This is 3.5 years-old

Sophie (left) and Sienna

I haven't been posting to this blog lately because my girls are 3.5 years old and we're always on the go, I've taken on some responsibility outside of the home, and so my free time is at a minimum.   Over the last few months the girls have changed, but yet so much still remains the same.

The girls are becoming more independent and rather feisty.  They count to fifteen, love to play hide and seek, jump on their beds, being read to and "reading" to themselves, and telling stories.

They'll interview you about your nail polish, shoes, and jewelry, and are utterly enthralled if you mention a boyfriend, girlfriend, or wedding.  They appear to love me more when I'm dressed up in high heels and makeup.

They tell their dad he's their prince and "I was missin' you when you were at work."  They tell me they were "missin' me when I was in your belly."

They understand when they're snubbed by another child, but don't quite understand empathy not to do the exact same thing to another kid.  It's all very sad, and mom still has to be constantly alert to diffuse and educate.  I guess that's a lifelong commitment.

When given the opportunity they dress themselves, but their choices have to be negotiated, and most times the actual act of dressing sped up so that we can actually leave the house.  You'll most often still find them in tutus (or sundresses) and inappropriate footwear with sparkles.  They'll only wear jeans and vests for their dad, even though I ask them to every day.

You may or may not be surprised to learn that my children rarely sleep through the night.  Whether it's waking to pee, or just waking and realizing I'm not there, they wake up anywhere from one to three times each per night.  We clearly haven't progressed in this area.  Luckily, I've never been one to need a ton of sleep.

According to their teacher they don't yet recognize their own names by site, Sophie doesn't  pedal a tricycle, but Sienna can but prefers not to, they both aren't particularly handy with scissors, however what they lack in these gross and fine motor skills they make up for in their dramatic play and social skills.

They've been asking a lot about death, and regularly telling me they don't want their dad to die.  They know their paternal grandpa is in the cemetery in town, and that our neighbor died recently.  They're concerned that Larry and I will get old too and eventually die which is totally valid.

That last point sounds a little morbid, but overall 3.5 is good.  There's more explaining to do (they ask a lot of questions), but they're a bit easier to reason with.  Tantrums have become minimal and usually only occur when they're tired, hungry, or generally just messing with mom for kicks (but those instances are pretty obvious).

Wish me continued patience.

The word of the day is mombat....

I recently heard the term mombat,  a very close cousin to the word combat, which by definition is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to kill the opposition, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed.  Mombat refers to mothers engaged in such conflict, in all likelihood without causing physical harm.

I experienced mombat first hand when my children's preschool was nominated in a local Patch poll to determine the best preschool or daycare in town.  

It was a heated race that had parents all over town voting, commenting, and cheerleading for their preschools and daycares.  Actually, mainly just the preschool parents got carried away, the daycare parents were clearly too busy with other things like WORK to comment.  The online commenting got a little ugly even necessitating the local editor and publisher to moderate at times!  One commenter advised everyone to stop getting their "panties in a bunch!" It was mombat.  It was pretty entertaining.  

Clearly something like preschool is a sensitive topic for mothers.  It's one of the first major choices you make for your child, and to imagine that you may not have chosen "the best" could make some suburban moms resort to mombat.  I've heard that kindergarden lotteries and sports tryouts evoke similar instances of mombat, but I'd bet you've already seen that for yourself.