This blog has been a bit heavy lately... too much crappola in life weighing it down. I figured there is nothing like a good Nina story to lighten the mood though, so here is one from last week.
3 a.m. one night, Nina came into our room complaining her belly was hurting. We asked the usual questions: "Do you need to use the bathroom?", "Do you feel like you're going to throw up?" She answered no to both, so J.C. suggested she go downstairs and eat a couple of crackers to settle her stomach. That would never fly with Elise, but Nina is a kid who is perfectly willing to go downstairs alone in a dark quiet house in the middle of the night. A few minutes later, I heard her yelling from downstairs, "MOM! I need help!!" In my groggy 3 a.m. state, I yelled back, "What's wrong?" She yelled, "I didn't know it was dye, but it was dye. I need help!" Huh? I lumbered downstairs to find her sitting on the toilet examining her now red and green hands. "Why are your hands red and green?", I asked. She said, "I didn't know it was dye. It was dye, and I can't get it off. I tried washing my hands, and it won't come off." to which I responded, "But you were down here TO GET CRACKERS!!!!" I have no idea what possessed her to start playing with food coloring at 3 a.m., but there she was with red and green hands. Classic Nina. I told her that I needed my sleep, and that if she couldn't get it off with soap and water that I would help her in the morning. I was not about to waste my valuable sleep time figuring out how to clean food coloring off skin in the middle of the night. She started to cry saying, "But if I go to school with red and green hands, then the kids will laugh at me." My 3 a.m. self had no sympathy because I responded, "THEN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN PLAYING WITH FOOD COLORING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!"
As parents, we try hard to put rules in place... "Look both ways before crossing the street", "Ask to be excused and clear your place after dinner", Pens are only for writing on paper, not walls or furniture", but I never imagined I would need the rule, "Don't PLAY WITH THE FREAKING FOOD COLORING at 3 a.m. when you are supposed to be eating crackers"! I guess I'll add that one to the list. Who knew?
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