Daycare and Drama Queens

My youngest has officially earned the title of Drama Queen. For the past week and a half, she throws the most glorious tantrum ever when I drop her off at daycare. Because I’m Not Daddy. And it is Daddy’s Job to drop her off. Each day, she tosses a wicked smile and informs me, “I’m gonna cry.”

At first, I thought this would only last a day or two and then she’d be fine. Six days later, we are still going through the routine. I’ve tried to say a chipper, “Bye, honey! See you later!” But this is difficult when the aforementioned child is wrapped around your leg like a barnacle. After much prying, I deposit her inside the door, only to have her launch her body across the threshold to prevent me from closing it. If I try to sit her down upon the floor, she throws her body backwards to give herself a concussion. Nothing like a few stitches to keep Mom from attending work. Hey, she thinks it’s worth it.

Yes, she’s good. Meryl Streep has nothing on my girl.

I tried asking. “So what’s wrong? Why do you cry every day when I drop you off?” Her reply? “Mommy, because I NEED YOU.”

I thought about punishing her. After all, this has gone on long enough. But there’s no way to logically follow up on this until after daycare is over for the day. By then, it’s out of sight, out of mind. No connection to the problem.

Instead, I’ve decided to just deal with it for a few more days. When my husband gets back from his travel, I know we’ll be right back to the old routine where she waves goodbye to Dad and proceeds to start coloring. Kindergarten oughta be a blast.

Did your kids ever pull those sorts of games? If so, what did you do about it? If you don’t have kids, any suggestions?

Newsletters and such

In the next few weeks, I’m going to send out another newsletter announcing my 2nd and 3rd sales. I got to thinking about it, and honestly, when I get newsletters from other authors, I look at what titles are coming out and then I’ll delete the file. Unless there’s something really compelling about the e-mail, it’s just a quick glance.

In a way, I’d like to make my newsletters a little more interesting (maybe add a recipe or excerpt from the book, etc.). But perhaps that’s a stretch. I only send them out to announce the release of a book, because I don’t want to annoy people and clutter their in-boxes.

So, quick survey–if you get e-mail newsletters from other authors, what things do you find interesting? What puts you off? What’s your general opinion of them?

And speaking of which, there are still 3 more days to enter for a chance to win the $10 Amazon gift card. Just go to the For Readers page for details.