Case of the Mondays

 Minnie starts 5-day preschool today, and she has a different crop of kids in her Monday/Tuesday class than the ones she already knows in her Wednesday-Friday class. She is really nervous because she says talking to new kids is hard. I feel bad for her because I completely understand how this feels. I am pretty confident she is going to have a great time, but I worry.

I still do not have new computer at work. My old computer works again but the mouse is broken, so I have to plug in a USB mouse. Only my computer only has fancy new USB ports, and people who use wired mouses DO NOT use fancy USB ports, so I also have to plug in an adapter thing, too, and the whole situation is not very portable, which is ironic since it’s a LAPTOP COMPUTER. (I could not make my wireless mouse from my office work with it because I needed to MOUSE OVER TO THE SETTINGS to set it up. I guess I could use my plug in mouse to set up the wireless one, but WHATEVER.) (It took me SO LONG to write a letter of rec and put it on letterhead last week between the mouse situation and files on my iPad as a stop gap and GAH).

Ben had one 12+ hour day and an overnight last week to shock us into a new reality, and this week he begins his soon-to-be-regular corporate gig and commute. In some ways, I am glad he is starting because I think the time between getting the job and starting the job made me really anxious. I have scheduled some fun stuff with friends this week to look forward to, and I am just sort of crossing my fingers.

Dorothy is grumpy about dance because even though she made a ton of teams (and the themes/costumes/routines are SO CUTE you guys), she does not always have the best placement onstage, and also she does not have a special (a solo/duo/trio), and she really wanted one. I keep reminding her that dance competitions are so fun and will be even more fun with so many dances, that she gets to spend every afternoon with her favorite friends, that she looooves her studio, etc. But still— it is hard to be a tween girl, you know?

The kids’ pediatrician (fresh off her annual AAP conference, obvs) recommended THIS puberty book, speaking of tweendom, and it’s really excellent. It kind of reminds me of bell hooks’ Feminism Is for Everybody in that it is the perfect, slim volume to hand to someone who is like oh what is puberty?

I have just started leaving a bunch of Play Doh on the table (and also leaving pads on the table), and Minnie just sort of climbs up and digs in whenever the mood strikes her. I love this for all of us:

It’s the calves squished into the Hunters for me. (My Hunters are also super tight in the calves, but it is less cute on me)

This! Is a HYPERCOLOR shirt!!! Remember those? They change color when they get warm? (This one goes from blue to pink.) I am glad I have personal policy to never rep kid teams on my on body because I definitely would have bought one for nostalgia’s sake (it is a dance team shirt). (Also, can you imagine wearing a shirt that changes color when you sweat or get warm as a person with HOT FLASHES? Mortifying. Like, I would just be standing there in my blue shirt living my life and suddenly BAM! My hair is sopping wet and my shirt is pink).

OMG I LOVE HER SO MUCH.