People who rock

Jaqcui. A dinner arrives at the house, with wine, the kids are entertained and then the dishes are done. Throw in an extra couple of hours of adult conversation? Jacqui rocks like Def Leppard.

Erika, Harley and Hudson. Two meals over at their house (only a couple doors down) with full kid entertainment included, daily phone calls to see if they can help out and generally making this week thoroughly enjoyable. Considering we've known them all of three weeks, I am reminded daily that they rock... like Van Halen.

Oma and Opa. Of course, Oma's ongoing care is sincerely appreciated... but the Saturday afternoon/evening gardening, dinner and bedtime help was sincerely appreciated. If only the Canucks had made the evening better for Opa. They rock, but in a more mellow Bon Jovi ballad kind of way.

Anna and Caleb. With questionable parenting, haphazard meals, keen but uncreative imaginary play from dad and a whole lot of missing mum, the two of them are amazing. Amongst a whole lot of cooperation, Caleb has even pretty much learned to walk. They rock AC/DC style.

The weekend has drawn to a close. We made it to all of our appointments. Anna's ballet on Saturday was pulled off. Anna is the most focused ballerina of any of the other 3 year olds. She takes dancing seriously. If they added some mermaid content to that dance class, it would be a drug for her. Church this morning was pulled off mostly successfully. One kind lady saw me struggling to herd the two of them and briefly collected Caleb. He was entirely unimpressed, but it served a useful conditioned learning exercise: "ignore dad's pleas to go in a certain direction and there's no telling who will pick you up." We even made it, on time, to meet Erika, Chris, Sophie, Brita, Andrew and Elliot for coffee and play-park time. Sunshine, slides, dirt and dogs. All the ingredients to entertain Anna and Caleb.

So, where do we stand?

Melt-downs: 0. I remain proudest of this. I nearly had a melt-down because I couldn't find Anna's ballet shoes. It's funny what nearly becomes your undoing. It took nearly an hour and most of the house was flipped upside down, but they were found. I was stressed and grumpy. I may have been less stressed and grumpy were it not for the 4:50am wake up Caleb pulled on me that morning. I have now resolved not to get out of bed until 6:00 unless it's truly frantic crying. This morning, I lay awake and listened to Caleb from 5:15 til 6:01. Mum's jet lag is going to be appreciated in the mornings!

TV time: Disney is once again my undoing. After a great week, Anna deserved a "movie night". She chose "Tinkerbell". I didn't actually watch it all the way through, but the plot was something painful. The fairies are responsible for spring. Tinkerbell nearly ruined it all, which would have meant no spring. Tinkerbell fixed the problem by believing in herself or some other such rubbish. I could go on about the flaws in the plot and the underlying inconsistencies in the movie, but I won't. I'm not the demographic they were writing the script for. Still, we watched it twice and there were fairies talking to mermaids in the bath tonight, meaning they've got into Anna's head. Other than that, it was spotty and inconsequential. Mainly filling a few moments while I ran off to chase down Caleb or throw him on the potty.

Getting out of the house: In spades. Video store, Safeway, ballet, park, Hudson's house, garden, church, coffee shop, different park, Hudson's house again.

Eating well. Possibly not. I'm trying to diversify from fish sticks, chicken nuggets and tuna: Anna's staple meat choices. While successful in diversifying, I've been less successful in actually getting Anna to consume much of the alternatives. Caleb eats most things, but he has also somehow managed to consume an unbelievable amount of applesauce in the past week. He likes it and I'm not creative.

Minimizing sugar: There's been a lot of hot chocolate this weekend.

Teaching and creative out-letting: Not really. I haven't stifled the imaginary play, but I certainly haven't introduced or taught anything.... except that Caleb's primary motivation to walk seems to be to kick the soccer ball (other than chasing the cat). This bodes well for my ability to meaningfully participate in his childhood play. I'm so much better at soccer than I am at mermaids and fairies.

Getting something non-kid done: I very nearly ran around the lawn with the lawn-mower. Apart from that, most dishes are cleaner than when we last used them. Mostly.

Need sleep. g'night!