I Won’t Tell Them Your Name

I finally had enough. SB has now mastered the art of climbing out of her crib as well as scaling the side and wiggling back into it. This weekend she’s out of there. I’ve been assured that she won’t hurt herself but visions of her tumbling down onto her head have been assailing me and I just can’t take a chance. PK never climbed out of her crib. She was too smart. She knew that all she had to do was yell loud enough and someone would come get her. Of course we lived with my family and they were suckers for her pathetic cries. I’m more hard-nosed about the wailing and can ignore it for longer.

SB has also figured out how to undress herself in a split second and enjoys doing so at the most inopportune times. Like when we’re getting ready to walk out the door in the morning. My personal favorite is when she strips off everything, including diaper, before falling asleep at night. I do a load of laundry every morning lately and I don’t like it. It’s just unnecessary. Tonight I stole a page from my mother’s Big Book of Parenting and wrapped the diaper in duct tape. It took the child a moment to realize what was happening but once she did the howls that emanated from her tiny frame must have woken the dead. She was furious. But I don’t have to do laundry in the morning so I don’t care.

The older SB gets the more fierce she becomes. Some days she’s a wild beast tearing through the house. PK has learned to fear her. On Sunday she actually locked herself in her room and asked me not to tell PK where she was. Who could blame her though after she took a full cuppie to the back of the head and was bitten 4 times. SB needs to go on a leash and PK needs to learn to duck and run. Who would have thought that a miniature 2 year-old would instill so much fear her sister who is six years her senior.

PK actually has the patience of a saint. She loves SB no matter how much of a terror she’s being. When PK crawls into bed at night SB goes running to jump in and cuddle with her. And PK welcomes her. Then they both smile with their angelic faces beaming up at me and no matter how long or rough my day was it just melts away. They are my light and my laughter.