Day 75

I get up early in order to head out to the gym. I carefully navigate the minefield of plushies and soft toys that Stormy has mined the bedroom floor with while she was meant to be sleeping last night. I manage to escape without tripping over, or worse, waking her.

Stormy does wake up about 2 hours later while I’m tidying away Plushmageddon. She’s her general groggy self but responds instantly when I ask what she wants for breakfast. ToastBox. This sounds like a good plan to me. I call the school bus and tell them not to wait for us and that I’ll bring Stormy in. I get her dressed and brush her hair in nearly record time. Then it’s out the door and a quick scoot to Chinatown. After a sausage bun with iced Milo for Stormy and Kaya Toast with Teh Peng for me, we’re on our way to school. Stormy and I talk about the day ahead. She asks if we can have dinner outside again. Showing that she can be proactive she opens her negotiation with “I promise to wash my hair today”. And for good measure she adds, “I will also brush my teeth”. She’s learning.

Unfortunately we can’t have dinner by the pool as I return home late today. I message Stormy’s carer and ask her to serve her dinner without me. I always feel like I’m disappointing Stormy when I do this. Although she doesn’t seem to mind. Or in some cases, notice.

I return home to find her chattering away in her bath. I take a moment to listen to the monologue of a happy 4 year old. I have literally no idea what she is saying. At this point I take over bathing her only to be immediately doused in water. I think that I should have waited outside for a few more minutes. After the bath she decides she wants to make her Milo by herself. She climbs on the kitchen counter and makes it without any help — from getting the milk from the fridge, opening the Milo tin, spooning in the Milo and pouring the milk. This reinforces her opinion of herself as a “big girl”.

She carry’s it into her bedroom and I read her a couple of stories before kissing her goodnight and closing the door. I have a number of work calls tonight and so am hoping that she’ll understand and stay in her room. This lasts all of 2 minutes. She emerges with her Lego and places it on top of the computer table. Whereupon she sits on my lap and contributes to my various conversations by saying hello and showing them her creations (and sometimes also her tongue). It’s both sweet and somewhat frustrating. This goes on for hours and it’s nearly 11 before I can convince her to stay in bed.

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