Bloopers

We dropped Annie off at Sunday School this morning and then headed to church with Jemma. For some reason, taking just Annie to church goes fine. Taking just Jemma to church goes fine. Taking both girls to church does not go well at all, so we are very happy that Sunday School has begun, because I can't take the psychic torture that Jemma puts me though when I try to leave her in the nursery.

So: just Jemma. She played adorably throughout the first half of the hour, then started to get ancy. After we had gone up for communion, I was getting desperate. I let her take all her toys (strewn about the pew) and put them in this little side zippered pouch on my purse, thinking that when she finished putting them all in, she'd want to take them all back out, too. Nope. She zipped the pouch closed, said a loud "Bye-bye!" to the crowd in general, and went to swing my purse up on to her shoulder by its straps and walk away merrily. Only my purse weighs about 10-15 pounds, so when she swung it up to her shoulder and turned to walk away, the momentum propelled her out into the main aisle and knocked her flat on her face. "Whoa!" she said, as the crowd in general laughed.

We spent the rest of the day swimming at the indoor pool at the gym, gathering interesting leaves, and taking a long walk after dinner that turned into a Very Long Walk when we had to get Jemma out of the stroller to rescue her from Annie's pinching. Annie, who is now in bed without a story because she said, repeatedly, "I'm not talking to you, Mommy. You're a stinkyhead" as I was trying to get her into the tub tonight. When given the choice of using kind words in the bathroom with me or going to bed without a bath or a story, she chose going to bed without. Jason brought her to her room to put her pajamas on while I plunked Jemma into the tub. A minute later, Annie was back in the bathroom. "Sorry, Mommy," she said.

"Thanks, sweetie," I said.

"Daddy said I could brush my teeth first." Smiling a little nicely, a little triumphantly because she was not, indeed, going straight to bed as she had chosen.

"That sounds like a good idea," I said.

Then Annie held the toothbrush Jason had just given her one inch from her mouth. "Stinkyhead," she said quietly.

And off to bed she went, without brushing her teeth after all.