The lunch that nightmares are made of...

Okay, not really, but it was pretty bad.

We were taking the kids out on campus to make some new friends. We stopped at a nice little Asian food restaurant. The employees welcomed us in and even helped me lift the stroller through the door. I was impressed. Honestly, most people just stop to stare at the white woman struggling with her stroller. Well, they stare until I ask them for help and then (with shock on their faces at being asked) they help me.

Anyhow the lunch started well...

(1) Then Cosi grabbed the bowl of toothpicks and very purposefully dropped them all over the table. No big deal. The waitress helped us put them back in the bowl, even after Cosi licked a few. No one who uses them will ever need to know.
(2) Cosi spilled her lukewarm tea all over the table. In the process of cleaning the tea up with napkins, Cosi hurled the wet napkins over onto the table of the people behind us. I pretended that I didn't notice.
(3) Not to be outdone, Trey started crying and wanted to be fed. After eating, he promptly spit up all over the floor of the restaurant leaving me feeling like I wasted my time and my preciously made milk.
(4) Cosi didn't want to eat and threw a temper tantrum. She tried to throw a lot more, but was thwarted in her efforts. Then, she decided to lay down on the seat and allow me to place green beans in her mouth (via chopsticks). I didn't argue. We'll work on table manners next year.
(5)Cosi started to tell us that she needed to "go pee pee in the grass." We questioned her truthfulness. It's socially acceptable for kids to go potty just about anywhere, so we've been letting our potty-training daughter leave her mark all over the city. She loves it, but it has turned her into a big liar. Picture us holding a pantless & smiling Cosi over a bush, but not even a drop of the promised pee pee emerging. Maybe she just loves a good breeze on her bare bottom. Actually, that sounds kind of nice... Anyhow after she persistently asked about five times, we paid the check and I picked her up to take her outside. As we were looking for a nice bush to shield her treasures from onlookers, I realized that my hip was warm & wet. It turns out that Cosi had already peed on the chair in the restaurant. Her dark jeans hid the wetness. My brown shirt did not. As for the upholstery on the furniture at the restaurant...well, I don't know.

The restaurant has found us out. I'm sure the two little foreign dolls (yang wawa) will not be welcomed back. Too much crying, puking, and urinating, along with the occasional wet napkin missiles = Stay home and eat!!

Grabby Hands

While I'm feeding Trey, I have time to type up an embarrassing story about Cosi :) I would type up a story about Trey, but he doesn't do much yet...maybe he'll poop on someone tomorrow....I'll let you know if he does.

The other day an East Asian friend was visiting at our home. Cosi, in typical extrovert fashion, squealed in delight to see my friend and promptly asked for my friend to pick her up. My friend complied, while I (the worrisome mother) started looking for what Cosi might grab.

Here are some of the items on my mental checklist:
Glasses - none
Earrings - none (so thankful b/c Cosi grabbing big earrings and ripping them out of ears is a big fear of mine)
Hearing Aids/Ear Phones/Phones/Other?
Hair Bands or Clips - Uh Oh, sure enough there was a hair band

Now that I've spotted the hair band and Cosi is within range, I have to debate what to do. Should I warn the person? Will that just alert Cosi to the presence of the hair band? Should I pre-emptively instruct Cosi not to touch the hairband? Is that just me not trusting my daughter and giving her a chance to obey on her own?

As I think it over, Cosi acts. Her hand quickly became securely lodged in the ponytail of my friend. She was not been able to pull the hairband out, because my sweet friend had her hand on top of Cosi's hand and was preventing the completion of the pull.

Shoot Shoot Shoot. I'm the mother. What should I do? So, I said "No Cosi, Let go." I said it again and again. This didn't work. Our little girl is nothing, if not determined. I grabbed Cosi's hand and squeezed it. I said, "let go" again. Cosi might have grabbed on harder. Not only that, but Cosi had a slight hold on the hair band and was pulling on my friend's hair in an attempt to get the band. My friend was flinching in pain. I became frantic. In the moment, I thought maybe I could shock Cosi into letting go. I might have smacked her on the back of the head a little (not too hard, just hard enough to make me embarrassed that I did this). Cosi didn't budge. (which makes me even more embarrassed b/c my "shock her into letting go plan" was stupid and didn't even work) At this point, I froze. I had no idea what to do. I revert to telling Cosi to "let go," while still keeping my hand over Cosi's hand and trying to lessen her pulling ability. This retains the same level of effectiveness as before = none. Finally, my friend tells me to step back and let go. We let Cosi pull out the hair band, because Cosi is stronger than two adults and we have no choice. However, after it's out, I promptly take the hair band away from Cosi and put her in the "naughty chair" for a minute to "think over her wrongdoing."

If anyone has advice on how to stop (or slow down) grabby hands, I'm open to it! This situation happens everyday, except usually she has already grabbed what she wants before I can try to stop her.