Adventures in Babysitting

Thank heavens there are some wonderful babysitters in my life for the kiddies. Patrick is gone, I"m working, teaching classes and there are dress rehearsals and dance recitals this weekend. Thats correct-two. A matinee performance was added on Saturday afternoon, so I'll be making a few more trips to the auditorium than I originally had thought. I'm not mad or bummed about the additional recital. I just have to figure out how to get through Saturday with Nora being somewhat mangeable. She (like her mommy) gets difficult when tired!!!! (at least thats what Patrick says! And I"ll take his word for it!)

Tonight the wonderful mommy helper, Heather, took Nora and Stuey to the auditorium to get Nora's crocodile costume while I was teaching classes. It is quite cute-a long tail with spikes on it. Can't wait to see her in it! We skipped the full rehearsal tonight. THe kids were so tired earlier today that I knew it would be the kiss of death for the weekend if we went to the practice. As I taught birthing class, Heather cooked them a great dinner and the kids were in bed by 7:15. Thank heavens. Today started off with tired kids crying and yelling at eachother--perhaps tomorrow they'll be back to their more normal self.

I"m really looking forward to the actual recital on Saturday night. Mary Jane and myself are going with Stuey and it'll be fun to see the whole thing from start to (maybe) finish. I'll see how Stuey does. I think he has at least 2 hours of sitting in him...he has a good sitting track record and has been WAYYYY into watching the dress rehearsals. He claps between every dance and says, "mamma-you have to clap too. Clap, mamma." He keeps me honest. He really gets into the spirit of it all. I could see him being a stage guy in the next year or two. Plus, hes a little ham and likes to work the scene with cute smiles and his little dance moves! Perfect traits for theater and dance!

Tonight I finished up the most recent birthing series class-and I"m looking forward to the birthing class reunion I"m going to have on June 5th. I had one about a year ago, and intended to do one several months ago, but time slipped away. I think that reconnection with the group is important-to celebrate the shift into parenthood and have a chance to see one anothers babies. I know I would've liked that in a birthing class-to have a formal time months later to get back together. Teaching is getting easier and more relaxed for me. In my first 1/2 year of teaching, I would get somewhat nervous, but now I am more relaxed. Practice and repetition helps take the jitters out of the mechanics of teaching.

Off to bed in preparation for what will be a VERY busy next two days....

Zoya