Buddies,  Bug,  the laundry

Laundromat Playdate

September 17, 2008 /

best fwends

This is Baby Bug’s good friend, Audrey. They love each other. They get along really well. It’s almost eerie. I can have a complete conversation when Audrey is around because Baby Bug is not interrupting me every five seconds. She’s off telling secrets or having laughing contests. I don’t think they’ve squabbled over one thing in the entire two visits that they’ve spent together. Maybe two visits isn’t long enough to judge by but Baby Bug has fought with other kids in less than two minutes so I’m thinking it’s Audrey.

It helps that they are only two weeks apart in age but I think the real reason they get along so well is because Audrey doesn’t mind getting bossed around by Baby Bug. Audrey is a little sister already and she is used to it. She likes it even. Maybe she misses her big sister, who is off at school, and is happy to have an event coordinator back in her life.

While Baby Bug talks up a storm, Audrey is very quiet and shy. She understands every word Baby Bug says and is more than happy to tag along with her to do whatever Baby Bug wants. I can see in Audrey’s face that she is happy to have someone who understands her and will act as a mouthpiece for her.

I’m not saying that Audrey doesn’t talk or that people don’t understand her, because she does talk and she is understandable but I get the feeling that Baby Bug is almost an interpreter or a louder spokesperson. Baby Bug is really good at letting the whole wide world know what is really going on inside a two-year-old’s brain. And believe me, there is a LOT going on inside two-year-old brains. I think Audrey likes that.

Whatever the reason, I think Audrey should come over everyday because it’s so nice for me not to be bossed around all day!

So you can imagine my delight when Jen from Jen’s Space offered to meet me at the laundromat for a play date with Audrey. The laundromat? Who wants to hang out at the laundromat? I do everything in my power NOT to hang out at the laundromat, including wearing smelly clothes that don’t fit me very well. I hate the laundromat!

There is a park behind the laundromat for Baby Bug to play on but it’s always like pulling teeth to extract her from the sandbox or the slide or the tiny pieces of grass that she is inspecting so I can go take my clothes out of the washer before the mumbling guy with schizophrenia steals them. Then there is the door she could run out of and into a car driving by or the scary germs all over the floor that she likes to wipe her pacifier along…my point is that usually laundry day is difficult. A long difficult struggle with wet clothes and my bossy kid.

But yesterday? Laundry day was a dream! The kids loved the washers and depositing the coins. It was a game! They had discussions about what was swirling around in someone else’s washer. Was it a wet sheep? It sure looked like a wet sheep. Then when the washer switched cycles and the sudsy sheepskin folded in half, away from the washer window, they both jumped back as if the sheep was really alive! It was pretty funny.

They both helped me quite a bit, carrying over wet laundry to the dryer and just generally being delightful little girls. I would have taken more photos of them being adorable but I was too busy blabbing my heart out because for once I could have a real conversation with another mom without being interrupted! The bliss! Who knew!?

Audrey and Miss No Pants

So yeah, that’s my kid with no pants. There’s a story behind that of course. Even though I let her go without pants at home, I usually try to keep her clothed when we are in public. But there was a slide with water on it. You know how that goes. The sprinklers got the playground wet or the dew hadn’t quite dried off in the sun yet. It’s always like this for us. You’d think one of these days I’d pack a towel to dry off the slide before she goes down it. But no, I never learn.

She went down the slide and got her adorable skirt and black and white striped leggings wet and that was the end of that cute outfit. Plus, there were other kids at the park playing in the sand with no shoes on. We had a little battle over why she had to wear shoes when they didn’t have to. So I gave up the skirt and leggings in exchange for her keeping on her shoes because that park is a little sketchy. I affectionately call it “Drug Dealer Park.” She can run around and look like trailer trash but she will not step on glass or a hypodermic needle in bare feet under my watch. Okay, the park is not that bad but I have to be the boss on some things. I draw the line at shoes.

17 Comments

  • Calee

    September 17, 2008 at 7:43 am

    Love the shoes! Audrey (1 1/2) recently made her bossiness very clear at the Vans store. No way was she going to wear the plain black with little check mary jane style. She wanted a pink and blue version like BB’s.

  • Melissa

    September 17, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Your little ‘event coordinator’ as you call her makes me giggle. I know just what you mean, she reminds me so much of my cousin who is four…a constant stream of what he is thinking and doing comes out of his mouth. God, you gotta love a kid with a mind. And, you gotta love a momma with a mind too…good call on the shoe enforcement!

  • Janna from Honeyed Hashette

    September 17, 2008 at 9:30 am

    Yay! I am glad you’re back. The guest posts were great, but not the same.
    My family from Houston is in town because of Ike and I COMPLETELY understand not being able to finish a conversation, much less a thought. WOW! Being a parent, even a pretend one, is HARD WORK!

    I also laughed really hard at the panty robot mask. So very funny!

  • Ninotchka

    September 17, 2008 at 9:52 am

    I love Jen so much, for so many reasons. I’m still kicking myself for not planning better to see her when I was in L.A. in July. Next time, for sure. Maybe then we can all get together. I wonder how Anna Sofia would fit into the fold? She might out talk Baby Bug. Seriously, that kid can talk. I can’t get a word in edgewise. lol

  • steph

    September 17, 2008 at 10:57 am

    I learned a great trick for wet slides – put sand over all the water and then push it all off the slide. The sand absorbs the water and voila! Ready to play :)

  • Jennifer

    September 17, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    I love those pictures. They are like our day in a nutshell, HA! No pants and that kid who needed to have a bag shoved up her jacket :)

    Event Coordinator, what a laugh that gave me. I’ll have to get BB a mini clipboard with a pen attached :P I think BB reminds Audrey that it’s OK to be bold every once and a while. I love that about their relationship.

    Who knew laundry could be so much fun?

  • mamalang

    September 17, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    My little Monster has a friend just like that. We (the mamas and daddies) can not believe how well they get along. It’s not like that with anyone else. They are only 3 weeks apart, so maybe that is a bit of it, but I think it’s just the magic of compatibility, mixed with the fun of it not being constant, every day.

    Love the pics.

  • jenn

    September 17, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    I think you may have two little girls that are developing a life long friendship! that in itself is an amazing thing! I love their lil smilling faces! you can tell they are truely happy to be in one anothers company..and hey, so what if she had to go without pants, soon she will be too old to do that, and all the fun of running around pantless will be gone!

  • Sonja

    September 17, 2008 at 6:10 pm

    I think no pants with Vans is the PERFECT outfit for the laundromat – she’d fit right in at the one I used to frequent. Baby Bug reminds me of my younger sister – but we call her Cruise Director! She’s always making our holiday and weekend plans for us! Glad BB’s got a good friend and you got a good break.