That is what I am telling myself as I sit here: "Just DO it!" It's been too long since you've all had word from me, and if I continue to put off blogging until I actually have time to sit and write... you may not hear from me until well into July!
I will appologize ahead of time for the scattered nature of this post. I have so many thoughts running through my head that this will very likely lack a narrative thread. Sorry.
First on my mind: I have never hated Daylight Savings more than this year! Jumping forward has never been a favorite, although since living in Spain, I have come to savour the long, light, evening hours in which to sip wine on an outdoor terrace and snack on delicious tapas. Those lovely evening hours make up for waking to darkness. However, this year has been AWFUL!
I suppose that Emily's not being in school was a luxury I took for granted. Getting used to having a real schedule to follow has been hard from the beginning, but pushing everything forward an hour has been a nightmare! Emily is a rare case in Spain, as she goes to bed before 9pm every night and really closer to 7:45-8:00. With the time change, Angelines (in true Spanish fashion) was proclaiming a necessary change to her schedule...but I argue (and she has concieded) that the hours of sleep remain the same regardless of a 9pm sunset!
We changed the clocks on Sunday, the same day Emily was diagnosed with pink-eye. That kept her out of school until Wednesday, which meant that there was some lag time changing her biological clock. Sunday she cried and cried at "bedtime" because it was not "night" and only close to 10:00 (new time) did she finally fall asleep. That same story has repeated itself all week...and I am one fed-up mama!
All of this is particularly distressing when considering our upcoming visit to the US (yoohoo!). If my daughter freaks out with an hour difference in her daily schedule, what will happen when it's nine! Gone are the days of chest pack wearing and breast-feeding through museum visits, subway rides or long chats over coffee with friends. I am suddenly confronted with the reality that my daughter will most likely be a crab who refuses to sleep, and therefore visits with friends will be truncated by crying or calling for attention...
Tonight, for the first time in seven days, Emily went straight to bed at around 8:15 with no tears and no problem. Let's cross our fingers that the trend holds!
Other Emily news is that we have signed her up for ballet classes (take two). She went to her test class to see if she liked it on Friday. Although she was very eager and even chatty when we went to speak to the director of the municipal music school last Tuesday, she was suddenly tearful and resistant come 5 o'clock Friday. She insisted that she didn't want to go, that she didn't like it... It took all my powers of persuasion to connvice her to get dressed--this from a girl who would kill to wear a tutu! We talked about how hard it can be to start something new, but how important it is to try things and keep learning. On our walk to the casa de la cultura she was swinging between being okay and pulling me the opposite direction saying she didn't like ballet.
We got there early and shortly after arriving a mother and daughter pair came up the stairs, the little girl sporting a pink leotard and dance skirt. I jumped at the opportunity to make a friend and asked if she was there for ballet. She was and we introduced ourselves. I explained that Emily was a little nervous and the little girl was very happy to show Em some pliés and jêtes when I asked what kinds of things they did in class. Emily warmed right up to little Claudia, and soon the two of them were dancing around the hallways together. :) A friend from Emily's school is also in the class, and so when she arrived, the deal was sealed. She gave me a big hug and kiss after ordering me to stay just outside the door of the dance room, and then headed in with her friends. The teacher was chatting with some parents still and so I was able to spy on her in the reflection of the large wall mirrors through the open door. She was happily, running and jumping and engaging with all the other little girls. My heart was happy. I then spent an hour reading--a true luxury!--until class was out at 6:30.
What a difference from last year when we tried classes at a town near La Roda. She is, of course, a year older, but also the confidence she's gained from being in school and social skills from all the peer contact, make a world of difference. I think, especially as an only child, that these kinds of extra-curricular activities will be really important to her. I am not a fan of those parents who book their kids' after school schedules from 4-7 every day...but I do think that for Emily, spending two hours a week with different children learning and doing something that she really does love, will be wonderfully enriching for her. Oh! And the icing on the cake is that the end of term recital will be Swan Lake! Emily was thrilled to find that out. :)
Now I am going to wrap up. Although it is Sunday and I would normally be in La Zubia, I have stayed in La Roda because once again Emily is sick with a really runny nose and horrible cough. She won't be going into school tomorrow so that means I get to make the 1.5 hour drive from here tomorrow morning so she can stay with mama. And as I type, I can hear mama pulling in from work, so it is off to have dinner with my wife and then to bed with me...6 o´clock comes all too fast!
