Tonight was a solo night for me as Sasha is having a much deserved night out to see Slumdog Millionaire with a friend. And it was such a joy to have them to myself.
Step one - have a Plan
Before I even picked them up, I got the plan for dinner together. Cheese omelet, fruit and toast. I considered a veggie, but I didn't think of one that would work with eggs and cheese that the kids would eat.
Pick up was a breeze - as usual - and we started home to...
Step two - Don't let Alya decide to watch TV
color at the kitchen table. Yes, I began talking it up in the minivan in order to keep any thought of Dora/Wonderpets/Nihao Kai Lan from getting into that girl's head.
They started coloring while I got dinner together. Easy as pie.
Step three - Persistance is key
Easy except for trying to get them to eat what I put in front of them.
Alya wasn't interested in anything but toast and Marcus was kind of following her lead. Now I made a nice fluffy omelet, great for him to practice fork use, but neither of them were having any of it.
But we stayed at the table as I ate with them, and then we played "Where's Marcus".
He started the whole thing by putting his pear bowl over his face.
Then Alya did it.
Soon it was both at the same time.
They are just too cute.
Fun times at dinner. Not only was there lots of smiles and laughter, but they also ended up eating just about everything on their plates!
Step four - Have fantastic children
Step four is kind of cheating, but I gave them both baths and they behaved wonderfully. Alya understood how important her role was in being a good sister, while Marcus didn't put up a fight about anything - diaper, hair washing, getting dressed - none of that was a problem.
Although I did get rather wet as Marcus is an expert splasher and Alya just likes to put cups of water outside the tub. But that's what happens when kids take baths, and I don't expect it to change for quite a while.
After getting them both dressed and blow drying their hair - Alya more so than Marcus - it was time for bed.
The little man just goes out like a light. No fighting or fussing from him. Alya needs a few stories and a little rocking. But again, very easy with no fights from either of them.
Step five - Blog to avoid cleaning up
This last step doesn't really work. The disaster of a kitchen and the mess of a bathroom still awaits me upstairs. But a few minutes to share the story is worth it.
Be seeing you,
Jon
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