Watch Out, Burlington, Here I Come

The first number on my alarm wake-up time is a three. As in three in the morning. OK, it is set for 3:59, which is the very end of the three hour. I think I need to change it to 4:00 because it may make me feel less tired, psychologically.

I get up that early because it is the only time in the day that I know for certain that I can be alone. I am an early riser by nature, so it wasn’t too hard to make the early morning my me time. But believe me, it was an adjustment. I drink my two cups of coffee and catch up on blogs and email and then head to the gym by 5:00. I am home usually by 6:30 and then the day officially begins.

This weekend I have an extra-large serving of alone time. Nicole booked a photography seminar weekend for me a while back. It is in Burlington, Vermont, which is far, far away. We will drive up to Northampton on Friday, and Saturday morning I will leave at the ripe pre-sunrise hour of 4:30 and embark on a three-hour drive alone up to Vermont. I will be taking classes on white balance and lighting and such all day Saturday and Sunday, and spending the night alone in a hotel. It will be heaven, albeit a lonely one. I tried to convince Nicole that we should all go, but she thought that would defeat the purpose and also be a little too difficult with the girls. Part of me is excited to walk around a new little city and explore. And the other part of me thinks I may just go for a run after Saturday’s classes and then order a good on-demand movie. I have no idea what I will do, but that is part of the fun, I think.

Today the girls have their toddler class. They went Week One, but missed Week Two, thanks to the stomach bug. Tuesday’s class was almost like back to square one: Madeline would not let me out of her sight. So I was not able to leave (I am technically not allowed to leave until the girls are comfortable, as this is a “gentle separation” class). I used to have dreams of wandering around Union Square; now I will settle just sitting against the wall in the hallway for two hours. Avery has taken to the class quite well, I think. She even remembers the teachers’ names. She loves to paint and do crafts and is very independent. But Madeine, who is the more independent child at home, is VERY dependent one during this class time. The teachers said that since they have never been in day care or with anther person, really, it may take the entire eight week course for them to get comfortable. Part of me feels like that is ridiculous, that it can’ possibly take that long. And this tapering method seems like it won’t be effective. I feel like it would just be better to leave tem cold turkey. We’ll see.

Pictured above: We took the girls to the Museum of Natural History on Sunday, without the stroller again. Free range children in the hall of dinosaurs. They were very demanding of Nicole: They both needed Mommy and only Mommy. Which meant my hands were free to take pictures.