Run???

Not to be outdone by this:

Little Bitty has started sporting this:

Those are Daddy's socks. His dirty socks... she brought them to me after bath time last night and wore them most of the evening. This morning, as soon as we changed her diaper - she grabbed the socks and (with my help) put them back on. This is similar to Brother's routine with his superhero outfits. Fortunately, she is not quite as opinionated on her wardrobe as her Brother yet - and when it was time for school - she left the house looking like this:

Speaking of "school", we have made the decision that Brother and Little Bitty will not be on the 9a - 3p schedule for the next couple of months, they will stay a little longer. This is mostly due to the fact that we live probably 20 miles away and on days when I take them and pick them up I am only left with 5 hours tops to fulfill my work responsibilities. Plus, Little Bitty stays home with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I have to somehow take advantage of working from home (i.e. not having her in full-time daycare yet). So since right now my husband and I both have busy work schedules they will both stay at school a little longer most days.

However, if I'm honest about it - this decision to extend their "school" hours was due in part to an experience I had on Monday. Brother and Little Bitty were still on their 9a - 3p schedule at this point. At about 2:45pm a designated staff member marches all the 3 o'clock kids up to the front entrance to wait for their parents. If a 3 o'clock parent arrives one minute or later after 3 o'clock - they sign a "late parent" sheet and are charged an unusual amount of money. Whatever. This is all fine with me. I try to pick the kids up on time... but as said earlier, the half hour commute and a full-time work schedule does sometimes cause this mommy to run late. If this is the case, I call and let them know. Specifically so that no one wastes their time or my little ones sitting at the front entrance waiting for me.

This day, however, I was not late. I pulled up to the school at 2:58pm. I got out of the car and headed toward the door, which is probably 20 feet away. I was greeted by the designated staff member opening the door and saying, "Run."

Next she mumbled something about me almost being late (she probably wasn't mumbling but by that point I wasn't really listening, I was replaying the scene of her telling me to Run over in my head). Then, I mumbled something to her about not being late and she didn't need to tell me to run. I've stewed about it for 2 days now. Then... I called and told them I would be paying extra to extend Brother and Little Bitty's hours. This gives me more freedom to pick them up whenever it is most convenient for me. But, somehow, I don't feel like I came out the winner here.

Now, as with most confrontations in life - I of course know how this would have better been handled. "Hi Ms. J. I'm actually not late today - and please understand I am a busy, working mother doing the very best I can and I would much rather be greeted with a hug from my children or just 'hello, how are you?'" "Also, if it is an inconvenience for you to bring my children up here to the front entrance - I would just as soon go to their classrooms to pick them up anyway. But don't worry, on days that I am running late I will still call and pay the exorbitant late fee."

See, I feel better already!