Sickies and Saddies

Sabine and I have apparently gotten Arabella's sore throat. Sabine of course cannot tell me this, but yesterday she was sleeping fitfully and with much whimpering, and when she was awake, she wasn't the chipper and alert baby I have come to expect in the past 3 weeks, she was crabby and unfocused. I feel the same way. She has no fever, and isn't congested, but I will be calling the pediatrician today, just to check and see if she should come in.

Arabella in the meantime has gotten over her sore throat, but is a bit upset over being denied SpongeBob for a whole day, since last night I grounded her. Yesterday I brought clean laundry into Arabella's room, and gave it to her to put away in the dresser. She did an excellent job, and we then turned to the clothes on the floor, sorting dirty (into the laundry basket) from clean (into the dresser). All the clothes were picked up and put away. Last night, when I came in for story time, there were clothes all over the floor, including at least 8 pair of underwear, some still folded and stacked together, which Arabella announced to be dirty. Since none of the clothes were taken from the laundry basket, I knew everything to have been "clean" less than 12 hours earlier. (I explain all of this because my grandmother suggested that if Arabella were responsible for putting her clothes away, she would not make a mess of them. Wrong!) We cleaned up the clothes, and that's when I discovered the 3 plastic boxes filled with water. And that the bed was all wet because Arabella "wanted to play with the water" during her Quiet Time. The only solution I have come up with is locking Arabella in her room during Quiet Time, which I would prefer not to do, as she needs to learn to control herself, not just be controlled. Any alternate suggestions are welcome, as I am running out of ideas.