Malayna and I walked to the polls yesterday with our friends/neighbors India and Lily. The girls waved their little American flags, while India and I talked about the change we hoped to see. We met a few neighbors along the way, and didn't even have to wait in line to vote. I brought my camera, but unfortunately it wasn't working when we got there. {Must get new camera! Any recommendations?}
I let Malayna push the button to record our vote, and then we did a little dance in the booth. Afterwards, the four of us met Aidan and Wendy at the playground, and talked more politics. I don't remember ever being so excited and interested in an election before this. Did you see that acceptance speech?!
Unfortunately, the day went downhill from there. Remember back in August, when we stopped giving Malayna food with artifical coloring? All was going well, with a few bumps in the road {mostly when she ate something with color}. Then along came Halloween. We {stupidly} let her have a few pieces of candy, mostly M&Ms, thinking that she's been doing so well that it would be okay. Ha! I know that eating the colored food takes a few days to catch up and rear its ugly head. Well, yesterday was the day - HUGE tantrum/meltdown in Cosi, where we went for lunch with our friends after the playground. It was horrible and embarrassing and we had to leave. The place was FILLED with people, and even had a line almost out the door. Needless to say, she had a huge audience.
I put her in the truck and then realized I left her water bottle there. So I went back in, and when I was leaving again a woman stopped me and asked me if I was okay. I said no, and she said, "It'll be alright. It happens to all of us. Take deep breaths." She was so nice and so supportive that I wanted to give her a hug. I thanked her about a hundred times, and went on my way.
Last night when Jimmy got home from work, we talked to Malayna about the food coloring and what it does to her behavior. The two of them threw away all the Halloween candy, and went through the cabinets to check snacks. He talked to her about what she could and could not eat, and she happily accepted what he was telling her.
It was a long day that I was happy to see end.
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Check out my Scoutie Girl post!