The Very Angry Sunbeam Situation

Going to school, we've hit that time of year when the sun is right in the wrong position for not one, but three stop lights on the way to school.  It gets in the children's eyes, and it stays there while we wait through more than one light cycle sometimes, depending on traffic.

My son was the first to become very upset by the unexpected brightness.  He would complain loudly as I tried to reason with him.  I'd make sensible suggestions such as, "close your eyes," or, "put your hands over your eyes," or even, "hold your blanket over your face."   I'd give demos of these options.  But stubbornness, (or foolishness) prevailed and he suffered through the ordeal.

Now, he seems to have the hang of it.  He will pull the hood down over his eyes so he manages fairly well.  My daughter, on the other hand, grows continually more agitated by the "evil sunbeam situation."  The passenger and driver sun visors don't go down far enough to help her.  She thinks the blanket must be thrown on the floor when offered as a shield and she squints and complains loudly.

Since she's in the middle seat, I can usually put my hand back and block the light, but not always, especially when we're moving.  Today, she had an alternate solution: she took one of her very flexible legs and raised it up so that her foot covered her eyes.

Today was partly cloudy too.  The sunbeams were only half as annoying, but I think she's developed a fear of "the big bright" so she was extra upset, even after we'd turned away from the worst of it.

I'm looking more forward to Daylight Saving's time on March 10th than I usually am at this time of year.

The Big Boy Update:  It was a good potty day, for liquids.  He spent the afternoon in cotton underwear.  I regularly looked for a wet front but all remained dry.  Without telling him where we were going, I walked him to the potty twice and both times he went without argument, and then he used the potty...a lot.  This indicates he can hold it for longer if he wants and that he has some control (or at least that's what I think it means.  When it comes to the potty, I'm regularly proven wrong.)

The Tiny Girl Update:  Lunging Baby Bird.  Yesterday my mother and I made vegetable beef soup.  Apparently my daughter liked it a lot.   She would not only open her mouth wide for the next spoonful, she would lunge at the spoon.  It was very cute watching my father feed her.

Someone Once Said:  She was unblinkingly honest with herself, was her own self-judge instead of looking to others, did not lie to herself—but lied to others without hesitation when needed for kindness or to get along with rules she did not make and did not respect.