Miscellany

Also, another way of saying random stuff, once again…

• For a few moments there, I could not for the life of me figure out what day of the week it was… it’s one of those weeks (or months, or lives)
• A blogger I’ve been reading for, well, nearly six years since I started reading blogs when I was pregnant with Liam (note to others: do not read pregnancy blogs and birth stories while you are pregnant with your first child… it’s a bad idea) posted something yesterday that I cannot get out of my mind. She has a teenage daughter who has been going through some health issues and who they have had to put in a residential care facility. Mir tells her own story so much better and bravely than I could do it justice here so please go through and read what she has to say and send her love and prayers as she and her family travel down this rocky path. It’s a reminder that while we can do our very best to be good parents, life is often out of our control and our very best isn’t always good enough. While it might sound hopeless, it helps remind me to be thankful that I have someone else on my side who already knows the path and who can carry me along when I have no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going. A God who holds us tightly when we can’t hold it together ourselves. I don’t refer you to Mir to be voyeuristic but instead to share her story with the hope you will share some compassion and love, and maybe be helped along yourself by knowing her story even as it is just beginning.
• On on a less serious note… Jack and Liam were chatting this morning on the way to daycare and Jack held up something on the tip of his finger and said, “What’s this?” Liam said it looked like a booger and then reported, “When I was younger, I used to secretly put boogers on my carseat.” Thanks for sharing, buddy. [Note to self: Wash Liam’s carseat cover with HOT water.]
• I borrowed my friend Stef’s baby yesterday and it was such a treat to be trusted with his care and to have a baby in the house again (though it also made me realize that another baby isn’t the best idea for us since we co-single-parent so much of the time). The boys were sweet with him, though, and loved having him with us for the night. Liam kept asking me if he could get me anything while I was holding the baby and Jack offered to feed him his bottle (and also a french fry). At one point, Eli was in the bouncy chair, scrunching up his face but looking in Jack’s direction and Jack asked me, “Why is baby Eli angry at me?” Cute and a great observation…
• I love that Liam still responds to Dora when she asks children questions… yesterday’s response was telling with regard to what Liam wants out of life. When Dora asked what everyone’s wishes were for the shooting star, Liam said (seriously), “To have a play date every day with my friends.” My boy is a social butterfly, just like his mother.
• I helped a nearly-70-year old with some computer issues yesterday and as I was leaving, she wanted to show me some new perfume she had gotten and then insisted that I try it on myself. Perfume tastes vary greatly from person-to-person so I would never assume that everyone would like the scents that I wear and I would never try to make others try them on [yet another reason I would make a very poor department store employee] but I was stuck trying on her perfume and I still smell decidedly like an old lady. Chanel #5 is not for me [no offense if that is a scent you like, or wear, please just don’t make me try it on my person].
• It has been over 90 for a few days, this makes me sweaty and grumpy. Thank goodness for air conditioning.
• Jack acquired a black eye last week, which along with his missing tooth, really completes his look.
• My husband brought me ice cream at work yesterday… which makes me wonder just a little what he did wrong that I don’t know about… I’m guessing it was think ill thoughts about me when I slept through making the kids breakfast this morning.
• Really, I’m going to guess it’s because of something else that I’m going to admit to you now and hope you don’t hold it against me… Jack threw up at some point in his sleep Tuesday night [this has happened before with Liam – what is wrong with my kids that vomiting doesn’t wake them up?] and Simon was the one who found it and had to strip the bed, do the laundry and remake the bed because he was home and I’m guess he was slightly unkind in his thoughts toward me [I know I would be if the shoe were on the other foot]. It was very hot the day before and my kids ran around a whole lot outside and I fed them McDonald’s for dinner. Jack never acted sick or complained of his stomach feeling bad either before or after the vomit, so… [here’s the part I hope you don’t hold against me – not the feeding my kids McDonald’s] I still sent him to daycare. My kids are very resilient [e.g., no ear infections EVER, puke incidents that I can count on less than one hand, getting a tooth knocked out and still participating in the Easter egg hunt… the list goes on… and just so you don’t think I’m bragging, remember both my kids stopped napping around 2.5 and both run around non-stop from morning until night, chattering way without end (cute but loud) so I have other things to deal with which means resilient children is a small bonus] where was I when I started that parenthetical? Oh yes… my kids are resilient so I didn’t even consider keeping Jack home because if he was really sick, I would have known, instead I’m 99% certain it was a combination of heat and poor nutrition choices. Was anyone able to follow that train of thought? I hope so.
• Liam is apparently a delicate flower when it comes to puke because he could NOT stop talking about it from when he discovered it until we got to daycare, at which point I told him that unless he was going to be throwing up, he wasn’t allowed to talk about puke again.
• And just so I don’t have to close this post out with puke, here’s a photo of my stealth vomiteur: