ladybug picnic

today Danny woke up full of the joys of Spring and excited about "cowwecting wadybugs". so i seized the opportunity to walk 3.2 miles to the park, and off we set. i swear if we aren't looking for bugs they are crawling all over the sidewalk, making me sick with the stress that almost stepping on them releases in my body. i was so happy when i found a family of roly poly bugs of various sizes but nooo, "they have to be thpotted Mama!" these guys aren't thpotted at all... " urgh! after a fruitless bugless hour, i gave up and we drove to OSH for a box of them.... which is where my mind fast-forwards to being a fly on the wall of his future therapist's office and listening to him lamenting growing up with a mother so evil and impatient she actually BOUGHT bugs instead of gathering them. sob. i AM turning into Jon&Kate.... but if i was Jon&Kate, i wouldn't have paid for them, surely there is a difference??

next on the fun agenda, we drew a picture to stick on the ladybug's cage to make them feel at home :) good mothers do things like this, right? they don't smoke with their mouth skewed sideways so they blow it out the car window therefore making it acceptable, or drink beer on the porch at 11am - they draw anatomically correct ladybugs from live models with their 4 year olds.... i'm a GOOD mom, right??! as Danny was enthusiastically coloring away, he knocked the cage off the table - CRASH!! - ladybugs everywhere and what was left were so shaken they refused to move (can ladybugs die of fright?!) well, i am so scared of things with wings that i panicked and shrieked in hysterics that they were all dead and his lip started to quiver and he took the deep inhale that proceeds the 10 second silence/turning blue process and then all-out bawling. it's official, i am the worst mom ever. Jon&Kate included :(

to calm things down a little, we went to our reading corner and curled up with our velvet blanket and fluffy pillows. growing up i had every Mr Men book ever written - or so i thought.... 2 of Mr Happy (Mr Happyface as he is known around here), 3 Mr Strongs and quite rightly, 4 copies of Mr Greedy. as i read down the list of books Danny was delighted to hear there is a Mr Sneeze - as he has been sneezing for days. "find it Mama!! let's wead awww about Mr Thneeze!" i looked and looked through a mountain of books - but could we find Mr Sneeze? cue once again: the blubbering lip, the big huge tears that pause as they roll down the cheeks for dramatic effect... arrghhh. we are officially half way through today PST. it's day one of my 'no caffeine for me before 4pm' days and things are NOT going well :| i am off to gather lavender, listen to Simon and Garfunkel, buy grosgain ribbon and do the things that keep me somewhat sane. back later............................

update: the surviving ladybugs escaped!! thank God for Aaron working from home and being able to handle things with wings....