A Beautiful Sunny Afternoon.

The other day after picking up Ingrid from school, we stayed outside instead of going in and turning on the tv like we usually do.  It was gorgeous out!  Sunny and warm, and one of those days you know you have to take advantage of before it snows.  Thank god we did, it's been rainy and cold ever since.  We brought a blanket and snacks out and got some much needed fresh air.  We've all been sick for ages and ages...

And now here we sit inside again.  It's windy and cold and we have blocks strewn about, two stains soaking in the living room rug (forgot Otis can grab stuff off the coffee table now, dang it!)  I'm so needing a nap but Otis hasn't slept more than 20 minutes in about a week.  I'm trying to be patient with Ingrid as she jumps on the couch, runs back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, scaring the bejeezus out of the cats.  She has energy and I do not.  I just want to lay here on the couch and cut out felt circles.  Actually, really what I want to do is have someone, anyone, come over and take my kids out of the house for a few hours so I can curl up in my bed and just nap.  Any takers?  Anyone?  No?  Okay, then I guess it's time to go build block towers...

Play Blocks, Mama? Play Kitchen, Mama? Color, Mama?

That is ALL I've been hearing lately.  Yesterday it was a nonstop barrage of begging me to play with her, but when we'd settle down to one thing, she'd just jump to the next.  It was rather tiring, and by the afternoon I was over it.  I just wanted to sit in one place and zone out--is that bad?  I ended up getting a bit yelly and she cried and whined for the last hour before Brendan got home.  Bed time could not come soon enough...

But after dinner we all sat down to play blocks together and the look of joy on her face was priceless.  Both Brendan and I would build some ridiculous tower and then she'd get to knock it down.  Ingrid was so excited and would clap and smile.  Then she'd try to build a tower and amaze us by balancing some huge block on a tiny one.  Usually we rush her to the bath and bed right after dinner because A) she's tired, and B)we're ready for alone time.  But last night we just played with blocks and had fun together.  It was so nice.

Today I'm going to try to focus on Ingrid more, really get to her level and play with her instead of just having her near me while I try to vacuum or sweep or do laundry or something.  She's pretty good about playing by herself, but her begging and begging for me to play with her yesterday just showed me that she was needing more one on one time.  Instead of getting irritated, I have to give her what she needs, even if that means playing kitchen twenty different times during the day...I'm going to try to see the positive of her play instead of thinking it's so boring and all the other things I'd rather be doing.  Because, man, just look at this face!  How can you say no???