No Sale
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Rants
I like your newpaper, I really do. I read it every day at work and I even look up articles on your online site at times, but if you call me at 8:35 in the morning on a school morning when I'm in the throes of getting breakfast in my kid, making a school snack for her to take to school, getting her backpack ready, making sure she is dressed, has teeth brushed and hair combed all before the 8:44 bus arrival time, then forget it. There is no way I'm going to sign up for the daily newspaper online. Even if it is at no extra charge to my weekend subscription. My answer is and always will be...click.

Worthwhile Pursuits
Mood:  special
Topic: Family and Friends

During dinner the other night Lauren, out of the blue, commented, "I'm hard to take care of, right? But it's worth it!"

You betcha baby! It's priceless! 

Schmoozing 101
Mood:  bright
Topic: Lauren

Back in 2005 Lauren passed Negotiation 101. She is now on to Negotiation 201.

She had been out with Tony at the park , the post office, etc. While they were out Lauern started to have a bout of typical 5yr old girl hysterics. Since she wouldn't calm down and tell Tony what was wrong, Tony brought her home so she could spend some time by herself. When I talked to them on the phone later, the converstion went like this:

Tony : ...I turned the car around and headed for home.

Me: Well, fussy, whiny girls have to go home.

Tony: It's too bad because I was going to set up a playdate with M to go to the amusement park.

Lauren: Dad, hang up. This is the part I don't want you to hear. 

Pause...

Lauren: I'm going to try to "work a little something out" with Dad so I can still go tomorrow. 

Me: (muffled laughter while picturing her giving me a wink and a nudge while she says the words) Oh you are?

Lauren: Yes. Like I do with you - I try to work a little something out.  I don't know if it'll work but I'm going to try.

She passed with flying colors. It worked and amusement park fun was had by all.

Three Great Things About Snowpants
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Lauren

1. "They are fun to hop in."

2. "They make a nice swishing sound."

3. "They make me look big and fat just like a snowman!"

Ta Da!
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Family and Friends

After a little bit of melting, we have our snow family!

 

Parental Pride
Mood:  happy
Topic: Lauren
During the lunch hour I like to tell stories of things Lauren has said and done - what parent doesn't?! A while back I told about this comment after which my boss kept having me repeat it to anyone in the office who had not heard about it. He just couldn't believe that Lauren, at the age of 4, had taken words from Charlotte's Web and used them correctly and appropriately in a real life situation.  So I couldn't help but relate that Lauren had made another such connection. On President's Day, she was telling me what she had learned about Abraham Lincoln. I happened to mention the Emancipation Proclamation and was explaining it to her when she brought up the similarity with what Martin Luther King Jr. had talked about. My boss was suitably impressed, although not with the connection as I had thought he would be. He was impressed that the connection was regarding such an abstract idea as people being equal.  Today, he and another co-worker paid Lauren a great compliment. My boss said Lauren was smart to which my co-worker agreed but added "scary smart". It's always nice to hear great things about your kids :-)

Snow, Snow, And More Snow
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Family and Friends

When they said there would be more snow, they really meant it! Once all was said and done, we were left with approximately 25" of the stuff.  And still not one bit of good old fashioned snowman making snow!! Take a look...

 

In Like A Lion, But Where's The Snowman?
Mood:  happy
Topic: Family and Friends

What does one do after having been "blessed" with a foot of snow? Yes, one goes sledding, makes snow angels, and gets buried in snow. What about snowmen you ask? Well, we would certainly love to be making snowmen these days, since it is winter, but the snow just has not cooperated. You see, in all of that 12 inches, none of it has been the nice, heavy, wet stuff. We simply cannot make a snowman without packy snow. There is hope though. We are currently in the throes of a second storm, not even a week after the first - March is definitely coming in like a lion! This time though, it started with freezing rain so there's a much higher chance of getting the good stuff. So far we have an additional 10 inches and the weathermen say we'll be getting another 8 - 11. It's not quite snowman material but it's getting closer. I suspect that by tomorrow we will have a snow family in our front yard. Yay!

Sometimes The End Does Justify The Means

I've been seeing and reading other's opinions about c-sections lately, all of them very much against it. I agree that there are too many performed out of "convenience", but there are also many that are legitimate and very much needed.  In my case, I had polyhydramnios (an excess of amniotic fluid) which prevented Lauren from dropping and starting labor. My blood pressure was becoming elevated and I was measuring 44 weeks. Pretty much preeclampsia. When I went in to be induced at 42 weeks Lauren was floating horizontally and would pop right back to that position when the CNM would remove her hands. My choice was to be strapped with weights for up to three days in order to move Lauren into position, then be induced from being not a bit dilated or effaced, and hope to God the cord wasn't around her neck or in front of her head when the water broke and she dropped into position. The chance of having to have a c-section anyway was extremely high and in my mind it was definitely better to have the c-section without having gone through labor first. 

 I understand being disappointed about not experiencing the birth of one's child in the natural way, but at the same time, I can't help repeating exactly what I said to my CNM when she asked if I was disappointed in not having a vaginal birth with my daughter. "No, in the end I have her...how she got here doesn't matter."  I was of "advanced maternal age" and after suffering two miscarriages before carrying Lauren to term, I was just glad that I was able to have her. To me it didn't matter how she got here. It didn't matter to me then and it still doesn't. I was able to experience the wonder of growing Lauren inside me and I don't feel the least bit cheated.

Just a comment from the other side of the fence.

Elmo Makes Music
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Cool

If Sesame Street Live - Elmo Make Music comes to your neck of the woods, by all means go! The kids were literally dancing in the aisles!

Considering it's a children's program, the adults may be a little bored, but the kids will enjoy every single minute of it. There is a lot of singing and a lot of dancing, with quite a bit of audience participation thrown in.  "What's the number of the day?", "What's the letter of the day?" ,"Sing it with me!", etc. At our show, the adults received their entertainment from the cotton candy seller yelling, "Ok folks, here we go...SUGAR!" and "Cotton Candy...get those kids hopped up on sugar!"

I mananged to get some cheap tickets ($10) which were actually good seats in our venue. They weren't on the main floor, but you wouldn't want the main floor anyway because main floor seating is flat. It was much better in the stadium seating section because we could see over everyone.  Your venue may be different of course, but the show itself would have been worth the $18 price had we gone on a different night. 

The only disappointing thing was to hear the woman behind us, whose daughter's ball and cup kept bouncing over the seat onto our stuff, tell a friend of hers a few rows back that they were in the throes of a rotovirus. Gee, thank you so much for bringing it with you so we can have the chance at catching it. 

The show though? Definitely catch it if you can. Two thumbs up!