This way and that way

We have been back from our trip for exactly a week today, but I'm still feeling pulled in a dozen different directions. Since I can't pull my thoughts together on one subject, here are a few of the things that have been bumping around in my head.

- My husband's cousin and his partner visited for a few days, and while they are fascinating to hang out with, they were continually getting so caught up in something that they lost complete track of time. Which fine, no problem, but we are hanging out with a 2-year-old here. I do not at all expect the world to revolve around my parenting schedule, but I do expect some awareness (especially from family guests) that spending the day with a child in tow requires some structure.

(And to be honest here, I ended up being the rude one, when my frustration over everyone taking so. bloody. long. got the best of me. Maybe I expect too much?)

- This 2-year-old thing? I'm starting to get why it has such a bad reputation. Will can go from chirpy and affectionate to raging hell-beast in 2.5 seconds. Seriously. And even more strange, she can go back the other way. One minute she is screaming over the wrong band-aid or replacing all of her language with a keening wail and then suddenly she is dancing "round and round" or asking me to watch her draw a picture on her easel.

- Another irritating toddler trait? Suddenly everything takes forever. Getting ready. Walking somewhere. Climbing into the car. Part of it is the obsessive need to follow every routine exactly. Then there's the distractibility factor. Will is a little like Dug in that movie Up: Here I am on my way from the bed to the dresser to get a diaper - SQUIRREL! Not to mention the fact that Will is now developing selective hearing, an exasperating experience all on its own.

So. I'm learning to make my way through this new terrain without losing my cool. But oh my god, it is difficult to ignore my own emotions and deal with Will calmly when itistimetogo-wearealreadylate-ohmygod-justletmebrushyourhairalready!

- I have a love/hate relationship Canadian reality TV. I am appalled at "Pressure Cooker," which was hyped as some sort of Top Chef Canada but is so terrible I can't even describe it. What type of cooking competition tells the audience the ingredients the chefs will use, but does not bother to tell us what they made with said ingredients? Maybe we would like to know what the judges are sampling? Not to mention the fact that the teams all used the same ingredients in different ways. Ridiculous.

As a former Broadway-wannabe, I love love love "Triple Sensation." The first episode I watched had the competitors participating in theatre master classes. Their classes with a beautiful 82-year-old dancer/choreographer (I cannot find her name anywhere!) were unbelievable. She was so limber and animated that it wasn't even disconcerting when she discussed feeling the song in one's "crotch and nipples."

- It was while watching "Triple Sensation" that I fell in love with the song "I Won't Mind." Based on the few lyrics in the episode, I thought it was about a young mother giving up her baby. With a little digging, I discovered that the character singing - Auntie Lizzie - is actually Ben Franklin's daughter-in-law, who has suffered a miscarriage and discovered she can never have children of her own.



Every time I listen to this song, I pretend I haven't teared up and I determine to be more patient with my own little girl. Because I really am so very lucky to have her in my life.