Bedtime routines and strange OCD behavior

It's 5:45am and I was just beckoned to Munchkin Girl's room to search for the "hippo" that had fallen off the bed.  My husband really wants me to find out if we are the only ones who have this problem.  Munchkin Girl is three years old and this is what her bed looks like every night.  And by every night I mean EVERY night.  No exceptions.  Even the placement of every item is crucial.   Tinkerbell on the right side.  Cinderella on the left  Then you will notice the purse (Yes, it's still the fake Prada from the doctor visit.  The purse also has specific items inside and if anything is forgotten, it can be a major tradegy, even at 2am when she tends to take inventory of what is missing
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Hubby is gone at bedtime a lot, which means that I alone have to:

1.  Locate all the items, which can be a major chore because she plays with them all day.  I found the small teddy bear inside the oven in the play kitchen last night
2.  Pick up all the items and carry her and the items up the stairs
3.  Arrange all items correctly in bed
4.  Read 1 book
5.  Tell her one story of when I was a little girl and one story about when Daddy was a little boy
6.  Give her a kiss in exactly the right spot on the cheek

The problem is, she doesn't want to leave these items in the bed.  Every single morning, she wants me to carry all of these, plus her blankie, plus her down the stairs.  That's not even to mention my 18 month old.  Luckily all he needs is milk and some food.

We did ask my doctor about all this.  He claims it is normal and we should just try to keep her as comfortable as possible.  She better grow out of this phase soon.  Keep in mind that she already has a full bed, not a twin, and yet the other day she said, "Mommy, I need a bigger bed.  Tinkerbell keeps falling out."

Beach fun

So this morning we were out playing in ths sand.  Munchkin Girl is having a blast with her uncles, jumping in an out of the waves, collecting shells, and building sandcastles. 



Suddenly she stops and looks at me.  "Mommiiiiiiiie, I have to pottiiiiiiiiiiiiiie," she says. 

Hmm...I have a dilemna on my hands.    She and I are both covered with sand.  Almost head to toe.  I should take her back to our place.  I know that's what I really should do.  I'm sure that's what most good Moms would do.  But if we do that, we'll get our place covered with sand.  Or we could go wash ourselves off completely, but that would take forever with Munchkin Girl because the outside shower is far away.  I look back at our place.  And then I start heading for the ocean.

"Where are we going Mommy?" 

"Guess what honey?  You get to potty in the ocean," I say. 

Now, I know this is probably wrong.  I shouldn't let her do it.  But I remember doing it as a kid and what can it really hurt?  I take her out as far as I can and tell her to squat down and go ahead.  She looks pretty nervous but starts to squat.  The problem is that she doesn't squat very far.  In fact, she barely bends her legs and to my surprise, she has nor problema at all with this plan and just starts going.  And going.  The waves suddenly go out at this point so she has no cover at all and she also decides to bend over and watch her potty stream.  My family is laughing hysterically at the site of her bending over and peeing and watching it and I don't have the heart to make her stop and take her deeper in the water.  For anyone walking by, there is no doubt what she is doing. She watches her stream the entire time.   

She finally gets finished, looks up and says, "Okay Mom, let's go finish the sand castle.  That was fun!"

They did finish the sandcastle and I have to say, it was quite a masterpiece!