Mommy-Daughter Day

Last Saturday, I planned a mommy-daughter day for me and Sophia. I even told Trey to make plans to do whatever he wanted that day, to have some time for himself. Friday night during Sophia’s bedtime, I told her about our plans, we were going to a Gymboree play class at 9 AM followed by an Easter egg hunt and activities at the playground in our neighborhood. Her eyes sparkled with excitement and we both feel asleep anticipating the next day. Saturday morning we slept until 8:00 AM then got up to get ready for Gymboree. I ended breaking my “mommy-daughter only” rule by asking Trey to fix Sophia some breakfast because I was trying to get us both dressed, hair fixed, and out the door on time.

Gymboree class was so much fun! Sophia ran around the first 10 minutes oblivious to any of the activities going on around her, I think she just liked the freedom of the space and was stimulated by all the colors and sounds. Her favorite part was singing songs, washing the bus, dancing in a circle, and running under the parachute as we waved it up and down. I loved watching her play but I also tired myself out during parent participation while we all danced and skipped in a circle.

Next we headed home to grab Sophia’s Easter basket, a jacket, and a sippy cup and headed to our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We walked down the block to the playground and I was overwhelmed by how many kids had already shown up this year. Sophia played on the slide, the swings, with a hula hoop, a water gun, and with bubbles. She hesitantly ate some pink cotton candy before handing it back to me to finish for her. She knew what to do this year at the Easter Egg hunt – she ran after those eggs and cried when I stopped her from picking up the next set of eggs for the older kids. Note to self: remember to hide eggs in the backyard this week when the weather warms up.

Afterwards the egg hunt she ate a cupcake, chocolate candy from her eggs, and some popcorn. I decided it was time to go home when she started fighting with me over the bubbles and I had to pry them from her hands before she spilled them everywhere. I sensed a major meltdown coming and I picked her up and walked her home before she lost it in the middle of the playground.

When we got home, I was exhausted and ready for lunch and a nap so I assumed she would be ready for the same. Unfortunately, all the snacks had filled her up and she did not want any lunch. I did get her to eat some watermelon and grapes while we had some quiet time on the couch watching a new show on Noggin. Around 1PM I put her in her bed and told her she could play awhile with her stuffed animals before we went to sleep. I went straight to bed and was planning on a two hour nap… that never happened.

Sophia NEVER went to sleep. She played, got out of bed to find more toys, yelled at me to take her to potty, cried when I fussed at her for getting out of bed, and sang to her animals for the next few hours. After almost two hours, I finally gave up on either of us getting any sleep and we went outside to enjoy the warm weather. I had thought maybe we could plant some flowers together but decided to let Sophia dig in the dirt in the yard while I tried to sit in the shade. It had warmed up into the 80’s so we had popsicles and ice water to cool off. It was fun for about an hour until she tried to feed her popsicle to Coco and spilled most of it on the ground. Sophia’s cheeks were getting pink and her hands were sticky from the popsicles so I decided it was time to go inside - which brought us to the brink of another major meltdown. I thought she might be hungry since she did not really eat lunch so I made her favorite food – macaroni and cheese. I even let her get out the stool and “help” me by pouring the water and stirring in the cheese. I set the bowl on the table and have no idea what happened next to make her upset. I watched her arm slide across the table and heard… Splat! The entire bowl of macaroni and cheese was on the floor.

Without a word, I picked her up and carried her upstairs to her room (although I am not supposed to carry her anymore and this was the third or fourth time that day I had picked her up). I told her she was in timeout for throwing her food on the floor, put her in bed and went back downstairs. Downstairs I turned on the new video monitor (that is really for the new baby) and watched the major meltdown that had been simmering all day – she flung all the toys and pillows off her bed while tears poured down her face. Within minutes her cries had dissipated. I went upstairs (again) and peeked in her room – her exhaustion had finally set in and she had fallen asleep.

At this point I was exhausted too - I couldn’t do mommy daughter day alone anymore. I needed some help.

Trey stopped by the house with his dad around this time and saw the macaroni on the floor. He could tell by my face that my day was not going as planned. Sophia slept for about an hour and was still VERY grumpy when she woke up from her late nap, so I delegated the rest of the day to daddy. He gave Sophia a bath and got her ready for bed later that night. Sophia and I both went to bed early, a much needed end to an eventful, overwhelming “mommy-daughter day”.