fighting with my toddler

i had a terrible day today. woke up at 3am to pee and wasn't able to go back to sleep. talia woke up at 6:30 and i brought her downstairs (after asking 10 times, are you sure you don't want to come into mommy's bed?) where she proceeded to sob because the "lights are on" even though they weren't. she could not be conviced that all the lights were out. she cried with a blanket over her head for 20 minutes. i'm not sure she was even awake. huge fight over clothing before school. i just felt like i was supposed to put my foot down about SOMETHING. ANYTHING. but she would not wear the panties i chose, nor the shirt. i didn't care if she wanted to pick out her own clothes i just didn't want a hassle. i finally told her she could go upstairs and get different clothes but i would NOT carry her up the stairs so she wailed at the bottom of the stairs for 20 minutes. she did finally come up on her own. dropped her at school after having noodles for breakfast and tried to go home and sleep but couldn't. now it's almost 11pm and i'm still at work. sleep deprivation is not good for me. i had no patience. then tonight i saw a mom pushing a stroller with a toddler who clearly has cancer and i feel terrible for having a fight with my kid.

things i want to buy when i move

a serger
deep freezer
really nice knives
a heated towel rack
digital SLR camera
really nice linens-- sheets, towels, etc.
summer weight down comforter
high tech coffemaker?
nice bath products
lots of organizational tools, ie the entire container store...
good recycle bins and trash cans
a window seat
a porch swing
lots of plants
cool shoes
really nice porch furniture
locker style in the mudroom?
mail oragnization place

halloween pictures

This was T's first REAL Halloween. I was a little bit ashamed that I bought this lame costume but I'm not going to make her a costume until she actually CARES about it. She hardly knew what Halloween was before we went out but she sure knows now! I was surprised when I asked her if she knew was "trick or treating" means. She said it means "candy" so I guess she knew some things!

We went out to a friend's house in the suburbs and the girls played together BEAUTIFULLY! Then we hit about 10 houses. Talia seemed to be all business. She generally went in, took one piece of candy and got out. I was a little disappointed at her candy choices. She always took a lollipop if it was offered. What a shame.

I was worried about how to deal with the candy afterwards. I took everything out except for about 6 pieces and let her choose about two a day for a few days. It actually wasn't that bad. After about one or two more days she stopped asking about it. Whew!