Bingo Was His Name-Ohhhhhh!

E got up at 5:30 this morning… Gah, this kid! But she’s making up for her “inconvenient” kid stuff by saying new phrases like, “I love you, too,” “I’d like some more cheese, please,” and “I swing on this?”

Yep, this week at the doctor’s office, she pointed to the lamp over the patients’ bed and asked the doctor, “I swing on this?” while she attempted to throw a leg over it. Good Lord! She also pulled out all the drawers under the patient bed, sent a few gibberish text messages to my friends, tried to open the hazardous waste bin, played with the automatic sink, spun the doctor’s chair around, picked her nose, climbed the walls, opened the door, ran down the hall, jumped on a scale, climbed into a window, ran back, almost knocked the nurse over…

Did I mention that Mark was there to help me? And this is no criticism of his efforts to occupy her. Between outbursts, she quietly sat and read with him, watched a 20-minute episode of Blue’s Clues, played with her ducky, and snacked on Cheerios.

How one child can fit so many chaotic and non-chaotic activities into one hour-long doctor appointment blows  my mind.

Oh, and get this… the doctor’s solution for preventing my ongoing stomach pain? Less stress (and the typical ‘watching what you eat’ stuff), but seriously?? Less stress? I looked at him, then looked at my kid, back at the doctor, then at my kid.

“Are we in the same room?”

“I know how it is… We just had our grandchildren live with us for 7 months.”

No. Nope. Uh-uh. Sorry. Not the same thing. And, am I saying this only because he’s a man… probably. Yes.

Does anyone really get my level of worry/stress right now and why just saying “Don’t worry,” or “Stop being stressed,” is kind of… ridiculous?

Anyway, yesterday, E reminded me that it’s okay to just laugh about it. After getting so completely bored with singing “BINGO” 10 times in a row… I just started singing, “There was a farmer, had a dog, and a Bingo was his name-ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...” I held the “oh” for as long as I possibly could. That’s normal, right? E thought it was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen. “Again?” Sure, why not. “…and Bingo was his name-ohhhhhhhhhh…” All through dinner. I cracked up too, watching her eyes get larger the longer I held out the “ohhh…” sound. I decided that more silliness would be a good start for less stress.

Today, she decided that she needed a go-cup like Mommy’s and now insists on bringing it with her everywhere. She hugs me and tells me she loves me, and it reminds me that I’m raising a little person, and that ultimately she’s going to make her own choices, her own mistakes. I can’t prevent them all, but I’ll probably still try.