All eyes on Mom!!

Ok, Nia is doing so well and Dave and I aren't people that can just sit home for days...we like to go go go! So yesterday we sat home until after her nap and we decided to try to mall...the girls also wanted new earrings! So she was fine, but of course when the girls were getting some jewelry she wanted some too! We found a cheap necklace and she was happy! Then we decided to get everyone a snack to "share" at the pretzel place. We got 3 little cups of soft pretzel sticks, to share! Not going to happen! Kaiya and Ellie had a cup of pretzels in front of them and then Nia had one in front of her, but she thought that she was going to be eating all 5 pretzel sticks! No way little girl. I tried to take one out as she was eating a different one and she started to cry and basically brushed my hand away from the pretzel cup. Yikes! I put it back. At this point she was onto her 2nd pretzel and I told her all done and pushed the cup away. OH MY GOSH!! A total melt down/tantrum. Now of course there were lots of people around and she's in my arms hitting me, kicking me and trying her best to get out of my arms. I decided to take her outside for her to calm down....didn't happen as planned! She got more upset that I was taking her away from "her" food. So I put her back down and we went inside...then of course she didn't know where she was so she held out her hand for me to take. She calmed down. She was allowed to sit at the table again and have her cup with one more 1/2 pretzel in it. Then she was fine!
I guess it never occured to me that she might be that possessive. Why it didn't occur I'm not sure, she's very possessive at home so why wouldn't she be somewhere else! It's just something that I need to remember and get used to for awhile. Sharing food isn't going to be happening for awhile.

I did have lots of eyes watching me. Not only because my child was throwing a huge tantrum in the mall and it was loud, very loud, but also of course because I was white and she was black.
I was not shocked but fully aware of all the stares her and I got. We don't look like we belong together, but when you see her smile and lift her arms to me and say mama, it's obvious! I know that going out in West Michigan we are going to get some stares, but it was strange...it felt strange. I felt that I was being watched to see how I was doing as a mother. It was a similar feeling in Ethiopia when we had to go out in public for our Embassy appointment. A very "on display" feeling.

Nia continues to do wonderfully. We took the morning with all the girls to visit her daycare place to just get used to the lady and the environment...she loved it. There weren't any kids there this time because of Spring Break so it was nice for her to be there without the chaos! Next week real life starts! Dave is going back to work and I will be taking the girls to school. 3 of those days Nia and I will be going to daycare together. Hopefully things go well. Just getting out the door on time is going to be interesting!

The rest of the week is filled with outings! Holland on Wednesday and then Meijer Gardens on Thursday.

Have a great rest of your week.