Lightening up
I can't leave such odd angst up as my most recent thoughts--especially the Mel Gibson thing. I don't know why that struck me the way it did. But I spewed it, so I'll just have to live with it.
In real-life news, for the past couple of days, when I pick up Audrey from daycare, I've arrived right at quiet book time, and Audrey has insisted that I sit down and read with/to her. Only Audrey never wants to stop reading, and I do eventually want to go home. Today, we sat and looked at Sesame Street Circus of Opposites, but Audrey was upset that there was no "Melmo" (Elmo--and he was there, but between the illustration style and his clown costume, little Elmo was virtually unrecognizable), so when the Thomas the Tank Engine book surfaced, she snatched it. And thus the table was set for a tantrum. I handed Sesame Street to another toddler, and Audrey protested. I tried to explain that she only needed one book at a time, but she's 16 months old and not big on reason yet.
She eventually settled in to read Thomas but would fuss whenever another toddler would scooch over to read with us. We got to the end of the book, and I asked her if she was ready to go home. Sensing that this reading session was coming to a close, Audrey arched backwards and began to wail, wriggling and rolling out of my arms. I soon realized we were in for a full on temper tantrum, so I gently laid her down and let her have at it. I kept telling her it was okay, that things weren't so bad, really. Teachers came out of the woodwork to see what was going on--that's how loud she was hollering (that and she's a popular girlie--because when not in the throes of toddler melancholia, she's a giggly charmer).
As she stopped kicking, I scooped her up and danced until she calmed down. But she stayed fussy until we got home. Once she had a cup of juice and a banana, the sunshine came out from the clouds. Maybe she was just hungry? Or just full of toddler temper.
;)