Cat

Comfort and joy, and a happy new year!

Know that you are loved.

Tip #2

Body language is important.

What the Dog Whisperer tells you about body language and dogs is also true for people. Especially young people just developing the verbal skills adults rely on. Get your face in on the act! If you're happy the tyke finished her Cheerios or did peepees on the potty, let's see a big smile and sparkly eyes! If the half-pint just decked her sibling or threw her spaghetti on the floor, scrunch up your face, give her the stink-eye, and make darn sure she knows she's in for a "time out" before you even say the words.

Why does it matter? Toddlers are just discovering that the things they do have an impact on the world around them, including other people. A little girl who's just learning to recognize what "I need to go potty" feels like needs some help figuring out other people's emotions. All the more so because your emotions have more impact on her than abstract rules. "Food goes on your plate or in your mouth" as rule doesn't mean much to a 2 year old. Whereas, "Food goes on your plate or in your mouth because Auntie hates cleaning spaghetti off the floor" is easier to understand because she can see a tangible, meaningful result (your disappointment) of her rule-breaking.

Tip #1

Bring conversations down to eye level.

Maybe YOU don't think you're big---but to the average toddler, you're freaking Godzilla. So quit TOWERING and LOOMING already, GIGANTOR. You'll stand a better chance of seeing eye to eye with the munchkins when you're down at their level.

(There will be many more Tips, based on my growing experience interacting with the 5&Under crowd)

It was... taxing.

Then I came home and got my elbow stuck in a chair.

It's been a long day.

I'm halfway to a gaming group, and my first crack at GMing.
Gabe and I finally met up today to talk shop (mostly sizing up our taste for rule sets and fiction). Gabe did not trip the "creepy pervert"-dar, and it looks like we'll get along just fine. He's a portly married middle-aged technical writing teacher at IUPUI, who happens to like indie gaming, but hasn't really tried it out.
Newly supplied with a pdf of PTA, I'm gonna see if I can't change that.
Sadly, I don't seem to have any friends to bring to the table, but Gabe has some that he thinks he could talk into it, with the right schedule.
Gabe's interested in period settings and paranormal settings, so I suggested we do something kinda steampunk/Victorian, and pitched him the basic world setting for Gankutsuou (Count of Monte Cristo in galactic future, gaining new technology but losing none of the Old World charm).
Currently we have plans to do a brainstorming session at some eat/drink establishment downtown next week or the first week of December with potential players to come with the politics, characters, and details we'll need to flesh the vague setting out. We might play at Gabe's, although it's 30 mins away, or we might snag a room somewhere on IUPUI campus...and will probably do weekend sessions.
I am excited but intimidated to GM. Being PTA, I should be able to get ideas from the players, but the group won't have much experience serving as active contributors.

Here's hoping I don't scare them off of indie gaming forever!

breakfast of champions

Jono---I'd like to say this is all your fault, except I now understand how such a blogging style can be useful. I've actually had to start writing some things down on paper, so that I can get to them for lj later, cus I just haven't had the time or quiet time to post them.

So, you've been warned.

I feel like I'm gonna BLOMIT.
Ha.

My orientation starts on Tuesday! The intervening two weeks have been relaxed, enough for me to get bored some days, to dig out my wardrobe, and to get over to Nina's and help out with laundry and get trampoline burn. For the most part, I am happy and it feels good. My days are varied, sometimes I watch Lucy and we play. Sometimes I cook dinner, and sometimes I just do the dishwasher. Sometimes I find myself following Kristen or Kevin (and Lucy) around the house like a puppy, just because I like to be in a room with people. I try to remind myself that it's okay if I go do things on my own, but if none come to mind then I still shadow.

I seem to be having great difficulty corraling all my possessions in one location.
In fact, it appears that I have several items trailing behind me, always one step behind.
I am in Kokomo, all my shoes are in Indy.
I am in Indy, all my cookbooks are in Kokomo.
I am in Kokomo, all my books are in WL.
I am in Indiana, my stolen car is recovered in CA.

Yes, SJPD finally found my car. Unfortunately, since my car and I are now several time zones apart, this isn't actually as useful as one would hope. It does, however, present me with the opportunity to sell the car and put the money toward wheels in IN... I'm still working out the details of getting the car picked up and checked over with Jono/Sushu.

After spending the better part of a week in Kokomo, it's nice to be in a house with only 1 small child, as opposed to 3. Love Sean and Sara, but they are noisy and demanding as only toddlers can be. Little Shane and his mommy are home and working out a routine. (Today was Nina's first day home alone with all 3 kids, hopefully she survived.) This weekend is the annual Muskegon camping trip, and I'm excited to go. After the Pacific, Lake Michigan doesn't seem scary. Also, blueberry pancakes. *drool*

Kristen and Kevin gave me a couple drawers in Lucy's dresser and reassembled a real bed for me to sleep in, and today I even got a log-in for their computers. I am undecided as to how big a deal this is, or perhaps how big a deal to make over it.
Until recently, it was Sushu and Jono making room for me. Now my family is ushering me back into the fold. I sorta feel like I should wear a sign, "Hi! My life is a mess right now. Please pardon my dust as I sort it out. Sorry for any inconvenience!"

My family hasn't said a peep, but I have this paranoid feeling that every adult I encounter is (secretly) judging me. Maybe that's way I feel so comfortable around my nieces and nephews---they have a totally different rubric for judging people, one that I can rock the socks off. I can play hide-and-seek, change diapers, cut pizza into bites, give hugs and kiss booboos like nobody's business.
If it's childcare or helping my sisters out around the house, I'm solid. But I'm only just starting to size up the bigger problems.

PS: OMG, Indianapolis, why don't you have good coffee?? What's wrong with you? No, Starbucks doesn't count. I don't care how many stores you have per capita---it still doesn't count. COFFEE FAIL

that probably has something to do with the upcoming move...