"I Do It".

I swear I am undergoing some sort of 'test' being put on me by someone somewhere otherworldly, worldly, cosmic or whatever. You catch my drift.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am probably the LEAST patient person ever. Ever. I do not sit still. I do not have patience for stupid people, wrong opinions, slow drivers or indecision. Yes I miss sunsets, beautiful moments in nature and am not good at letting folks get a word in edgewise. Amazingly I still have friends.

I am desperately trying to have patience with this new found independence that BOTH my daughters are exercising. This week. This independence shows up either in the 10 minutes we should be heading for the car in the morning or at pick up when I am late getting home (which means late making dinner, which then means late baths and late bedtimes... vicious circle I try to avoid.)

My almost 2 year old is coming into her own and asserting her independence. I know this is a good part of her development and all that, but it's really messing with my schedule. 'I do it!' She yells when we get near the car. She wants to get in the car, get up on the seat and get settled into her car seat. I try to let her do this. Mostly I'm successful, but strangers driving past the scene will see me laying with my head against the side of the car taking very deep calming breathes as I wait the 10 minutes it takes for Riley to finally 'do it'. You can't help. Don't give her a boost, don't move her foot, don't touch her. Couldn't she have waited for this phase til her legs were longer? It's like she's climbing K2 to get into this freaking seat and it's killing me.

Yesterday she didn't say 'I do it' when we neared the car, so I whisked her into her seat, buckled her in and took off all before it dawned on her. She then proceeded to sob for the 12 minutes it takes me to get to Kate's school. IIIII ddddooooooo Itttt..... I ddooooo itttt. I felt rotten for that whole time, but I was on time. Do they cancel each other out?? I'm still debating.

Couple the new "I Do It" mantra with my four year old who I swear purposely takes her sweet time at everything and I'm going crazy. Her newest thing is to be the 'waiter/waitress' at all meals at our house. But apparently she is NOT the busser. She informed me that she does NOT put down placemats, but does do everything else. God forbid you accidentally lay out a couple of forks and napkins on the table and it's major meltdown. The problem is, the service at this diner is sooooo slow! I mean dinner is on plates ready to go and the waitress is still picking what color fork she wants to eat with. If you go for some excuse like "These adult plates are too hot for kids to handle" she doesn't buy it and then it's a battle. I have a nightly choice, am I that mean nagging Mom who sucks the fun from life? Or do we have baths on time.

The deep breathing thing isn't really working for me... and contrary to what the recycle bin says, wine isn't helping that much either.