Adaptation

We don't like change much here. Really. M is loathe to change anything, ever. D is OK with change unless she is personally affected, for example if you insist she were to change into jeans instead of wearing shorts to the park because it was only 50 outside. A is a toddler he's been in a constant state of change for his whole life. And me? I don't mind change in itself, but I dislike chaos and indecision and not feeling like things are set up, so I tend to make stuff worse for everyone because one change begets another in mind and so suddenly we haven't just moved into a new house but also, in the first few weeks, gotten all new appliances, a new TV (see previous blog entries), invited not one but both sets of parents to visit simultaneously next week and have begun to compose a list as long as my arm of the "small" projects I'd like done in the next 6 months. I'd prefer to have them done in the next 6 days, but because of the "antichange" reasons listed above, I know not to push my luck.

But we are all starting to get used to the house and it's new (to us) creaks and groans and quirks. M has even started using the dishwasher, which he didn't want to do for the first week or so (he really hates change) and so I would load everyone else's stuff and he would handwash his plate and utensils. Fizzy is also getting used to the house and last night, for the first time, she crept upstairs and slept in the hall outside D's door. So the following exchange is based on that:

6:45 a.m.
Me: Wake up, D! Time for school!
D: (Incoherent mumbling)
Me: Guess who was sleeping outside your door this morning?
D: Ummm, Santa?
Me: Noooo. Think furrier.
D: Daddy?
Me: (Choking back laughter) Wha..?! Do you think Daddy is furry? No, think four legs.
D: Are you laughing at me? Was it a chipmunk?
Me: Ok. No. Think something furry with four legs that belongs in the house.
D: Oh. I don't know.
Me: (A bit exasperated) It was Fizzy!
D: Is today a school day?

The rest of the morning was a bit like that too.