Isabella is almost four.

I have an almost-four-year-old.

My first but no longer my tiniest dictator had an overall decent month, but we've been witnessing some defiant and sassy behavior of which I am not fond. Listening has become an issue, and as a result of not doing it, Miss Isabella has been logging some minutes in Time Out, during which she screams and yells like a caged wild animal.



The "nap" issue continues to be a problem. She is now refusing to stay in her room even for 30-45 minutes, which is what she's been doing for the last month or so. Now, she might nap once a week or once every 10 days. Most of the time, though, she's calling me whining to leave her room and come downstairs just as I've settled down to work after scarfing down my lunch. I relent, because she has beaten my down and frankly, I don't have the energy to argue with her anymore. She says she will play independently, and she will for about 15 minutes. And then this starts:

"Hey, mommy! Come look at this!"

"Mommy, will you play preschool/library/puzzles/coloring/painting/Play-doh with me?"

"Mommy, can I have a snack?"

"I need you to be done with your work now."

"MOMMMMMMMMYYYY"

As you might imagine, this is killing my work schedule, so for this reason, and several others I am looking into getting a part-time nanny/babysitter for a few mornings and/or afternoons a week. Trying to do the volume of work I now have without childcare has moved into the sphere of ridiculous, and my teeny, tiny shred of sanity is just about severed. The problem I'm finding, however, is that of the three leads I had, two never called/emailed me back, and the third cancelled her interview with me hours before she was supposed to arrive because she had just received a job offer that would conflict with the hours I needed her. Apparently, nannies are not affected by the state of the economy.


The car situation is becoming unmanageable. Isabella is quite literally stuck in the middle of two pincer crabs. All three are side-by-side in the back of my Trailblazer, and the twins have started attacking Isabella by pinching her. The poor thing has nowhere to go, and obviously, much screaming ensues when Luci and Nicholas are on the attack.

The thing is, I do not want a minivan (no offense to my minivan-loving peeps, and I know there are many of you out there). My dream car is a Mini Cooper and I do not think a minivan could possibly be any further away from this. A new car of any kind is out of our price range right now, and I don't know how feasible it is to get a used vehicle capable of comfortably transporting five people for no more than what we're paying on the Trailblazer right now.

In more positive news, Isabella had a blast in her two-week summer camp at her preschool. I wish it was held all summer long so she could enjoy spending more time with her teachers and her preschool friends, many of whom she won't see next year given that she's transitioning to the four-day-a-week afternoon program, and many of them are staying with the three-day morning program. She's taking swimming lessons at my health club now, and is enjoying them also, but my dear daughter is not a natural swimmer. I'm watching the lessons and taking photos of them for the club's Facebook page and blog, and while the other kids seem to be getting the hang of things, Isabella is not quite as adept. She has one more week to go, so we'll see if she improves.