Tykalicious. Also: shopping.

Today the tykes had tantrums. So I decided to remember my blog from yesterday and when the eldest tyke was flipping out to such an extent that she was gripping the table and screaming--instead of trying to reason with her I picked her up and took her to the next room. She knows how to tell time so instead of engaging with her at all while she tried to reason me out of things (or into things?) I told her at what time I would let her go out and play (I read somewhere once about giving kids time outs equal to their age- one year=one minute. Seems reasonable, doesn't it?), I told her that even though her father would be "very cross" with me that I could take it and she still needed to calm down, and then when her sister was flipping out outside the room I closed the door and wheeled a rolling bookcase to block their view of each other (glass door). And you know what? It worked. It worked really well. Yee haw!

I know I'm still wet behind the ears and very new to all of this- but I'm good at it! Also I'm paying very close attention to the other teachers and doing my best to model what I do on them when their techniques work.

The weather has been changeable so when we took them out to the garden to play it was sunny, then it was rainy and sunny, then it was just rainy and just as we were deciding to take them inside, it was sunny again. Harumph. This did mean that the tykes were finding shelter wherever they could- including the cabinets where the outdoor play equipment is stored. At one point we heard a banging and thought it was the tykes in one of the cabinets that we could see- but no, it was the tykes in the other cabinet who had somehow managed to get themselves stuck....oops.

We watched Happy Feet today. It turns out that that movie is far too tense and scary for three year olds. One of the smaller tykes sat in my lap and kept saying "I like not this movie" which was totally totally cute. And I couldn't really help him except to rub his back and say "it's okay, they'll all be okay."

After school was done today I walked through Hyde Park to Oxford Street where I stopped in at Primark. Primark is this giant super cheap clothing chain that does knock offs of designer stuff. Their clothing is not terribly well made but they are directly on trend so it is fun to go through and figure out what is hip. Plus- their dresses are always fun and did I mention cheap? It's like a giant dress up box for adults. Actually, they have kids stuff there too- but you know what I mean. Anyhow- I wanted to buy Laine a dress or two because I think London is still a couple months ahead of the US (and I think I can say confidently definitely ahead of Seattle.) and Primark doesn't exist in the US.

I ended up buying her two and then video skyping with her when I got back to show them off because I'm not very good at surprises. I like receiving them but when I have things for other people I want to tell/show them straight away. It's the same problem with telling jokes- I'm so excited about the punch line that I jump the gun, tell the pay off, and then belatedly realize that there should probably have been some set up and context... In any case- it was totally fun video chatting with her because a: my sister is a cool cat and always fun to talk to, b: she was at work, c: she put me on mute, and d: I could hear everything that was happening in her office. (Oh, um. Laine? Is it okay that I'm telling the Internet this?) She types *really* fast. It's impressive.

I also bought myself a dress and a long silver necklace with plastic crystals and glittery butterflies. It is so over the top. I've been prancing around in it around my empty apartment since I got home. I love it.