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October 28 A Poxy or A God Send?Controversy hit my computer bright and early. I am up at the crack of dawn because I have LOTS to do today to get ready for my party. I know, I know, I did that to myself, I am not complaining just tellin' it like it is. Not only do I have to get ready for the party but last night and this morning Patrick has been coughing so violently that he threw up a tiny bit because he was lying down. It is not the kind of throw up (you know the difference by now) that comes from being violently ill, it is the kind that comes from excessive coughing for which he is on antibiotics and I have told the other parents coming to the party about his illness....you should always do that by the way it is just proper...but now I am getting ready. Now to be completely gross and segway into talking about food. Food and vomit, now you know if I can say those in the same sentence I am a Momma, nothing phases me anymore. I am the champion of gross by now, I have been hit with it all...we all have.
So I sit with my tea, getting my body set for the grueling task of cleaning the bathrooms, when my mail kicks in. Some Moms swear by those cook books, "Deceptivly Delicious" and that other one I cant remember the name of but they ar basically identical. Jerry Sinfield's wife, Jessica, wrote the one I mentioned. Dietitians and web people are in an uproar. Some are saying it is great, getting kids to eat any veggies is genious, others are citing plagues on the houses of these two authors for tricking kids and adding to the obesity of the country by encouraging sweets. It is all riduclous if you ask me. No mother tells their kids to keep eating their cake, brownies or fudge. I am sure of that. Anyone who freaks is just not a Mom.
Here is the thing, as a Mom of toddlers, I KNOW getting them to eat veggies is hard. Do I cheat? You bet. If I cant get a veggie in them, they MUST eat some real fruit. WIth every meal, and snacks usually come with nuts or fruit as well. I am obese. I know it. I struggle. I know if there is a gene, my kids have it. I am trying to help them. But we ALL hide veggies in our cooking whether we do it intentionally or not, tomato sauce, lasagna, every dish has veggies in it not in their natural form but cut, diced, pureed, etc. somehow. That said, you cant always avoid sweets. Now that it is nearing th holidays, I am applauding the chance to help in some way, make what I do make slightly better for my family though I will never ever say that a brownie is good for you. I do not care how much cauliflower, or sweet potato, or magic pixie dust I sprinkle on (or in it). Sweets are a sometimes food. I dont think anyone is saying differently, but you read some of the opposition to these cook books and you would think they were like, "Eat brownies for every meal! They have veggies hidden in them, so never mind thos 3 cups of sugar, they are good for you!" which I am sure they do not do. People go nuts. Maybe I am going nuts.
Recently, because pumpkin is good for you, and because twice a month I treat my kids to real pancakes (not weekly, twice a month, really only once a month who am I kidding the kitchen becomes a war zone and I dread cleaning it, but it is a BIG deal is what I am trying to say not a daily occurance) and I use Pumpkin in the pancakes. Now I still tell them pancakes are a special sometimes food, usually this is a celebratory breakfast not a daily thing (or even a weekly thing as I mentioned, cleaning aint my bag baby) but I do feel a bit better about them. I also put flax seed in them. Th pumpkin tastes great, adds LOADS to the pancake experience especially this time of year, and you would never know that the flax seed was there. Does that make me a monster trying to trick my kids? I dont think so, especially as I tell them what they are eating and why. (Also why it is only a "sometimes food", they may be young, but it is important to know that these things cant be eaten everyday - they get it if something is not good for you. Trust me, kids understand the concept of treat, they are in fact, smarter than a Pomeranian).
Anyway, I say if you want to cheat here and there, why not? Be honest about it, and it is not cheating. It is eating. It is cooking. It is enhancing foods with ingredients that help you. Be smart and know that treats are still treats, but if you can make mac 'n cheese (which no mother of toddlers can avoid) a bit better by adding some broccoli that I say go for it! I do not get the controversy. It is still very important to try to have the kids recognize and eat real veggies and fruit every day as well, even if it is already in their other "masked" food on their plate, but cooking with veggies is called cooking. Recipes that show you how to do it are called helpful. Be smart, know what is a treat and what is a real dish and when to avoid starch. Use smaller plates. Yadda yadda yadda.
I will say I learned one thing I will use....pasta sauce on veggies sounds lovely. I know it is not new, but I had not thought of it. I will use it, often. Done. October 27 Takin' Care Of BusinessHere is the thing, remember when we were kids and you just went to the Dr and they took care of you? No one was savvy about medical terms, medicines, proceedures, etc. We just went in, handed our lives to them, trusted them and they did their thing. Well, we have come a long way and the road ahead is still a long way to go. Now we know medical terms, we understand more and as such we are more savvy and able to take some responsibility for our care. That is a double edged sword I am afraid, but it is better to have some control I suppose than none and blind trust. For a Catholic, you would think I would be better about having that but you would be OH SO wrong. I am cynical about everything, and the older I get the more cynical I get, the other side of that is the more responsible I get too which has some draws.
Let me take you back to yesterday so you can appreciate my 24 hour journey while I am getting ready to decorate for Halloween and 100 people coming to my house for a party. You read that right, 100 people. I am INSANE. I take Riley and Patrick to the Dr in the AM first thing. Riley is supposed to have her tonsils and adenoids out on Monday and tubes put in her ears and I feel wholly unprepared. No one has told me really what to expect and no one has told me what to do afterwards. That makes me very nervous. If we knew each other better I would tell you it makes my butt twitch, but no need to be crude here. Anyway her primary said she was set to go even though she has been sick for the past three weeks and I have brought her to the Dr every other day it seems (not really true but once a week is accurate) for a serious cough and cold. She is snarfly and conjested and blechy but he thought they could operate. Okie dokie. Patrick had an ear infection. I asked him about follow up care and he looked at me like I had horns. Was it that crazy a question? Where to I go and whom do I see after the surgery for followup care, is it him or the surgeon or both? I guess they will tell me that at the hospital, he supposed. That inspires a TON of confidence, huh? I mean he is happy to see her, but the surgeon will tell me what to do. And they have been so forthcoming so far, let me assure you.
So I go merrily home. On the way I stop at the store to fill Patrick's Rx because of his ear infection. They had a long line so I said no sweat, Harry would get it on his way home and they looked at me so grateful. Poor guys. My pity went to them, people were breathing down their necks. So home I went. The hospital called and we were set for surgery at 10 am. They were telling me what to do, when to feed her, what to do in the am, where to go, etc, then the questions: Was she introsuced to TB in the last 3 months? That sort of thing. Then they said, "Has she had a cold or cold like symptoms in the last 3 weeks?" Yes, yes she has, for the last three weeks exactly actually, she has had a cold. Oh, oh dear, I dont think we can do the surgery. "Why not?" I ask. "Well, has she had any fever?" I explain that I cannot actually say. I have done the Mommy trick where you feel warm so I give you medicine but every time the Dr checked, and as I said I have been there often, she has never had a fever. "Well, I guess we will call you back in three to four weeks." Wait, what? Before she got off the phone I had to ask, because if they expect her to be free of cold like symptoms for three to four weeks I will never ever see them. That is the catch 22 of this tonsil problem, hence the need for the surgery, this is not an elective lipo suction, as long as she has them, she will be sick. Often. Is there anyway I can let the Dr decide? SO we decided that the morning of the surgery we would go to the hospital and the Dr and anesthesiologist would look at Riley and if they felt at all uncomfortable we would postpone, if not we would truck ahead. "You are willing to drive to downtown and just drive back home if they dont want to do it?" um, yeah....who is the ass hole who says, "Uh, I dont care that it is dangerous, you cut my kid because I have a tee time at the club? or whatever nonsense is more important?" Of course I am ok to just drive home.
Later I went out to get some last minute things for the Halloween bash and asked Harry how Patrick did with his medicine. "Well, it was really hard to get him to swallow the powder." What powder? Apparently the pharmecist forgot to mix his medicine and just gave us the concentrated powder that they use to mix with water or whatever they mix it with. SO Patrick got a super concentrated dose and was sleeping and I freaked. I had Harry call the Pharmacy on one phone while I called the on call Dr on the other after we made sure Patrick looked like he was breathing ok. I know that sounds extreme, but how do I know what an OD looks like in a 4 year old? The pharmacy had just closed within the last 5 minutes so I called the store, Albertson's, and the poor teenager on shift said, "Oh the pharmacy is closed you will have to call back tomorrow, m'aam." Dont you M'aam me you little creep. "Listen, here's the deal, my son's prescription is wrong and I need the pharmacist to tell me if I should be calling 9-1-1. I know she is still there closing, I realize she is closed, but this is am emergency. I dont care if you have to walk over there, you do not want me to drive over there, just go explain to her what I just told you and have her pick up the phone." Dont mess with a Momma.
Turns out that the tech did two things wrong. He did not mix it and he did not have the pharmacist hand it out. That is their check an dbalance system. Also turns out that this medication, Zythromax, will not overdose and probably wont even activate in the system if left in powder form. Still, I was not calmed. What if this had been a more serious medication? My faith in this pharmacy is obviously shot.
Luckily Patrick is ok, but had I not known that powder form was the wrong form, Harry would not have known and would have just kept giving it to Patrick. He likely at worst would have had an infection still or gotten a yeast infection from the high concentration of antibiotics. Either way it is very frightening that we must know so much. I wish I had paid more attention in college and we ALL need a better education over all since we are now responsible for our own health care our own pharmacology and our own surgical treatment plans. Wake up and get a few books, I think that is on my agenda anyway.
October 26 We Got A Problem HereYesterday Riley took a nap after a crazy run around day. Patrick was at a psychologists office being tested so that I could know what school to send him to next year for Kindergarten. As I have stated in previous entries, things here are competitive, and while I do not want to be on the rat race, I cant stick my head in the sand and ignore it either. I want to make educated choices and after two principalsls at two soeperate schools told me he might need to be tested for gifted studies based on his verbal skills, I listened. So, the Dr's office, shopping, lunch with Daddy during the week (Patrick needed a hero's lunch because he was nervous about going and did it anyway so we celebrated his bravery) etc. It was not a normal day. After naps we were set to go to Aikido for Patrick which usually does not happen during the week but it was a make up class. So even after naps our schedule was toast. The kids knew it, but they were troupers.
Still, when Riley woke up she called to me, "Mommy! Mommy could you come here?" I was startled because the request sounded so calm and grown up. I got upstairs and she said VERY matter of fact, "Mommy, we got a problem here. I am still in bed! What is that about?" Trying to hol din laughter and get her out of the crib was not easy. I did it and deserve herculean applause, but still it was not easy.
Later while Patrick was at Aikido I siezed the opportunity to go across the parking lot with Riley and have my unibrow waxed so I would not be doubled "Helga the unibrow Princess Leia" In my halloween costume. Seriously I was starting to have a caterpillar on my forehead and was not too happy about it. RIley watched with eyes as wide as quarters. "Oh Mommy, you are so brave!" she said every time. When it was all over she said, "Mommy, is that lady done ripping your face off with honey?" I guess that is what it looks like to a 2 year old. Hey I gotta give her something for therapy later in life....I explained it was not honey but it made Mommy feel good about her eyebrows and made her skin soft. Riley then said, "Well tell her to not do me, ok?" Makes sense to me sweet pea. You bet.
At Aikido I helped my friend's son go to the potty. He is a big boy, only a few months older than Patrick but they are opposite ends of the bell curve. He is about 50 pounds while Paddy boy is only 35-38 somewhere in there. Anyway there was no time to get his shoes one, etc and go to the potty before class would be over so I picked the tyke up and carried him. He looked down and noticed that I was doing with with one arm which impressed him and he exclaimed, "You are so strong! You are lifting me with one arm! I weigh 50 pounds you know." and in a minute, still impressed he gasped and said, "Wait I know, you are really a super hero arent you? I did not know it! You are in a pretty good disguise as a Mommy, no one will guess it."
Kids man. Of course I am a super hero! All Mommy's are! We can give birth, we can clean a house and cook for parties of 4 or 20 or more without a sweat and we can tolerate our hair being torn out at the roots and still be cheery. Give that a try, superman! October 23 StorytellersBoth my kids like to tell stories. They are storytellers. I LOVE listening in. When Riley is upset, which is a lot lately as she is sick....again...Patrick can often be found saying a story he has made up to her and it is fascinating. They actually collaborate! Here was what transpired in the car yesterday:
"Once Upon A Time," begins Rileyanne, " King Bubba and Princess Riley went to the marshmellow castle! Happy Halloween!"
I thought that was pretty good for a two year old. Bubba is how she says brother by the way.
Last week at Soccer Patrick was not paying ANY attention to the ball. He was looking at the grass and the sky. He later told me this story:
"Mommy, did you know that there are grass people on the soccer field? They are really really tine and live in the grass. The reason that the grass tickles our feet is that the grass people have a tickle army. Their job is to try to get our attention so that we dont trample their houses and towns, but we dont always listen. I could not get the ball because I did not want to run over the town! And did you see the rain? That was their family flying in to the rescue from the other field, because so many people were running over all the grass people, they needed more doctors from the other towns to come and help. It was an Emergency!"
SO, not an athlete, but what a mind, huh? He will grow into sports if he wants to or not, but I do love the stories.
On another note, RIley's is supposed to have her tonsils and adenoids removed on Monday the 29th along with tubes put in her ears. Poor baby has tonsils so big that there is a vein that runs along the side that has burst so she literally has a bloody cough! It is horrible! We have put her on antibiotics to help the infection/cold hoping to curb it, but now I fear since she has been sick for literally over two weeks with no relief in sight we will have to postpone the surgery. SO sad. She wakes up with blood in her crib and it is scary even though I know what is happening now.
Tonight is Patrick's Harvest Festival at school. Likely new pictures coming soon, I know I know hard to believe. Looking forward to the Little Pumpkin songs. October 20 Welcome Fall
My favorite of the month: Pumpkin Pancakes. Oh Lord deliver me, it is a sin to taste that good.
October 19 Soccer Mom SyndromeWell, I have written about it before, the over stimulation of our kids. Maybe where you live it is not that way, but here some kids literally have multiple activities every day as well as school. It is just too much! I mean I kinda get it, it is wet outside, you cant just let them walk outside and play in a storm, and then there is the fear factor. It is a different world from when we were kids and our parents said, "Go outside! Find a friend! Come back for dinner when the lights come on!" I mean you just cant do that. But there has to be a medium place, kids still need childhoods that are not simply spending thousands of dollars schlepping them from one activity to another. SO I allow my kids one. One thing that they REALLY want to do on a regular basis. Right now it is Aikido for Patrick and Ballet for Riley. You know I think they appreciate that more. We wake up and every day Riley says, "It's Ballet Day!" Like willing it to be so will make it happen. Patrick tolerates aikido but I sure like the principals and discipline it is teaching so it stays for a while anyway. When baseball come around, I am sure it will go away for a while and that is ok. I actually heard someone say, "If they dont pick a sport by the time they are 5 you will never get enough training in for them to go to college on it or to be professional at it." What the? Is everyone meant to be a star athlete? Remember when not everyone made the team and that was ok? How did we get here? What happened to playing because it was fun? I know I am such a radical. At any rate, this fall because it was basically free at the Church and he wanted to do it, it was only 5 weeks long and today is the last day, my husband and I also coached a small soccer team for pre-k kids who might go to the school next year. It was rather like herding cats, which I say all the time because it is so true of toddlers. They just sort of swarm around the ball and look exceptionally cute in the uniforms and love the snack at the end. BUT we had FUN! Here are some shots of the kids, Miss. Riley could just not stand being on the side lines any longer last week and she HAD to get in there and play. She did pretty good actually, she is pretty competitive. Patrick was distracted by all the stories he was making up. Patrick made up one GREAT one which I will blog on its own later because it deserves its own title. He is my day dreamer. My story teller. My "Imagineer" if such a word exists, it should it is a good one. Riley is nails, all business and straight to it. She is a do-er, a get-it-done type. If you want to see multiple sides of nature, have more than one kid, raise them the same, and you will see more sides to human spirit than you know what to do with! To pictures:
NOW no Soccer Game would be complete without a fun dinner afterwards, I mean hello, so we are off to a healthy option. FAT BURGER. Shakes, burgers, fries, onion rings, the works. The kids buddies, the Van Horn's join us and well, look for yourself, it is NOT a dull dinner:
SO that's how this Soccer Mom rolls anyway. Fun is on the menu, no you do not have to be Beckham, just do your best, but know that later if you dont make the team, that is ok too. If you WANT to make the team then that means working hard. That's life babe. And if you are lucky, afterwards you get a chocolate shake. HA! October 07 Movie Date, Sassiness & HalloweenI just got back from one of my favorite activities. Dinner and a movie with a pal. Yes I know it is still early, I do have kids that get up at the crack of dawn so I cant stay out all hours, but it was SO fun to get dressed like a big person, order a drink, get dinner that I only have to cut for myself, and enjoy conversations that did not include Barney, Ninjas or any sort of super hero. Ah....friendship. Divine.
Cathia and I went to see "Death At A Funeral" I laughed my arse off. Seriously. It is Brittish, so that kind of humor, but it was just ridiculously funny. I am glad I did not get a drink for during the movie or I would be wearing it now! Every scene was predictable, but still did not disappoint. In my opinion you always know a movie will be good when you watch the previews and want to see them too. Cathia and I sat there saying. "Oh we have to see that when it comes out!" and "Oh that too" till we had decided that EVERY one of the previews was worth our kids college money to see in the theatre. Because seriously, movies are not cheap anymore, so it better be worth it when you go, am I right? RUN DO NOT WALK, "Death At A Fineral" was brilliant and delisious though predictable and insane. Just have some chocolate, a good friend and go. Wear comfortable pants and shoes you will be laughing and stomping your feet a lot.
That said, Riley had a HUM DINGER this week. You know kids say the darndest things, and she never dissappoints. We were at Patrick's soccer game and she says to my Mom who is watching her as Harry and I are both Coaching (dont ask, it actually is loads of fun, but we seem to over volunteer if you ask me). So she says rather demandingly to my Mom, "I want my juice, Nana!" to which my Mom, pleasant I am sure, says, "I did not hear the magic word..." and Riley looks at her with her sauciness in full sail and fires off, "OK, Hocus Pocus!" HA! I know it is sassy, but come on, how fun is that?
So that is it from the land of me. Movies, sassy kids, and planning for Halloween.....BOO! Halloween is big around here, it takes weeks, nay, months of planning. I dont know how is more excited, me or the kids! It is a toss up really..... October 02 Pet PeeveYou know how you get those email mass letters that ask you questions like when is your birthday? What is your favorite food? What is your biggest pet peeve? ETc. all in the name of getting to know you better? Does it make me a total and complete freak that I LOVE those? I love getting them (it means someone cares and actually doesn't know something about me, which face it between the blog, my big mouth and the not-so-shy personality I find hard to believe); and I love answering them (have I changed at all? Why am I like that); and I love reading them (so-and-so likes that???? whoa!). I know it is voyerism, but it is fun. Well to me anyway. Many people probably groan and roll their eyes when they get them.
Still, I learned yesterday that I have been answering them wrong forever. Well, at least since having more than one kid. I usually say my biggest pet peeve is bad drivers. Dont get me wrong, a bad driver can completely suck. I mean if you are in a regular zone or even a 45 MPH zone and you have to be somewhere and the guy in front of you put puts along at 25 MPH with a line up of cars behind them? URGH! Infuriating, but always remember, be safe. I get the anger, but I try to go to the happy place usually because I have the kids in the car and it is the right place to go, but also because really, wherever I have to be, in 10 years, maybe even less than 1 year, it is not going to matter if I was a little late.
But, no, my biggest pet peeve happened yesterday. At the grocery store. I have written about some of the less then pleasant interactions with some of the haughty people you come in contact with here, I hate haughty people, they suck. They are everywhere so this is not a Sammamish, Bellevue, etc thing, it is a people thing. Get over yourselves guys.
Yesterday I had Lila, my best freind's daughter with us and had to get some stuff for dinner. So I am carrying Riley, and the little chickens Patrick and Lila and each holding a hand. I have three little bity kids y'all all under 35 pounds each. The grocery store has these cool car carts where they seat three easy, two in the cab and one in the basket. There was only one and I could not hustle to it fast enough but I saw a Mommy and her easily 7 year old son going for the cart. I asked, "Um, excuse me, but could I convince you at all to use a regular cart? That is the last one and I am kinda in a bind here." She looked me up and down, which by the way is just plain rude, and said, "No. He has been looking forward to this all day" and off she went leaving me flabberghasted.
First: if you have only one kid, you should leave those carts for those of us with more, or at least look about and yield, I know I know your kid likes them too, but come on! You see a Mommy, a fellow woman, carrying three babies, you dont do that! You suck lady and I am glad your kid was ALL OVER the store running crazy making you nuts because you suck! Seriously, later I saw him sitting on top of the basket, not in it, on top, screaming and hitting boxes as they went down the aisle and she was desperately trying to get him to stop. What do you do? I looked her up and down, as she had with me, and then smiled. I know, now I suck. Nothing seemed wrong with him, I thought of that, I would have understood that, say if he was autistic and this was part of his routine, I would have gotten that, but this kid did not appear different, in any way, that some limits would not help anyway.
Second: if someone has to ask you for help, which I did, dont snub them. You never know when you might need some help yourself. If someone ever had to ask me, because I was not being aware enough of my surroundings to notice someone in need, I would feel horrible. It took a little courage to ask, I dont like to do that, but once I had I still cannot believe the response. I was so shocked I could not come up with a pithy response, which is rare for me, so it shows you how flabberghasted I was.
URGH! Dont mind me, I must be hormonal. Still, new pet peeve, rude people. Under that category, list entitled people. No one is better than anyone else. Cant we all just get along? I know I must sound like a trite jerk, but I was really upset. Still am. |
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