Tiger Stripes

Here's a switch to my normal day- it's 9:00 am and I'm up, showered and dressed in normal (non-pajama) clothes. Client One is still in her pink cat nightgown and Client Two is napping in just a diaper. Usually, Client Two is the first one ready, since I change his clothes when I change his diaper first thing in the morning, but this morning, he seemed more content to be naked. Getting Client One ready can always be a bit of a challenge. Some days she's all for it. Other days you would think I was trying to dismember her bit by bit. On days like today, when we have no plans, I just let her take things slowly. I'll probably try to dress her when I'm done typing, She's just doing such a good job entertaining herself right now.

I'm hoping that maybe if I'm up and ready, I can tackle this day. I'm also hoping that maybe if we ease into it, it won't seem as long as yesterday did. Thursdays are my "long day" because my husband works from 7:00 am- 6:00 pm. On a normal day, he usually goes in at the same time, but gets home around 3:00. This means that on Thursday, I have three extra hours to entertain my clients without his aid. Not a problem, usually. But Client One does often get antsy waiting for her daddy to get home. We usually do an extra craft or baking project on Thursdays to fill the time. Yesterday, Client One found her own way to fill the time.

Like I said, we usually do some crafts on Thursdays. Yesterday we made a crown from a paper plate.

See? Super cute and super easy. Though, notice that it is decorated with markers. Usually, markers are not a problem. We had once incident, nearly a year ago, where some of the toys in her playroom got redecorated and enhanced with a green permanent marker. We had a quick discussion on how markers and crayons and pencils are only for coloring in coloring books or on paper. The message seemed to stick. But then this happened:

Yep. She used a blue marker to draw "tiger stripes" all over her body. They are even under her shirt. When she did this, I was feeding Client Two back his room, getting ready to put him down for his nap. We had another good long talk about not drawing on ourselves before taking a bath that turned the the water very blue. She still has some faint marks this morning.

I guess that's just life with a three-year-old. I guess I should be grateful she's creative. I know my mom appreciated it because I was the same way when I was Client One's age.

Hopefully, just maybe, today will be a bit more relaxing.