I'd buy THAT for a dollar! *

Look! You fell asleep listening to Jay Farrar!

Hey Jakey,

We went to the park today, even though it was raining and cold. I felt that if I didn't get you out of the house to blow off some steam, we would probably end up in a fistfight.

Even though you were asleep before we even got to the end of our street, you managed to rouse yourself for a churro and lemonade from Taco John's, then a romp through the park to feed the ducks and run the bases on the softball field.


You can see the rain clouds rolling in over the Sierras behind you.

You had kicked off the morning with a tantrum about some weird thing -- I had set a piece of furniture out on the patio that I plan to take to the dump, and you stood at the window watching it and screaming -- and I coaxed you back to reality with a package of magnetic toys from Dollar Tree.

The dollar store opened up down the road from us a few weeks back, and it has greatly improved my life. Or more specifically, my life with *you*.

I have a couple of buckets on a high shelf in my closet filled with stuff from the dollar store. Stickers, coloring books, flash cards, glitter glue, balloons, puzzles. When things get strained between the two of us (a genteel way of saying "TANTRUM"), I can usually bring you back into orbit with something from the bucket.

I like to think that I'm not spoiling you by waving a new toy (albeit a $1 toy...) at you every time you get upset. It doesn't even really work that way. When you're mad and crying, waving a toy at you just upsets you more. You'll grab it and throw it. What I have to do is sit down at the table or lie on the floor and slowly and methodically open the package and then start playing with whatever's inside.

Pretty soon the screams subside to indignant sniffles, and you sidle over to see what I'm doing, and within five minutes, you're playing and smiling and high-fiving me and all is right with the world again.

I mean, wouldn't YOU buy that for a dollar?

I think I've already bought everything that you would be even remotely interested in, so hopefully the store changes out their inventory often.

Here's you on Valentine's Day, with your bag of stuff from your class party. It really should be illegal for teachers to send you home pumped full of sugar, and with a bag full of additional sugary treats. BTW, your teacher emailed me and told me the cookie pops were a hit, and that my new nickname is "Betty Crocker." Great...



Daddy bought me a new memory card for the camera for a Valentine's Day present (how romantic), so watch out! There's gonna be lots more pictures where these came from. I can hear you groaning now. Stop it.

Love you. Sleep tight.


* It's a line from RoboCop. When you're older, I'll rent it for you. Classic, classic movie. One for the ages.