Jekyll and Hyde.

So, tonight, instead of being frustrated at not having a Mom's Night Out, I set my mind to enjoy my night with Annika. And I did. She was overtired from today's pre-school Olympics, so much so that I didn't hear any coherent reports about the events and where she placed in the competition, but was informed proudly that she ate all of the picnic lunch I'd packed for her, including the mandarin oranges. And did she mention the MANDARIN ORANGES? Because she ate the mandarin oranges. It was a wonder she made it through dinner and bath time and story time without completely falling apart. She's now been fast asleep for about an hour, and I'm enjoying the solitude of Mom's Night In.

Amazingly, after all the gnashing of teeth and trauma over having taken away Kids' Night Out, Annika reverted immediately to her typically sweet-natured ways this week, making me wonder if it could possibly be the same child who only days before had transformed so abruptly from Dr. Jekyll to Miss Hyde.

And speaking of Hyde, I'm a little disappointed Annika won't be headed to Hyde Elementary in the Fall. It's one of the best elementary schools in the city, if not the best, and I'd hoped the magnet school lottery would be kind to us. Still, our neighborhood school is just fine, and I know Annika will be really excited to head over there for Kindergarten. I know I'm fixating on Annika's growing up, but it's absolutely amazing to me that she's going to big kid school soon. Um...not that I'll miss writing checks to her pre-school. I won't. Still, pondering Elementary school seems like something I shouldn't need to be concerned about just yet. I'm resolving to avoid those thoughts for the rest of the evening.