teacher calls her up to do a roll and she refuses. The class gives her a big hand and she hides behind me. She then walks over to the door and yells out, “buh-bye, buh-bye” which means she’s ready to leave about 5 minutes in. We got her to stay the entire 45 minutes but needless to say, she wasn’t all that impressed. They called me this week and welcomed us back for another trial session but I don’t think either father nor daughter is interested in going back. Would it be weird if I showed up alone? Nevermind, I’ll just pick back up my yoga practice on Saturday mornings that I missed.

In a couple weeks, Jeff will be finally moved up to Seattle for work. This means, Fin’s daycare in Tacoma will be very difficult for us to get to. We’ve been on a waiting list at a new place in Edgewood since May with very little movement on getting in. We told Fin’s teachers this week that in the next month or so, we’ll be leaving the Center and it was so terribly sad. She’s been there since she’s been about 6 months old and we’ve really come to love and trust them there. It’s going to be such a hard transition and I’m sad to be leaving such a great school. I hope the transition on Fin is easy and that we can start to love this new place as much as we did the old.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Nooo Way....

We hit a bump in the road and I'm not sure if there is a way to go back. Fin has become so smart in the last few weeks and she's starting to understand the week day routine. When bed time approaches, she starts to panic and turns into a crazy girl. I can see her little wheels turning in her head after bath time and now she refuses to even want to come down stairs in fear that she gets her ba-ba and has to rock-a-bye with mom. She used to HATE getting a bath and now she absolutely refuses to get out because she knows what's to follow. I can't really complain because she's been an amazing little girl but she's starting to get a bit hysterical if anything that she doesn't want to do approaches. A little tantrum ensues followed by loud shrieking cries of NO WAY...NO WAY. I hope that soon she outgrows the desire to not go to sleep and I'm thankful it only lasts a few minutes before she's out like a light but I do have to admit that it's a bit hard to have my final miutes with her at night turn into complete hysteria.

On a happier note, she's talking up a storm and says some of the funniest and cutest things. I love her little voice and the way she squishes her face when she talks. Here are a few of the latest Fin developments:

-She loves to look up into the sky and point to the airplanes that fly over head and say, 'a-plane'

-She absolutely is obessess with pickles and asks for peeekles every night. After she finishes one, she hits her fingers together and asks for mo please

-Fin has the best manners! Whenever we give her something she politely looks at us and says, 'tan-que'

-She knows the difference between a cow, snake, doggie, cat, crab, shark, zebra and fish. She can even name some of the sounds they make

-When we let her watch Barney and they have an ice cream party, she thinks that's her cue to go to our freezer and try and pull out the ice cream from the top drawer and say...'I-cream, pleez' even when it's 7am on a Saturday

-She loves to grab onto her high chair and exclaim, 'Nack!' 'Mama, NACK!' when she wants a snack to eat

-She loves to run around the house yelling my name and bossing me around to pick her up and

I can't believe she's almost 18 months. She's such a little lady and I love watching her grow.

Movin' On

Next Tuesday will be my last day at Disney.com and I'll be starting a new job at Microsoft. It's such a crazy feeling to think that after 5 years, I'll be entering a whole new world. I'm excited for the new opportunity, new perspective, and for a new team. But will miss my team a lot. I've met a lot of great people during my years at Disney and it's tough to leave them. I am hoping that many of our paths cross again in the near future!

Last weekend, Fin and I went up to Asher & Anna's house to celebrate Miranda & Aaron's birthdays. It was fun seeing Fin & Asher together. Here's a cute lil pic.

All Moved In

We are loving the new space! And couldn't be happier with the choices we made. Fin and Sim are adjusting very well. Finley is busy following behind and pulling out everything I just put away. Simon loves to bark and explore his new 'territory'. I'm so excited to finally be moved into our new home. It's been a long journey to get here.

Celebrating our 4th Anniversary on the 4th!


Enjoying some ice cream!

Helping Mama pack

Our New Kitchen...almost complete!

Daddy and Fin at the zoo

Pete & Repeat

I am Pete. And she is Repeat. Finley turned 15 months last week and she is a talker! She pretty much follows me around like she is a parrot. One of my favorite words (fuck) is out of the question these days as she likes to imitate everything I say and do. A few of her favorite words. Awtside (outside), Dawgie (doggie), nooooooo (no), wa wa (water), Pa Pa (my dad), shoooo (shoe), blankie (blanket), and mummmm (yum yum = snack). She even repeats every number as we count to 10! on, do, free, for, vive, sik, sevm, eat, nin, en.

The New Disney.com!

I rarely talk about my work (well, maybe a little but not actually focused on the REAL work) but I'm so excited about our new homepage that our team has been working on, I have to share. My role as been project managing the ads piece and this is just a microcosim into my day to day....but I am very excited and ready to see our new homepage LIVE on 6/7. (www.disney.go.com) Check it out!

The. Worst. Morning. Ever.

OMG! This morning goes down in history as The. Worst. Ever.

Finley came back Wednesday afternoon from a week away with Pa Pa and Gran-ma (my parents). When Jeff and I left Phoenix to come back home, my parents took Fin to North Dakota to meet the fam and attend my cousin Casey's graduation from highschool. She had a fabulous time but to be quite honest the two weeks really messed her up. When I picked my dad, Ashee (as Fin likes to call her), and Finley up from the airport she was in a complete daze for the next two hours. It was almost like she saw a mirage. She sat in her car seat and just stared at me and wasn't quite sure what to think. She was being so good but seemed really confused. A few hours later, she was back to her old self. Throwing her weight around and bossing me around.

However, the next 24 + hours were much more than I bargained for.

Today, I woke up a few minutes later than normal. I was exhausted and trying to make it thru the final day of the week. I had an 8:30 which typically wouldn't be too big of a deal as I'm normally in the office between 8 and 8:30. But today it was. It all started when I woke Fin around 6am. Handed her a bottle and went to the kitchen to pull her lunch box together. I went in a few minutes later and she was sitting straight up in bed. Jeff and I transported her to the living room, placed her in her high chair and turned a little Barney on. I jumped in the shower and Jeff took off for work. A few minutes later, Fin was shouting in her chair. I hurried out and started making her bath. I went to pull her out of her high chair and she started screaming. I calmed her. Brought her to the bath and she started screaming again. Ugh. I placed her in the bath (still screaming). Played with her for a bit (it stopped). Washed her hair (it continued). She then pooped in the tub. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I pulled her out (she screamed). I washed her off (she screamed). I brought her to the bedroom (she bawled). I got her dressed (she cried). Then, I hear Simon throwing up in the living room. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I looked at the clock and it's approaching 7. Ugh. Now, I'm running late. I finally get her all prettied up and try to place her back in the high chair with a few treats so I can get dressed, clean her bath, Simon's puke, and get out the door. She threw a royal fit. I finally got her into the chair, got her a few treats and her 4 blankies and 2 binkies and she was good to go. I went into the bathroom to find Simon had peed on the rug. WTF? This morning is bull sh*t, I think to myself.

At about 7:40 I'm out the door (def not making my 8:30) and approach the daycare. Upon entry to her new room, my daughter let's out a shreik. OH SHIT, I think to myself. I set her down and she flails about. FUCK is all that's running through my mind. The teach then proceeds to tell me how she had to explain to the other teachers the day before that she'd been without her mom for the past week (apparently they all thought she was with me on vacation)....Regardless, I think, they were talking, and obviously there was some explaining to do regarding my daughters actions the day before. I sat with Fin and tried to calm her but nothing I could do. So, I calmly walk out and all I could hear was loud shreiking sounds coming from the Tiny Tot room. That was MY daughter. Three binkies, three blankies, and tears flowing down her face. Meanwhile the other children in her class were politely sitting at the table, drinking their sippy cups, eating their toast and peaches.

On my way out, I completely lost it. What the heck is wrong? Why is she having such a hard time adjusting? And why are all the other kids happy, eating, and calm? I begin beating myself up over the fact that my child has been crying, screaming, throwing tantrums since the time she woke up. And now I have less than 20 minutes to get to work for my 8:30 call and that's definitely not happening. No bueno.

I get on the freeway and the sign that normally reads 29-32 minutes to Seattle reads 78 minutes. In my last 18 months, I've never seen 78 minutes and it's official, I'm not making my 8:30. FUCK.

I ended up taking the call from the road and rolling into the office around 9:15 but not the way I'd hoped to spend my morning.

Working full time and taking care of a baby/toddler is the hardest thing I've ever done. At the end of the day, it's so rewarding but I can't help but ask myself every morning, why I'm pushing myself to do so much. The truth is I feel so rewarded by my professional life and my accomplishments but also feel rewarded for the work I do at home. It's a constant struggle. It's SO not easy. But when I look into little Fin's eyes all I can hope is that some day it makes as much sense to her as it does to me.

It's Almost Here!

In less than 2 weeks we should be moving into our new home. We went up tonight to check out the progress and I'm so happy with how things are coming together. Here are some pics of our new place! Most of you know how painful this process was (do not recommend building a house from ground up!) but I'm so happy with the job that Jeff did. There were many differences in opinion along the way and he was quite the project manager but all in all he did an amazing job and I'm so thankful for all (well almost all) his decisions and the hours (upon hours) he spent researching every last detail. I can't wait to move in!

The Weeble Wobble

It’s been quite the journey but she’s finally made it! Finley is officially walking up a storm. She’s been walking for a few weeks but now she is finally walking with confidence. It was so much fun watching her learn to stand on her own and then when she got the confidence to push herself to walk; things got interesting. She really had a hard time with it. She resembled a bit of a weeble wobble. It was so amazing to see the look on her face when she took a few steps but the disappoint she showed when she fell was heartbreaking.

Another big milestone is that she changed rooms at her daycare last week and it was quite the experience. Finley went from the Polliwog room to the Tiny Tot room where the kids range from about 12 months – 20 months. Some big changes include, only one nap a day, they really don’t encourage bottle feeding, and they go outside rain or shine. On day 1; I was really nervous. However, we got there and she took the teacher pretty well. Around 2pm that day, I received my first phone call. She wasn’t feeling good, refused to eat, laid in the corner with her blanket during her old nap time, and just wasn’t really all that into it. That evening, she came down with a fever and her really bad cough from a few weeks back returned. Did I mention, the week prior to this, she had an ear and eye infection that we were actively treating with amoxicillin (her first take at bubble gum medicine)! Day 2, Dad had to stay home with her. Day 3, Papa (my dad) took her for the day. I bet by now she’s thinking this sick thing is WAY better than daycare. Day 4, she went back to school and had a complete meltdown when I walked into her classroom. Day 5, I caught what she had and I do have to say it was brutal! Sore throat, ringing ears, runny nose, fever, chills, ugh. I got up, took her to school. We had 4 blankeys in tow and 3 binkies (1 in the mouth and 1 in each hand)….and she still wasn’t quite sure about it all. I dropped her off, snuck out and we got a pretty good report for that day. Except, she was coughing most of the day and her nose was still pretty running. Myself, however, wanted to crawl into a hole, and not come out for awhile.

We seem to be on the mend, just in time for our annual trip down to Phoenix. We’re going with my parents for a week and have big plans to do a whole lot of nothing. Jeff is flying on business to NY and then meeting up with us on Wednesday evening. Then, my parents will be taking Fin from Phoenix to North Dakota for her first trip back to the Midwest. I am so bummed I can’t go to experience it with her but I’m so busy at work and we’re getting ready for the big move so it probably wouldn’t go over to well if I asked for 2 weeks off now and then another couple weeks in mid-June. Anyways, I’m very excited for her to go and can’t wait to hear all about it when they return.

Fin has been learning how to say a lot of new things. She loves to say ‘gooo grlll’ (good girl), she helps me count to 2. I say 1, she follows with ‘two’. And she is starting to understand the difference between Yes and No. I say, ‘Hey Fin, do you want your diaper changed?’ She responds with a definite head shift from side to side and a displeased look on her face. Then I follow-up with, ‘Well are you wet?’ and she says very matter-of-factly, ‘Yep’.

Tantrums. This stage has been a definite learning curve for me. Everything we try to do is followed up with a tantrum. She hates getting her diaper changed, hates getting in her car seat, hates to sit in the grocery cart, and really doesn’t like the high chair (unless Eebee is on TV and there are treats ready and waiting).

She’s almost 14 months now and it’s been a great ride, I’m looking forward to her vocab beefing up and the move into our new home in less than 4 weeks.

Our Home

In 8 weeks our home *should* be ready. Last week they pushed our move in date by another 2 dates but said the new date is *firm*. I'll see it when I believe it, but they are putting in our cabinets and sink in this week. I'm so excited to see my new sink! One of my most favorite purchases this far (besides my wine fridge) is my new sink. It's what they call, a country sink. It's a large, single basin sink and I loved it from the moment I saw it. I can't wait to put it in action!

They painted our house last weekend, and I love the color that we finally agreed upon! We debated between a olive green color, a light gray and this one. It was a difficult decision but in the end, I think we made the right one. Here are a few pics of our new home!

Next up, we are picking out the cement for our driveway, patio, and our light fixtures. I feel so grown up. Ugh.

Baby Steps

A few weeks ago Fin took her first step. She was with my dad and she took a couple steps trying to get to him. I was a little bummed I missed it but was also so happy to hear she made the move. Since then, she's been very timid about walking. She can do it, but she still prefers to drop down and crawl.

When she does get brave, she's like a weeble wobble. She sticks her tongue out and licks her lower lip while she intensely tries to figure it out.

Her confidence has improved over the past week and she's taken close to 12 steps without falling. My favorite is when she pushes her baby's stroller sans baby across the room and then abandons it and tries to move toward us on her own. Here's a photo of her recent journey across the living room at our friend's house.

Back Order

A complete tangent but one of my least favorite things is when I order something and then get a notice it's on back order for another 5 weeks. Why can't this information be conveyed up front? I would have reconsidered my order had I been provided this detail before filling out the online order form and submitting my credit card to place the order. The darn shoes I was trying to order for Fin probably won't even fit her once they get to us so it's pointless to even bother.

Another topper, we were told last week that our house is not going to be ready for another 5 weeks past our original move in date (now looking at 6/1). Ugh. Jeff never expected it to be done on time (and he told me day after day), but I have the philosophy that if you tell me something is going to be done on a certain date/time; it should be done by that deadline period and I had high hopes that they would make it come together. Anyways, our home is underway and thanks to Jeff's detailed plan on how everything must be done, they told us that we were behind schedule and they needed another month to finish the work. Last week they sheet rocked the walls and are getting ready to put the doors on. I think this will help speed things up as Jeff won't have daily access to 'inspect' every little corner and submit a change order as they go along.

Here are some photos of our most recent trip to visit.

Master bedroom (perfect spot for a little bench)

Jeff & Fin in our bonus room upstairs

Living room w/fireplace (off the kitchen)

Fin and Mommy in the kitchen

Recent Photos

Trying to figure out how to get out

Loving her bubble bath

Little Family; Mercato Restaurant in Olympia for Angela's 30th Birthday

Eating rice with a spoon.

Right before she threw a tantrum

Tantrums

Some day Fin will look on this and laugh. Until then, I hope this is a short lived phase. I almost called the daycare this evening and asked what they did with my daughter. Then I realized she was overly tired and just needed to go to sleep. The joys!

Happy Birthday Finley!

Yesterday Finley turned 1! We celebrated on Saturday with lots of friends and family on what turned out to be one of the nicest days of the year. Finley was a little trooper and had such a good time hanging out with all her aunties, her grandpy (pa-pa), grammy, Grandma/Grandpa Nadeau, cousins, and friends and family. It was such a delight and so much fun.

For entertainment, Buckaroo Bob came all the way down from Duval with two little shetland ponies, Ariel and Simba, for the kids to ride on. Mr. Bob was quite the character (a pinch creepy) but overall it was such a great time for the kids.

Auntie Pert brought the cutest little cupcakes down from West Seattle and Auntie April made such a cute pink cake complete with pearls and a number 1. During the happy birthday song Fin was such a ham and will post the video soon to prove it!

Hands down, it's been the absolute BEST year of my life. This little being has brought so much joy to my days, months, and YEAR. I can't believe what a little personality she has developed and how much she continues to amaze me.

I have much more to post and photos to share. Check back in the coming week and I hope to have more details on the festivities.

Uh-Oh

Little Fin started saying, "uh-oh". It's sooo cute! I love it! I dropped her off at school today and when we walked into her classroom she looked at her teachers, waved, and said, "uh-oh!" She loves to play games and is becoming so animated. I can't believe she'll be 1 year in under six weeks.

I heart this photo! The expression on her face is priceless.

Just woke up and eating a few cheerios while watching Eeebee baby.
A morning ritual before bathtime!

Superbowl Sunday! Fin's first time w/a real babysitter!

Uncle Nick and Auntie Jen!

Progress being made on our new home!

Pat-a-Cake!

She has a few tricks under her sleave

Finley turned 10 months last Friday and she is becoming such a big girl. Such a little performer; here are a few things that she has under her sleave.

• she loves to shake her head no whenever we ask her a question sometimes it's followed by a 'no, no'
• clapping! Finley loves to clap her hands. She holds her left hand completely still while she hits her right hand against it. It's so adorable.
• DAWGIE....Daddy taught her how to say doggie and she loves to call out 'dawwwwgie' whenever she sees Simon & Sophie.
• Ma-ma & Da-da have been in the works for awhile but lately there are a lot more da-da's than ma-ma's. Grandpy is working on pa-pa!
• buh-bye! Jeff tells me that whenever he picks her up at daycare, she makes a mad dash for him to pick her up. Before he can even sign her out, she's waving good-bye to the teachers and kids in the classroom.
• Boppin to the beat! She loves to shake it. Whenever a fun song comes on she looks at me, gets a little smile on her face, and then starts to move her head and shoulders to the beat.
• I'm gonna get you! She loves to try to get away from me and she starts laughing and eagerly tries to escape me when I tell her that I'm going to get her. My favorite is when she's on the bed and she starts to try and climb the wall in order to get away.
• Fav foods include: Cheerios, goldfish, puffs, chicken, yogurt bursts, and fruit strips.
• She's started taking a few steps when I'm holding her little hands. She gets quite lazy and wants to sit down. She's stands while holding onto the table, chairs, and whatever she can get her hands on but has yet to stand alone.

a few recent photos...

Soon to be our new home! Move in date April 2010.

Sleepy baby!

Framing starts this week. We are so excited!

Lot # 7

Her french plate. Enjoying a few snackies.

No Fighting; No Biting!

In between meetings a couple weeks ago, and I get a call from an unknown number. Unknown numbers ALWAYS make me nervous but particularly because Finley’s daycare shows up as unknown and I am always paranoid something is going to go wrong while she is there.

I picked up and sure enough, it was her teacher. “Finley was in a little fight today at school, she informs me. WHAT? Is my first instinct but I allow her to continue. “She had a toy in her hand and another little kid wanted it and Finley refused to give it up so the kid bit her,” she continues. Now, this isn’t sounding like much of a FIGHT to me but more of an attack on my little girl. I was shock but let her finish. “She’s got a bit of a mark on her arm but she’ll be fine and she’s allowing us to put ice on it so hopefully the swelling will go down.”

I sat at my desk in shock. Not quite sure how to proceed. I sucked it in, thanked the teacher for calling and letting me know and I think I even mustered a joke about Finley not being much of the sharing kind before I hung up.

Underneath it all, I was pissed. Not quite sure if I should get in my car and make the trek from Seattle to Tacoma to pick her up or if I should call my parents and ask them to go pick her up. So, I called Jeff and he seemed to think that all would be fine and then I even started to wonder if I was overreacting a bit.

Later that evening when I returned from work, I lifted her shirt and saw the bite marks. That lil f’er bit her through her long sleeve shirt and left upper and lower chomper marks on her arm. My heart started racing and I wanted to pick up the phone and call that kids mother and let her know what her child had done to my lil girl. Finally, I came to my senses, gave her a smooch and realized that these sorts of things are going to happen.

As a Mom, I definitely am starting to realize that there are UPS and downs to this whole game and I need to take things a little less serious. But, it’s hard. The Mama Bear in me wants to walk into daycare the next morning and bite the little kid back. The mature parent in me wants to understand that these things are going to happen and the best that I can do is give her a little kiss and encourage her to go back into her classroom the next day and not be afraid of the little bugger that bit her. This world is a crazy place and I know that in the next 20-30 years I’m going to endure a lot more than a little bite mark on my munchkin’s arm. I just hope that moving forward Finley is able to handle the situation with resilience, grace, and confidence and hopefully she learns to NOT bite back.