Sunday, April 28, 2019

Today was a good day

Today was a really good day, and I want to remember it. Syd has a sleepover with her bestie last night after they went to a birthday party. They’ve been friends since preschool but don’t see each other much. I don’t know when the last time I saw her so silly and happy. We made breakfast burritos and the kids were in the pool by 9:00. I had planned on going to a craft fair, and at the last minute Eli asked if he could go. He was LOVELY company and we had a great time. Then a fun, low key Girl Scouts And a walk with the dogs where they both behaved like decent, normal dogs (including ZERO) reaction to the off-leash and yippy dogs in the neighborhood. Including the ones belonging to the family who I think reported us to the HOA because our dog made them “fear for their safety.” (Which I’ll write about later but made me completely freak out, culminating in crying in the neighbor’s driveway.) C made the kids dinner and we put them to bed early so we could get to our sushi and Game of Thrones. Now I have a new book to start and an I’ve cream date with a friend tomorrow !

Friday, April 5, 2019

Hot cocoa mindfulness

Image result for hot cocoa coloring page
This week was Career and College Week at the girls' school. I talked to Syd's class on Tuesday and it was so great. They've heard me talk about being a psychologist before, and I was afraid that it would be redundant, but these kids have grown so much since last year! This year I talked about college and how much schooling and training it took to be a psychologist, as well as the different roles I have within the prison system, including behavior management and assessment. They really loved that I have tests to tell me if people are faking or exaggerating. I led them through a behavior chain analysis and talked about how they could use that to help them make good choices or change outcomes in their own lives. This morning two moms stopped me at drop-off to tell me how much their kids liked it, and one even dressed up like me for "When I Grow Up" day. She wore a heart on her t-shirt because she "wants to spread love and kindness" to people who need it. *swoon*
I went into Averson's class today. I'm always a little hesitant about how to explain what I do in a concrete way, as well as steer away from the whole "bad guy" narrative. I think I did okay, since they only asked a couple of questions about the bad guys :) For her class, I focused more on feelings and how I help people get back into the "green zone" (OMG. If you're not familiar with the zone system of emotional regulation it is SO GREAT for kids. These guys got it in under five minutes.) I wanted to give them something tangible to take away, in addition to my very favorite emotion chart. One of my favorite shrink tools is breathing. For them, I gave them each a picture of a cup of hot cocoa. We slowly smelled the cocoa through our noses, and then blew on it to cool it down. It was so sweet to see them all doing mindfulness on their carpet squares. I think they liked it too. I mean, I followed an actual Strongman, a Police Officer, and a nurse who handed out goodie bags, so I'm pretty sure I wasn't the favorite, but no one fell asleep so I'm counting it as a success. 

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Company!

C's sister and her family came to visit from Colorado for their Spring Break. They were anxious to get some of our glorious California weather and we did not disappoint with the ONE single day of non-rain. But alas, they were troopers and we bought a bunch of umbrellas. The kids always love having cousins in the house, and her kids are teenagers which made it even more awesome. 
We dyed their hair blue. Unfortunately for my dark-haired girls it was a lesson in futility and wasted money. But K's hair looked great! 



They requested In-N-Out. We hardly ever go and when the guy told me my total I made him recount because I was sure it was about half of what it should be. I have a theory that only people born in California are fanatical about In-N-Out, but if I can feed my teenager two full meals and still pay less than $25 I may be a convert.

A rainy day in San Francisco where we forced them to eat clam chowder on the sidewalk. Despite Averson's face, she actually really loved it. 

SO GOOD. Also, they hand out free samples when you walk in. I may have taken the kids through a couple extra times. 

They wanted to see the ocean but I don't think that this is what they imagined. BUT there was a giant pile of sea lions to their left, so that was some consolation for the lack of palm trees and surfers. 

It's not a trip to the flea market without petting a llama

Cousins! They were so thrilled with their flea market hats.
Our nephew turned 13 right before they came and he requested to go to a trampoline park. This is our new favorite place. No pics of boys though because I couldn't catch them. Averson, on the other hand, jumped for 30 minutes and then fell asleep on my lap. 

Family!!
It was so fun to have the house full of family! We're already anxious for them to come back :)

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Moscow Loops


This is how I served Averson her cereal this morning, because we were completely out of clean dishes and spoons. Even better is that I "borrowed" this cup from a restaurant last weekend and when she saw it she said, "MOM! You still haven't returned the cup you took?!" So yep, totally earning my MOTY award today...

I don't know what this face is, but she keeps making it so there ya go