When you're a self-sufficient, first-born six-year-old, you tend to lose out on attention at times. You can't blame me. Lucy's method of showing her anger is to go to her room, sulk and pout, then read books quietly for an hour. Paige's method involves violently throwing herself on the ground, rolling, screaming and something that appears to involve the fiery pits of hell. It's no contest. Paige must get the attention before someone gets hurt.
Lucy also has been struggling with our change in family dynamic more lately, which surprises me. The kid loves kindergarten, is upset when it's the weekend because she can't go to kindergarten and discusses kindergarten most hours of the day. Yet, she still thinks there is some sort of party going on at home without her.
Most of the time, there isn't a party but two of the last three Fridays, Paige and I have gone to the children's museum. Lucy most likely would have no idea but Paige loves spending time in the do-it-yourself face painting, always falls asleep on the ride home, then wakes up from her nap as Lucy gets home from school. So, yeah, Paige's face is covered in paint and you can't hide it, which led to this exchange yesterday:
Lucy: "Well, it looks like you two went to the children's museum" (all said with an eye roll).
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Lucy: "You didn't follow mommy's rule of not painting our faces. And, if we do paint faces, we're not supposed to use black and red, because those colors are the hardest to wash off. Why are you not following mommy's rule, Paige?"
Paige: "Me no use black and red" (thanks for trying to cover for us Paige but all you need is a silk jacket with "Bulls" on the back and you'd fit right in at the United Center considering the hues adorning your face right now
Lucy: "Ugh!" (more eye rolling)
But last night was a night for daddy and Lucy - it was the Daddy/Daughter 2013 ball! We got dressed up and a babysitter came to watch Paige (Allison is still in Hawaii and I say it's 50/50 she ever returns - I wouldn't even blame her). Unfortunately, it also meant trying to be ready to leave the house before six. Lucy's special night actually started at 4:40 when we first attempted to get her dressed but became interrupted by Paige yelling from the bath tub, "Poop is coming out!" For all those smart, childless people out there, you never want to hear this.
Amazingly, poop wasn't coming out - false alarm. I had to set Lucy aside and wash Paige immediately for fear of another poop situation. So, Lucy waited. I bathed Paige, dressed her (always fun when a wet, naked Paige is running through the hallway screaming, "Me no get dressed!") and had to move immediately into dinner making - yes, I considering mac-n-cheese "dinner making."
Finally, mercifully, we had things just about under control. The girls' favorite babysitter arrived. I made the five-minute change into a suit and off we went. I was hoping for two hours of dancing with my little girl, but she was more interested in the endless supply of brownie bites, cupcakes and goldfish crackers readily available. She colored with her friends from school, ate some more, hit the dance floor a bit and was exhausted by 8 pm when it ended. Would I have liked to dance more with her? Sure. But, it was two hours of uninterrupted Lucy-daddy time, and that's something we haven't had in three weeks - I'll take it.
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