I decided to give NikkiZ some Tylenol right before bed last night, so that if she’s teething it would help her sleep better. She and I both crashed around 8:30 or so, and I had just fed her. I was so tired, it took everything out of me just to stay awake THAT long, so 8:30 was quite impressive to me.

MrZ decided after he watched 24 to throw in some of the Veronica Mars DVDs (he’s watching the first season because he, like I did, became incredibly addicted after just a few episodes) and I kept waking up and hearing them and thinking, “Oh oh oh, I love this part.” or “Oh oh oh. A good part is coming up, I’ve got to listen.” So, even though I was tired, I kept waking up to watch bits and pieces with MrZ. And because the show is so damn addicting, he kept watching more episodes. Of course, every time I woke up, I thought “NikkiZ should be waking up…” but she never did.

In essense? MrZ watched that show until almost MIDNIGHT. With me waking up periodically to watch with him. And what did NikkiZ do? SLEPT THE ENTIRE TIME. She barely budged even once. Of course, once he stopped watching them and I could focus on getting some sleep, she started waking up every hour.

This daughter of mine, I’m beginning to think she’s just screwing with my head.

Remember how my son (and every other teen and pre-teen with cable in America) was obsessed with the new Disney Original Movie High School Musical? Well, he still is. As is every other teen in this town. Last week’s talent show? Featured at least TWO re-enactments of musical numbers from that movie. So, it’s a disease that has overtaken our little community here, and is surely infecting yours as well.

Anyway…MrZ and I put an official moratorium of the music, the movie, the songs, and the dances from that movie for the weekend. Both of us had found ourselves humming the tunes constantly and felt as though our brains were being overtaken by thoughts of bad teen actors and horribly catchy tunes. LilZ felt like he had died and gone to hell when we told him of our temporary ban. We would catch him starting to hum, or doing one of the dances and would have to immediately squash his soul and demand he honor the request, or else we would be forced to do the unthinkable: Delete the movie from TiVo and the soundtrack from Itunes.

(That sound you heard was LilZ screaming, “Nooooooooo…”)

MrZ called me this morning to tell me what transpired after I had left for work. He said as SOON as LilZ stepped out of the shower, he ran to the computer and started to play the soundtrack and do the dances (which he has taught himself from watching the movie so many times). Cisco, our male boston terrier who does not like ANYONE dancing, started barking at him. LilZ, mid-dance said to him, “Leave me alone Cisco, I’ve been waiting to do this ALL WEEKEND.”

Poor kid. It’s like crack, only crack is not as addictive. He had to go without his fix for 48 hours and it almost killed him. But it was the most peaceful 48 hours MrZ and I have known since the movie aired.

*sigh*

This incredibly long entry is for those of you wondering about the daycare situation. I have not written about all of the chaos because it has been really depressing. Here is the summary of what all has gone on. There are about a million other little things I don’t feel like mentioning, so I’ll stick to the major events in The Daycare Debacle of 2006.

Week 1: NikkiZ had two teachers. Ms. Morning and Ms. Lovely. Ms. Morning opened up the class but left at lunch every day. Ms. Lovely was there most of the day. We loved both teachers and all was good. Of course, the director (Ms. NeverOnTime) was late TWICE the first week and she ended up being forced to quit.

Week 2: Chaos erupted with the lack of a director. Several different faces were constantly rotating in the office and the owner made many appearances. There were many teachers being “trained” which added to the chaos. One teacher, Ms. SlowAsHell, seemed to spend a lot of time in NikkiZ’s classroom.

Week 3: Ms. SlowAsHell had been appointed to NikkiZ’s class officially. Many incidents were experienced where it was obvious she was not able to multi-task. NikkiZ was given to me covered in vomit. A boy classmate was sent home with poop on his back. Kids were left screaming often while she took 20 minutes to change a diaper. Parents were UNHAPPY.

Wednesday: One mother took her daughter out of the school. One child moved to the older class. There were then only THREE kids in NikkiZ’s class and Ms. SlowAsHell still seemed overwhelmed.

Thursday: One mom and I both decided to let the owner know that we were fine as long as Ms. Morning and Ms. Lovely stayed in the classroom but if they planned on leaving Ms. SlowAsHell there alone, we were going to be unhappy. We both called that afternoon. We both PRAISED Ms. Morning and Ms. Lovely and complained about Ms. SlowAsHell. We were both given weird platitudes but were not reassured things would be fine.

Friday: Ms. Lovely was fired (all of the parents LOVED HER) because she clashed with administration.

Week 4: Ms. Morning was getting worn out working with Ms. SlowAsHell. Ms. SAH was struggling to survive but was very nice and trying her best so I tried not to get too discouraged when I found out the two daycares close enough for me to use were full. But in reality? I was getting really depressed.

Week 5: Finally adjusted to Ms. SlowAsHell when Ms. Frizz showed up. Ms. Frizz was VERY strange and seemed nice enough, but I did not like her because she kept “reassuring” me that she wouldn’t hold the babies too much because that would just make the parents life difficult at home. I was APALLED by this notion and became even more frustrated when I came in one day and found her just sitting in the rocking chair and letting the babies fend for themselves. Her and Ms. S.A.H. were both there in the afternoons with only THREE babies to care for yet it seemed one was always crying. I was getting MORE depressed.

Week 6: I realized that Ms. Frizz was a permanent fixture and was getting really upset.

Wednesday: One of NikkiZ’s classmates’ mother told me she turned in her notice and was sending her son to a different daycare. It was one I didn’t know about and as close enough to still allow me to nurse. I got excited and called to tour it. (She also told me when she turned in her notice the office staff pretty much BEGGED her to stay.)

Thursday: View daycare. It was nice enough but there were three teachers and with NikkiZ, 15 babies. We found ourselves having to choose between a daycare where she was only one of two babies but with teachers we don’t like, or one of 15 with teachers we may like better. We didn’t like this decision but felt that she was better off in a place where she could get more attention.

Friday (LAST WEEK): We met Ms. Salvation and she was wonderful. She said she may be the new teacher with Ms. Morning and that Ms. Frizz and Ms. S.A.H were probably being moved to other places and classes. She was not 100% sure about this, but she was hopeful because she loved the babies. I loved her. She was wonderful. When I left, the office workers asked me what I thought about her and I gushed as much as possible. I asked if she’ll be there permanently. They say “We think so, we want to get the parent’s input first.”

Ha. If that were true? You would have never fired Ms. Lovely. Oh - and there are ONLY TWO OF US NOW. And I like her so you now have a 50% approval rating.

CONCLUSION: We don’t like this place on principle because the opinions of the parents seem so low on their list of concerns. But - it looks like they are shifting to panic-kiss-ass mode which may benefit us in the long run. Also - it looks like NikkiZ will be one of TWO babies in a class with TWO teachers who I love. In reality? That’s a great situation for her. So, we may be irritated with the owners and administration, but it looks like NikkiZ may be happy here.

As long as they stick with the plan they proposed on Friday. Ms. Morning and Ms. Salvation as NikkiZ’s teachers will allow me not to stress out every day when I leave her there.

FIVE FREAKIN’ TEACHERS IN SIX WEEKS.

Shit. I’m late. And not in the good “Another baby!” way either. In the “Shit! I don’t have time to shower!” way. I overslept. Probably because of the whole having-a-daughter-who-hates-me thing. Who knows.

NikkiZ started throwing her first temper tantrums this weekend. How old do they have to be before you can ground them? Is now too early? Do you think she at least understands, “I do NOT like that attitude, Missy” because I used that a lot. She kinda gave me a look that said, “Yeah. Well. Get used to it.”

Parenting ROCKS.

While I’m not suffering from sleep deprivation, I’m trying to catch up on some design work I’ve been needing to do. Here are some I’ve finished the last week or two.