Still coughing, still running fever, still river-nosed, but according to the dr, not sick enough for meds. Must be a virus, fluids, rest, blah blah blah. Poor little nugget!
And this morning Phoenix was complaining of a cough! ARRRGGGHHH!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Poor Little Muffin!
Poor Tiggeroo is sick. Croupy, harsh cough that sounds like it is ripping his chest in half. Runny nose. Fever of 102.4 F.
I complain all the time about how busy he is; always getting into everything and how I can't turn my back on him for a second. And now, he just sits on my lap for hours on end, and cries if I put him down for any reason. Dare I say it? I miss his energy. It breaks my heart to see him so listless and sad.
"Are you okay?" I asked him this morning. "Oh Money, (combo of Mommy and Honey, I like to think;))", he said and started to cry. Then he toddled over to the couch and looked out the window to the driveway. "Daddy...." he whispered. Soon, soon, he'll be home soon. Mark is taking him to the dr's at 3:40. Will update after.
I complain all the time about how busy he is; always getting into everything and how I can't turn my back on him for a second. And now, he just sits on my lap for hours on end, and cries if I put him down for any reason. Dare I say it? I miss his energy. It breaks my heart to see him so listless and sad.
"Are you okay?" I asked him this morning. "Oh Money, (combo of Mommy and Honey, I like to think;))", he said and started to cry. Then he toddled over to the couch and looked out the window to the driveway. "Daddy...." he whispered. Soon, soon, he'll be home soon. Mark is taking him to the dr's at 3:40. Will update after.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Why? I Ask You, WHY?!?!?!?!?
Dear Neighbour,
Why!
Why is it necessary to snow-blow your driveway at 5:35 am? There's not THAT much snow!
Why do you do this on a night when Ty has come down with the croup and I only just got him to sleep?
Bastards!
Why!
Why is it necessary to snow-blow your driveway at 5:35 am? There's not THAT much snow!
Why do you do this on a night when Ty has come down with the croup and I only just got him to sleep?
Bastards!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Delinquency Lives!
I apologise for the sporadic posting. It's just too freaking cold to be here in the office. My hands are chilled and my toes are approaching the frostbite zone. Maybe I should be swilling gin or something to warm me as I type.....hmmm.........
Okay, first things first. The playdate from hell.
Let me just say off the bat that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kids, more than chocolate, and that's saying something. But other people's kids? Meh. (As Leanne would say). (But not YOUR kids. Your kids are great.)That being said, a few weeks ago, we had a PD day at Phoenix's school. His friend's mom called me up in the morning to invite Bun over for a playdate. Sure! I said. Around 1:30? Great. Two seconds later I get another phone call. Can he come over in the morning instead? Sorry, uncle and grandfather visiting at present. Okay, same time then. Bye. Two more seconds later, another phone call, asking if her son could come play at my house for about an hour, because she had a job interview and then Bun could spend the rest of the afternoon at her house. Ok.
(Also scheduled that day, was a psych assessment appointment that I had to take Keegan to, hence the brother/dad babysitting duo. Then, at 12:30, I had a meeting at my house with Keegan's resource consultant to plan our education meeting with various other people that Keegs has been seen by or tested with. Ok...)
When the boy in question arrived, I explained, SEVERAL TIMES, that I had a very important meeting, and they had to play quietly downstairs and NOT INTERRUPT. RC arrives, we start the meeting, and then the agony begins. "Um, excuse me, Phoenix's mom? I need a snack." Go away. I am in a meeting. I will deal with you and snacks later. "Excuse me, can we go play video games out in the studio?" No. Over my dead body. Go away. I am in a meeting.
Things to this nature happen again and again and again until I have to excuse myself and go and threaten death upon all of the kids in a very scary low-volume evil-mom voice.
Get back to the meeting. "Excuse me....". I turned to the child in rage, then in fearful curiosity. What is that all over your shirt? "Oh, we were giving our Webkins (stuffed animals) haircuts. I said it was okay." At this point, my head is about to explode and the RC is trying not to laugh. I run downstairs to the toy room with boy in tow, and see the beauty shop massacre all over the carpet and every child. The look on Phoenix's face was plainly "Oh F U C K ! ! ! !" Pretty much. I gave a rapid and fierce riot act, confiscated scissors and any other potentially heart-attack inducing weapons of mass destruction, and went back up to find the RC packing up. She told me she had written me notes of what she wanted to cover instead, since I was obviously not able to focus. I apologised profusely, and saw her out. Then Ty woke up. ARRGGH!
At this point, I told the boys to put on their gear and chucked them into the backyard. And did I mention that this "one hour" had turned into three? I was NOT impressed. When the mom finally arrived, with an off-hand apology for being late, and a questioning, "How was he?" I certainly did not mince words. When she, in her mortification of her child's behaviour, offered to take Phoenix for the afternoon, even dinner, I told her that I thought perhaps they had seen enough of each other that day.
So. That was my playdate from hell, in a nutshell. Do you have any playdate war stories? Share them! I want to hear "Shann, that was nothing compared to my day!"
***********************************************************************************
I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. In the spirit of "LOVING" I have composed a list or two. Things That Annoy the Hell Out of Me about my Hubby" and of course "Things I Love About My Hubby" and his list for me. Here goes. See if any of these things are on your own lists...
Things That Annoy Me About My Hubby
1. Snoring. Enough said.
2. How he takes up 89% of the bed, leaving me clinging to a shred of blanket and the edge of the mattress.
3. How he leaves the toilet seat up
4. How he dumps tupperware into the sink without rinsing it out, and piles dishes on the counter ABOVE the dishwasher, and yet can't take the extra 2 seconds to put them inside.
5. Taking off his socks and leaving them in balls or inside out in 100 different places in the house, none of which include the laundry basket.
6. Talking with his hands.
7. Inviting people over without consulting me first, resulting in a whirlwind of cleaning frenzy-induced anxiety for me.
8. How when I am in the middle of a rant, he interrupts and tells me to "relax". ARRGHHH!
Things I Love About My Hubby
1. He will drop anything to "you know what" even if he was sick and dying.
2. He loves to cook and 99.9% of the time, makes dinner.
3. He doesn't like chocolate so I get to eat it all!
4. He is an awesome dad.
5. He is good to his parents.
6. He makes me laugh every single day.
7. He is handy, and can fix most electrical and plumbing issues and does all of the outside gardening work.
8. He feels sorry for my hands, and has taken over bathing the kids duty.
9. How he is always warm as toast and doesn't mind me placing various body parts on him to leach out the heat into my frozen limbs.
Things That I Do to Annoy the Hell out of my Hubby
1. Insist on checking my e-mail right when he is about to do some work in the office.
2. Leaving piles of miscellaneous crap on tables, saying that I am still using it, and will put it away later.
3. How I put off putting away laundry until I have no choice.
4. How I would rather read than do anything else.
5. That I abhor most types of physical activity.
6. How when I drink a Coke, I only open the can a little bit, and not the whole way, and don't suck off the pop from the rim after every sip. (This for some reason drives him insane, so of course, I do it now just to piss him off...)
7. How I will put the milk back in the fridge, even though there is only a 6 drops left in the bag, because I may use it in my cup of tea later.
Thing My Hubby Loves About Me
1. The fact that I am gorgeous, dead-sexy and not to mention, modest.
2. Big boobs.
3. When I wear my hair in a pony tail.
4. My sarcasm. (Yes, there are people who see it for the art it is!)
5. That I am a good mom.
6. That I am close with my family and his.
7. That I do all the stuff he hates, like sorting mail, reading and deleting crap e-mail from his in-box, cleaning toilets, doing laundry and assisting homework.
8. When I laugh in bed, silently as to not wake the kids and the whole bed vibrates. He always says "I don't remember putting a quarter in the bed!"
I am sure that I am leaving out a million things on all four lists but, there you go. No matter what the annoyances are, I love him, and couldn't live without him. And he loves me too, and is too scared to leave ;)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Okay, first things first. The playdate from hell.
Let me just say off the bat that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kids, more than chocolate, and that's saying something. But other people's kids? Meh. (As Leanne would say). (But not YOUR kids. Your kids are great.)That being said, a few weeks ago, we had a PD day at Phoenix's school. His friend's mom called me up in the morning to invite Bun over for a playdate. Sure! I said. Around 1:30? Great. Two seconds later I get another phone call. Can he come over in the morning instead? Sorry, uncle and grandfather visiting at present. Okay, same time then. Bye. Two more seconds later, another phone call, asking if her son could come play at my house for about an hour, because she had a job interview and then Bun could spend the rest of the afternoon at her house. Ok.
(Also scheduled that day, was a psych assessment appointment that I had to take Keegan to, hence the brother/dad babysitting duo. Then, at 12:30, I had a meeting at my house with Keegan's resource consultant to plan our education meeting with various other people that Keegs has been seen by or tested with. Ok...)
When the boy in question arrived, I explained, SEVERAL TIMES, that I had a very important meeting, and they had to play quietly downstairs and NOT INTERRUPT. RC arrives, we start the meeting, and then the agony begins. "Um, excuse me, Phoenix's mom? I need a snack." Go away. I am in a meeting. I will deal with you and snacks later. "Excuse me, can we go play video games out in the studio?" No. Over my dead body. Go away. I am in a meeting.
Things to this nature happen again and again and again until I have to excuse myself and go and threaten death upon all of the kids in a very scary low-volume evil-mom voice.
Get back to the meeting. "Excuse me....". I turned to the child in rage, then in fearful curiosity. What is that all over your shirt? "Oh, we were giving our Webkins (stuffed animals) haircuts. I said it was okay." At this point, my head is about to explode and the RC is trying not to laugh. I run downstairs to the toy room with boy in tow, and see the beauty shop massacre all over the carpet and every child. The look on Phoenix's face was plainly "Oh F U C K ! ! ! !" Pretty much. I gave a rapid and fierce riot act, confiscated scissors and any other potentially heart-attack inducing weapons of mass destruction, and went back up to find the RC packing up. She told me she had written me notes of what she wanted to cover instead, since I was obviously not able to focus. I apologised profusely, and saw her out. Then Ty woke up. ARRGGH!
At this point, I told the boys to put on their gear and chucked them into the backyard. And did I mention that this "one hour" had turned into three? I was NOT impressed. When the mom finally arrived, with an off-hand apology for being late, and a questioning, "How was he?" I certainly did not mince words. When she, in her mortification of her child's behaviour, offered to take Phoenix for the afternoon, even dinner, I told her that I thought perhaps they had seen enough of each other that day.
So. That was my playdate from hell, in a nutshell. Do you have any playdate war stories? Share them! I want to hear "Shann, that was nothing compared to my day!"
***********************************************************************************
I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. In the spirit of "LOVING" I have composed a list or two. Things That Annoy the Hell Out of Me about my Hubby" and of course "Things I Love About My Hubby" and his list for me. Here goes. See if any of these things are on your own lists...
Things That Annoy Me About My Hubby
1. Snoring. Enough said.
2. How he takes up 89% of the bed, leaving me clinging to a shred of blanket and the edge of the mattress.
3. How he leaves the toilet seat up
4. How he dumps tupperware into the sink without rinsing it out, and piles dishes on the counter ABOVE the dishwasher, and yet can't take the extra 2 seconds to put them inside.
5. Taking off his socks and leaving them in balls or inside out in 100 different places in the house, none of which include the laundry basket.
6. Talking with his hands.
7. Inviting people over without consulting me first, resulting in a whirlwind of cleaning frenzy-induced anxiety for me.
8. How when I am in the middle of a rant, he interrupts and tells me to "relax". ARRGHHH!
Things I Love About My Hubby
1. He will drop anything to "you know what" even if he was sick and dying.
2. He loves to cook and 99.9% of the time, makes dinner.
3. He doesn't like chocolate so I get to eat it all!
4. He is an awesome dad.
5. He is good to his parents.
6. He makes me laugh every single day.
7. He is handy, and can fix most electrical and plumbing issues and does all of the outside gardening work.
8. He feels sorry for my hands, and has taken over bathing the kids duty.
9. How he is always warm as toast and doesn't mind me placing various body parts on him to leach out the heat into my frozen limbs.
Things That I Do to Annoy the Hell out of my Hubby
1. Insist on checking my e-mail right when he is about to do some work in the office.
2. Leaving piles of miscellaneous crap on tables, saying that I am still using it, and will put it away later.
3. How I put off putting away laundry until I have no choice.
4. How I would rather read than do anything else.
5. That I abhor most types of physical activity.
6. How when I drink a Coke, I only open the can a little bit, and not the whole way, and don't suck off the pop from the rim after every sip. (This for some reason drives him insane, so of course, I do it now just to piss him off...)
7. How I will put the milk back in the fridge, even though there is only a 6 drops left in the bag, because I may use it in my cup of tea later.
Thing My Hubby Loves About Me
1. The fact that I am gorgeous, dead-sexy and not to mention, modest.
2. Big boobs.
3. When I wear my hair in a pony tail.
4. My sarcasm. (Yes, there are people who see it for the art it is!)
5. That I am a good mom.
6. That I am close with my family and his.
7. That I do all the stuff he hates, like sorting mail, reading and deleting crap e-mail from his in-box, cleaning toilets, doing laundry and assisting homework.
8. When I laugh in bed, silently as to not wake the kids and the whole bed vibrates. He always says "I don't remember putting a quarter in the bed!"
I am sure that I am leaving out a million things on all four lists but, there you go. No matter what the annoyances are, I love him, and couldn't live without him. And he loves me too, and is too scared to leave ;)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Thursday, February 08, 2007
As Promised, The Before and After Hand Shots
As you can see, my hands looks much better now, as opposed to before. Eww...gross. But, the 4-step program works. What can I say? Don't get your hands wet. Don't get your hands wet. Don't get your hands wet. Use Prevex-B. I can even wear my wedding rings again! For the first time in years!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Wednesday Morning Serenade
I woke up this morning to a serenade under my bedroom window; a guy with an icy body and icicles dripping from his nose. I think his name is "Weather Man"...singing:
I'm Mister White Christmas
I'm Mister Snow
I'm Mister Icicle
I'm Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
I'm too much!
He's Mister White Christmas
He's Mister Snow
That's right!
He's Mister Icicle
He's Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
He's too much!
I never want to see a day
That's over forty degrees
I'd rather have it thirty,
Twenty, ten, five and let it freeeeEEEEEEeeze!
He's Mister White Christmas
He's Mister Snow
That's right!
He's Mister Icicle
He's Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch... too much.
Too Much!
Too much is right! Kripes. It's freaking cold. -27C with the windchill! Can you say frozen baby cheeks? It's been a damn cold week or so here, and we have been miserably house-bound as a result. Which is part of the reason why I have been lazy in posting. One, the kids are always underfoot to bug me with their constant, yet inane demands and questions, and two, the weather outside equals freezing cold basement. My office is there. As is the computer. So, I either type as fast as I can, or, say screw it, and head upstairs to warmer temperatures, a good book, and a steaming mug of tea. Like I have been doing for the last while.
But, after more than a few inquires as to my whereabouts, I have decided to lock the kids in the toy room watching Cars for the 1000000th time, and brave the chill.
What's new, what's new...
Well, Phoenix is on the verge of losing his second baby tooth, and makes me wiggle it at every opportunity so he can cash it in for $ with the Tooth Fairy/Tooth Beaver. He is saving up for a new Webkinz. Have you heard of these? I may have mentioned them before. They are stuffed animals that come with a code that gives you access to KinzWorld, where you can design a room for your Kinz and play games and stuff. Pretty ingenious money-maker; every kid in Phoenix's class has at least two of them. (I admit, I have one too, a leopard named Micah.)
Keegan is half-way through his psycho-educational assessment sessions. He loves going; always new things to try and play with. His assessment with the Occupational Therapist indicated that he needs to build up his core strength (through the torso) so we have daily workout sessions with therabands, doing pilate-like exercises. He also needs to work on his fine motor as well, as he has a weak grasp and this makes things like holding a pencil difficult for him. Speech therapy is also coming along. We are currently working on sequencing and the ubiquitous 3-step directions.
Ty is still a little troublemaker. But damn, he's too cute! New things include (as just announced by Keegan) taking shelves off of the wall, scattering movie cases and -oh fun!- sticking his hands in the fishtank. He's just a whirlwind of busy-ness. No wonder he's not talking. It would take too much time away from raising hell!
Just got off of the phone with my friend Leanne, who has put up the idea of taking a girls' trip together next winter (Feb/March) with our mutual friend Kris. I am LOVING this idea. I am pretty confident that Mark will encourage it. He knows I need to run away and decompress, and this is a perfect opportunity.
I have been returning to the classics, book-wise lately. I recently read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and was itching the smack Tess by the end. It irks me how dumb some characters are. Today I am reading Wuthering Heights, which I am quite enjoying so far, and I have Emma left to read.
Oh, I also read "Through A Looking Glass Darkly". I recommend it. Good chunky read. Now, of course, I feel obligated to go and buy the prequel and sequel...Oh! Speaking of sequels, I am too excited about the Harry Potter book coming out this summer. I loved all the other books. I know that there are a lot of people out there that have not read any of them as they refuse to give into the hype, but trust me! They're great!
I have a story to tell but no time right now. I will try to get back in here tonight to recount to you the tale of "THE WORST PLAYDATE EVER" which occured here last Friday... stay tuned.
Shann out.
I'm Mister White Christmas
I'm Mister Snow
I'm Mister Icicle
I'm Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
I'm too much!
He's Mister White Christmas
He's Mister Snow
That's right!
He's Mister Icicle
He's Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
He's too much!
I never want to see a day
That's over forty degrees
I'd rather have it thirty,
Twenty, ten, five and let it freeeeEEEEEEeeze!
He's Mister White Christmas
He's Mister Snow
That's right!
He's Mister Icicle
He's Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch... too much.
Too Much!
Too much is right! Kripes. It's freaking cold. -27C with the windchill! Can you say frozen baby cheeks? It's been a damn cold week or so here, and we have been miserably house-bound as a result. Which is part of the reason why I have been lazy in posting. One, the kids are always underfoot to bug me with their constant, yet inane demands and questions, and two, the weather outside equals freezing cold basement. My office is there. As is the computer. So, I either type as fast as I can, or, say screw it, and head upstairs to warmer temperatures, a good book, and a steaming mug of tea. Like I have been doing for the last while.
But, after more than a few inquires as to my whereabouts, I have decided to lock the kids in the toy room watching Cars for the 1000000th time, and brave the chill.
What's new, what's new...
Well, Phoenix is on the verge of losing his second baby tooth, and makes me wiggle it at every opportunity so he can cash it in for $ with the Tooth Fairy/Tooth Beaver. He is saving up for a new Webkinz. Have you heard of these? I may have mentioned them before. They are stuffed animals that come with a code that gives you access to KinzWorld, where you can design a room for your Kinz and play games and stuff. Pretty ingenious money-maker; every kid in Phoenix's class has at least two of them. (I admit, I have one too, a leopard named Micah.)
Keegan is half-way through his psycho-educational assessment sessions. He loves going; always new things to try and play with. His assessment with the Occupational Therapist indicated that he needs to build up his core strength (through the torso) so we have daily workout sessions with therabands, doing pilate-like exercises. He also needs to work on his fine motor as well, as he has a weak grasp and this makes things like holding a pencil difficult for him. Speech therapy is also coming along. We are currently working on sequencing and the ubiquitous 3-step directions.
Ty is still a little troublemaker. But damn, he's too cute! New things include (as just announced by Keegan) taking shelves off of the wall, scattering movie cases and -oh fun!- sticking his hands in the fishtank. He's just a whirlwind of busy-ness. No wonder he's not talking. It would take too much time away from raising hell!
Just got off of the phone with my friend Leanne, who has put up the idea of taking a girls' trip together next winter (Feb/March) with our mutual friend Kris. I am LOVING this idea. I am pretty confident that Mark will encourage it. He knows I need to run away and decompress, and this is a perfect opportunity.
I have been returning to the classics, book-wise lately. I recently read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and was itching the smack Tess by the end. It irks me how dumb some characters are. Today I am reading Wuthering Heights, which I am quite enjoying so far, and I have Emma left to read.
Oh, I also read "Through A Looking Glass Darkly". I recommend it. Good chunky read. Now, of course, I feel obligated to go and buy the prequel and sequel...Oh! Speaking of sequels, I am too excited about the Harry Potter book coming out this summer. I loved all the other books. I know that there are a lot of people out there that have not read any of them as they refuse to give into the hype, but trust me! They're great!
I have a story to tell but no time right now. I will try to get back in here tonight to recount to you the tale of "THE WORST PLAYDATE EVER" which occured here last Friday... stay tuned.
Shann out.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Insert Favourite Swear Words Here
Eff.
Ty has broken out of the crib.
What to do?
(My other GOOD sons never did this....)
Ty has broken out of the crib.
What to do?
(My other GOOD sons never did this....)
Friday, January 19, 2007
The Strangest Thing!
I awoke this morning (at an ungodly hour, thanks Tyger!) and came downstairs. I looked out the window and saw the strangest thing! Every surface outside was blanketed with a coating of white. What is this substance? I asked myself in wonder. I opened the door, and a flake of this bizarre whiteness landed on my hand. It was crystaline in structure and melted upon my skin, into a drop of what appeared to be water. A tap on my waist interrupted my reverie. "Um, Mom? It's snow. Remember? Last winter?"
Ah yes. Snow. I had forgotten its exisitence. Strange that while living in Southern Ontario, that this was its first arrival of the year. November, December, oh yes, we had rain. Lots of it, in fact. And Monday, freezing rain. Enough to cancel the school buses. But snow! Wow! The kids were thrilled and I was, in hindsight, very glad that I had bought the kids boots a few weeks ago. I went on a whirlwind hunt for snowpants, and found them. Keegs and Bun are anticipating the after-school snowman building.
Snow........
Onto other, VERY DISTRESSING matters, Ty has rocked my safe little world. Cue the X-Files theme if you will...
After breakfast, I plunked Ty in his playpen and went back to the kitchen to make Phoenix's lunch and pack his school bag. I had a eerie feeling of being watched. A glanced over my shoulder to see Ty grinning at me from the top of the stairs. What the...? How did he get out?
I brought him back downstairs. Put him in the playpen (cue Mission Impossible please...da da da da, da da da da, doo doo doo, doo doo doo)and within 2.3 seconds, a leg over the side and a full body shimmy, and he was off and running. I think I might have mouthed the "f" word. Now what? I no longer have a safe Tyger-haven. He is a busy kid. A curious kid. A big ol' handful of trouble. I dread the day he scales the crib rails!
Sigh..............................
Ah yes. Snow. I had forgotten its exisitence. Strange that while living in Southern Ontario, that this was its first arrival of the year. November, December, oh yes, we had rain. Lots of it, in fact. And Monday, freezing rain. Enough to cancel the school buses. But snow! Wow! The kids were thrilled and I was, in hindsight, very glad that I had bought the kids boots a few weeks ago. I went on a whirlwind hunt for snowpants, and found them. Keegs and Bun are anticipating the after-school snowman building.
Snow........
Onto other, VERY DISTRESSING matters, Ty has rocked my safe little world. Cue the X-Files theme if you will...
After breakfast, I plunked Ty in his playpen and went back to the kitchen to make Phoenix's lunch and pack his school bag. I had a eerie feeling of being watched. A glanced over my shoulder to see Ty grinning at me from the top of the stairs. What the...? How did he get out?
I brought him back downstairs. Put him in the playpen (cue Mission Impossible please...da da da da, da da da da, doo doo doo, doo doo doo)and within 2.3 seconds, a leg over the side and a full body shimmy, and he was off and running. I think I might have mouthed the "f" word. Now what? I no longer have a safe Tyger-haven. He is a busy kid. A curious kid. A big ol' handful of trouble. I dread the day he scales the crib rails!
Sigh..............................
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
I'm Alive!
Whew! Kidney infections are a bee-otch! I don't think I've ever been that sick. But, with the aid of the new Rx, I am feeling much better now, thanks to all who have posted or e-mailed.
I went to the dermatologist yesterday about my creepy hands, and got a 4-step treatment plan to combat my eczema. (An interesting fact: eczema is an autoimmune deficiency, where there is something in your blood that attacks your skin. Weird. A daily battle every day, and the war zone was literally in my hands!)
Step 1: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 2: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 3: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 4: Try this cream 4 times a day. (Prevex-B for all who wonder...)
So, taking this advice to heart, I used the cream 3 times yesterday, and wore cotton gloves to bed to avoid scratching, and let Mark handle the kids' bath-time. I am not lying when I say that my hands are 80% better today. I'm am going to use this stuff for a week and then post before and after shots of my hands...
Kiddies are at school, thank God. Keegan was off 3 days last week with a killer cough-due-to-cold, and then Monday, they cancelled his bus due to icy road conditions, so we had had quite enough of each other by then!
Keegan starts part 1 of 5 sessions for his psycho-educational assessment tomorrow. Mark and I met with the Dr last Friday for an information gathering session which took 1 1/2 hours. Now he has to go for testing once a week for 5 weeks to see if he has a cognitive delay or not. Poor guy. Of course, I think I will have the tougher part of the series, which is hanging out in the waiting room, not knowing what is going on.
He also has started sessions with an OT (Occupational Therapist) to work on his sensory and fine motor issues. And continued speech therapy. Oh, news there. He was reassessed at the beginning of January.
Over all he has gone from having a severe receptive speech delay, to having a moderate one, which is great. And his responsive language has gone from severe to normal. So, although he still obviously has speech and language delays, he has improved quite a lot, so we did the happy dance that day. He is a hard little worker, and we are very proud of him.
I'm starting now to get paranoid about Ty's lack of speech progress. He has some words (Daddy, Grandpa, Opa, Keegan, go, down, up, no, yes, moo, woof, meow) but that's about it.They say that between 18-22 months, they gain 10 new words every 90 minutes. I don't see that happening, unless he's just filing them away for future use...going to ask the doctor next week.
Phoenix is doing great. He has learned his phone # and address, and this Saturday is his belt ceremony for Karate, where he will be getting his first coloured belt.
I can't think of any other news right now. I have to go put an extremely crabby toddler down for a nap.
Later taters!
I went to the dermatologist yesterday about my creepy hands, and got a 4-step treatment plan to combat my eczema. (An interesting fact: eczema is an autoimmune deficiency, where there is something in your blood that attacks your skin. Weird. A daily battle every day, and the war zone was literally in my hands!)
Step 1: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 2: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 3: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 4: Try this cream 4 times a day. (Prevex-B for all who wonder...)
So, taking this advice to heart, I used the cream 3 times yesterday, and wore cotton gloves to bed to avoid scratching, and let Mark handle the kids' bath-time. I am not lying when I say that my hands are 80% better today. I'm am going to use this stuff for a week and then post before and after shots of my hands...
Kiddies are at school, thank God. Keegan was off 3 days last week with a killer cough-due-to-cold, and then Monday, they cancelled his bus due to icy road conditions, so we had had quite enough of each other by then!
Keegan starts part 1 of 5 sessions for his psycho-educational assessment tomorrow. Mark and I met with the Dr last Friday for an information gathering session which took 1 1/2 hours. Now he has to go for testing once a week for 5 weeks to see if he has a cognitive delay or not. Poor guy. Of course, I think I will have the tougher part of the series, which is hanging out in the waiting room, not knowing what is going on.
He also has started sessions with an OT (Occupational Therapist) to work on his sensory and fine motor issues. And continued speech therapy. Oh, news there. He was reassessed at the beginning of January.
Over all he has gone from having a severe receptive speech delay, to having a moderate one, which is great. And his responsive language has gone from severe to normal. So, although he still obviously has speech and language delays, he has improved quite a lot, so we did the happy dance that day. He is a hard little worker, and we are very proud of him.
I'm starting now to get paranoid about Ty's lack of speech progress. He has some words (Daddy, Grandpa, Opa, Keegan, go, down, up, no, yes, moo, woof, meow) but that's about it.They say that between 18-22 months, they gain 10 new words every 90 minutes. I don't see that happening, unless he's just filing them away for future use...going to ask the doctor next week.
Phoenix is doing great. He has learned his phone # and address, and this Saturday is his belt ceremony for Karate, where he will be getting his first coloured belt.
I can't think of any other news right now. I have to go put an extremely crabby toddler down for a nap.
Later taters!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Brief Crawling-Alongside-Death Update
It seems to me that people are in need of a health update from my corner of hell, so here we go.
Weekend before last: Hmm...I think I'm getting a bladder infection. Last weekend: I really should go to the clinic, this is pretty bad. Tuesday: Honey, I don't care if you are at work, I need to see a doctor and NOW! Was prescribed Macrobid. Tuesday: Oh my God the pain! Tuesday night: Fever tops out at 104.2 F. Wednesday morning: takes 20 minutes to pour my son a bowl of cereal because I keep blacking out and have to sit with my head between my knees. Stand up, blackout, repeat. This happened 9 times. Call my Dad and beg him to come watch my kids because I'm scared I'll drop the toddler on the stairs and kill us both. All day lie in coma on couch. Wednesday night: alternate between 50 blankets and convulsive shivering, and panting and dripping sweat on the back porch. Thursday morning (today): still feel like shite. Feel like barfing all day. Back is killing me. Went to Dr's and he confirmed that infection is no longer lurking in the bladder but is chomping away at my kidney. Apparently Macrobid does nada for kidney infections, which is why I still feel like crap. Gives me new antibiotic. Hope this one works for ya, har har! Bastard! Enjoy your freaking Yucatan Peninsula vacation next week...
Whoa. Run-on paragraph. Tsk tsk...
Sorry, but I can't update you on any other exciting family developments. It hurts my back to sit too long. Thanks for stopping by. And Jenny, I feel your pain, sista!
Weekend before last: Hmm...I think I'm getting a bladder infection. Last weekend: I really should go to the clinic, this is pretty bad. Tuesday: Honey, I don't care if you are at work, I need to see a doctor and NOW! Was prescribed Macrobid. Tuesday: Oh my God the pain! Tuesday night: Fever tops out at 104.2 F. Wednesday morning: takes 20 minutes to pour my son a bowl of cereal because I keep blacking out and have to sit with my head between my knees. Stand up, blackout, repeat. This happened 9 times. Call my Dad and beg him to come watch my kids because I'm scared I'll drop the toddler on the stairs and kill us both. All day lie in coma on couch. Wednesday night: alternate between 50 blankets and convulsive shivering, and panting and dripping sweat on the back porch. Thursday morning (today): still feel like shite. Feel like barfing all day. Back is killing me. Went to Dr's and he confirmed that infection is no longer lurking in the bladder but is chomping away at my kidney. Apparently Macrobid does nada for kidney infections, which is why I still feel like crap. Gives me new antibiotic. Hope this one works for ya, har har! Bastard! Enjoy your freaking Yucatan Peninsula vacation next week...
Whoa. Run-on paragraph. Tsk tsk...
Sorry, but I can't update you on any other exciting family developments. It hurts my back to sit too long. Thanks for stopping by. And Jenny, I feel your pain, sista!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Some Things You Just Shouldn't Ignore
I have come to learn that there are certain medical ailments that you really should not ignore, or in my case, pray nightly that they will go away on their own...like ear aches...things that look green...day 123 of a cough...bladder infections...
Oh, no. Do not, DO NOT ignore the bladder infection. No matter how much cran-cocktail you swig, it will not go away unaided. In fact, I have found that after a week and a half, the excruciating pain of the undrained bladder, coupled with the pain of where-did-that-horse-come-from-that-kicked-me-in-the-back that signals a migration of said bladder infection to the kidney, is enough to send even the toughest of see-no-evil women into weepy sobs of uncontrollable misery.
That is me. Weepy. Sobbing. Uncontrollable. MISERY.
I felt better after 3 1/2 hours of pushing a child into this world than I do now, and the pain is worse. Pray to the patron saint of internal organs, whoever he or she may be. My back hurts too much right now to Google the info.
Ouch! (sniff......)
Oh, no. Do not, DO NOT ignore the bladder infection. No matter how much cran-cocktail you swig, it will not go away unaided. In fact, I have found that after a week and a half, the excruciating pain of the undrained bladder, coupled with the pain of where-did-that-horse-come-from-that-kicked-me-in-the-back that signals a migration of said bladder infection to the kidney, is enough to send even the toughest of see-no-evil women into weepy sobs of uncontrollable misery.
That is me. Weepy. Sobbing. Uncontrollable. MISERY.
I felt better after 3 1/2 hours of pushing a child into this world than I do now, and the pain is worse. Pray to the patron saint of internal organs, whoever he or she may be. My back hurts too much right now to Google the info.
Ouch! (sniff......)
Friday, January 05, 2007
Pros and Cons of Literacy
My son Phoenix has learned to read. This is a great thing. As you know, I am an avid reader, and I so want my boys to enjoy reading. (Although getting him to read a BOOK is still like bamboo shoots under the fingernails for him...).
I love watching him find words on things around the house, and listening to him sound them out letter by letter, and then seeing the triumphant look on his face when he shouts out the word correctly. I remember that feeling; the joy of discovery! A new world out there to explore.
Then there are the words you don't want him to read. Like brick wall graffiti... "What does FFFFFF uuuuuuuuuuuu CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC kkkkkkkk, FUCK mean, Mom?" That sort of thing.
I remember going up to my mom and saying to her, "What does naked (pronouncing it like caked) mean?" "Oh, you mean naked...where did you see that word?" "Right here in the paper. "5 year old boy's body found naked under the overpass". What's an overpass?" And being puzzled as my mom grabbed the Toronto Sun out of my grasp and handed me a Curious George book to practice my reading on instead.
Now I understand. A whole new era, of trying to protect your kids for as long as you can from the evils of the world, now only in written form. God help me if he ever discovers this BLOG!
*********************************************************************************
In other news, I took Keegs yesterday for a speech reassessment. He did very well. He does still have some obvious receptive language issues (he still doesn't understand how or why questions, for example) but in other areas he has improved remarkably since his first assessment back in April of 2006. I will update on his actual results when they get sent to me, but his speech pathologist seemed very happy with his progress to date, as am I.
I am taking Ty back to the allergist next week to get tested for the MMR vaccine to see if he reacts to the amount of egg protein in it. On Friday, Mark and I have to meet with the psychologist who will be administering Keegan's psycho-educational assessment test. We have been told that our meeting with her will be about 1 1/2 hours, and that's just to give background information about him since he took his first breath. I did write milestones down, but kripes, some of the things I'm supposed to remember are crazy. When did he first reach for an object? Hell if I know. If you know these things about your own kids, congratu-freakin-lations!
The week after that, I am finally going to see a dermatolgist about my creepy hands. Which will probably result in another $300000000000 in prescription charges that my piece of crap medical insurance won't cover, as usual. Bloody Blue Cross!
Just finished reading a great book. It's called "Bloodletting and other Miraculous Cures" by Vincent Lam. He won the Giller Prize for this book, and deserved it. It was a really good read. Right now I'm reading "Lullabies for Little Criminals" by Heather O'Neill. It's great so far too.
In a moment of childhood nostalgia, I decided that I wanted to read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I had read Little House In the Big Woods and Little House on the Prarie when I was about 8 or 9, but hadn't realized how many others there were. And since we are on season 6 of watching the tv show, I wanted to read them all. These books are great for all ages, but I would definitely recommend that you buy this series for your daughter if you are blessed with one. Nice wholesome reading, and full of interesting pioneer knowledge.
Well, that's it for book corner. Time to put the kiddies to bed.
Nighty-night.
I love watching him find words on things around the house, and listening to him sound them out letter by letter, and then seeing the triumphant look on his face when he shouts out the word correctly. I remember that feeling; the joy of discovery! A new world out there to explore.
Then there are the words you don't want him to read. Like brick wall graffiti... "What does FFFFFF uuuuuuuuuuuu CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC kkkkkkkk, FUCK mean, Mom?" That sort of thing.
I remember going up to my mom and saying to her, "What does naked (pronouncing it like caked) mean?" "Oh, you mean naked...where did you see that word?" "Right here in the paper. "5 year old boy's body found naked under the overpass". What's an overpass?" And being puzzled as my mom grabbed the Toronto Sun out of my grasp and handed me a Curious George book to practice my reading on instead.
Now I understand. A whole new era, of trying to protect your kids for as long as you can from the evils of the world, now only in written form. God help me if he ever discovers this BLOG!
*********************************************************************************
In other news, I took Keegs yesterday for a speech reassessment. He did very well. He does still have some obvious receptive language issues (he still doesn't understand how or why questions, for example) but in other areas he has improved remarkably since his first assessment back in April of 2006. I will update on his actual results when they get sent to me, but his speech pathologist seemed very happy with his progress to date, as am I.
I am taking Ty back to the allergist next week to get tested for the MMR vaccine to see if he reacts to the amount of egg protein in it. On Friday, Mark and I have to meet with the psychologist who will be administering Keegan's psycho-educational assessment test. We have been told that our meeting with her will be about 1 1/2 hours, and that's just to give background information about him since he took his first breath. I did write milestones down, but kripes, some of the things I'm supposed to remember are crazy. When did he first reach for an object? Hell if I know. If you know these things about your own kids, congratu-freakin-lations!
The week after that, I am finally going to see a dermatolgist about my creepy hands. Which will probably result in another $300000000000 in prescription charges that my piece of crap medical insurance won't cover, as usual. Bloody Blue Cross!
Just finished reading a great book. It's called "Bloodletting and other Miraculous Cures" by Vincent Lam. He won the Giller Prize for this book, and deserved it. It was a really good read. Right now I'm reading "Lullabies for Little Criminals" by Heather O'Neill. It's great so far too.
In a moment of childhood nostalgia, I decided that I wanted to read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I had read Little House In the Big Woods and Little House on the Prarie when I was about 8 or 9, but hadn't realized how many others there were. And since we are on season 6 of watching the tv show, I wanted to read them all. These books are great for all ages, but I would definitely recommend that you buy this series for your daughter if you are blessed with one. Nice wholesome reading, and full of interesting pioneer knowledge.
Well, that's it for book corner. Time to put the kiddies to bed.
Nighty-night.
Monday, January 01, 2007
I'm Not As Think As You Drunk I Am
Happy New Year!
One chocolate martini. 3 Kamikazis. That equals one drunk Shannon...
fjdsjfkw4ibgthi4ol t4hiou2hb4oiw vcjfeiwk fvht4o ht4oi vh4iouth bth4o bht4o bhgruh vvvvv,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Kripes. Passed out on the keyboard. Can't feel fingers. Must find bed.
And bucket.
God, I'm such a cheap drunk....
To my credit, for the past 6 New Year's Eve's, I've either been pregnant or nursing, so my alcohol tolerance is extremely low...
Have you ever had your back fall asleep? That's the place I'm in right now.
Is it wrong that it took me twelve attempts to write the title of this post?
One chocolate martini. 3 Kamikazis. That equals one drunk Shannon...
fjdsjfkw4ibgthi4ol t4hiou2hb4oiw vcjfeiwk fvht4o ht4oi vh4iouth bth4o bht4o bhgruh vvvvv,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Kripes. Passed out on the keyboard. Can't feel fingers. Must find bed.
And bucket.
God, I'm such a cheap drunk....
To my credit, for the past 6 New Year's Eve's, I've either been pregnant or nursing, so my alcohol tolerance is extremely low...
Have you ever had your back fall asleep? That's the place I'm in right now.
Is it wrong that it took me twelve attempts to write the title of this post?
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry, Happy, Cheery, Best
Happy Holidays everyone! Merry Christmas to you today. I sit at the computer eating a mid-morning snack of holiday goodies, like fudge, sweet marie bars, mudpies...yeah, baby. It's all good.
Had the big in-law dinner here last night. It was great. The kids were wonderful and had a great time. Ty lasted until 8:30, just long enough to open his presents and pass out. The other boys were up until about 10:30, but the nice part is, they slept in until 8:00 am this morning!
So yesterday was part one. Part two was the Santa presents this morning, and part three is this afternoon when Grandpa (my dad) and Uncles Mike and Paul arrive for another present opening-frenzy. (Part four is tomorrow when Uncle Tom and family arrive).
Kids got very spoiled. Lots of nice new clothes to wear. They all decided to wear their fuzzy warm tracksuits today. (Most likely because when it got so hot in the house last night, we turned off the furnace, then forgot to turn it back on before bed and woke up with icicles in our nostrils this morning!)
I hope you are all having a nice holiday and are enjoying your time with friends and family. To you and yours from me and mine, we wish you the best holiday ever!
Shannon-Claus
Had the big in-law dinner here last night. It was great. The kids were wonderful and had a great time. Ty lasted until 8:30, just long enough to open his presents and pass out. The other boys were up until about 10:30, but the nice part is, they slept in until 8:00 am this morning!
So yesterday was part one. Part two was the Santa presents this morning, and part three is this afternoon when Grandpa (my dad) and Uncles Mike and Paul arrive for another present opening-frenzy. (Part four is tomorrow when Uncle Tom and family arrive).
Kids got very spoiled. Lots of nice new clothes to wear. They all decided to wear their fuzzy warm tracksuits today. (Most likely because when it got so hot in the house last night, we turned off the furnace, then forgot to turn it back on before bed and woke up with icicles in our nostrils this morning!)
I hope you are all having a nice holiday and are enjoying your time with friends and family. To you and yours from me and mine, we wish you the best holiday ever!
Shannon-Claus
Saturday, December 23, 2006
'Tis The Season To Be Busy
Today was the official start to holiday busy-ness. This morning we bathed the kiddies, gelled their hair into submission and spruced ourselves up and made the trek out to Brooklin to my cousin Cyndi's house.
She put on a great spread of appetizer munchies including stuffed mushrooms, crab pastries, breaded wings, skewered BBQ pork, shrimp, veggies and the list goes on. It was all very yummy. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. I promised them that they could open their cousin Christmas gifts after dinner. They were so excited. (Except Ty. He was just tired).
Phoenix got a cool Hot Wheels set, which he was extremely happy about, and Keegan was ecstatic about his gift, which was a set of three Thomas books, plus the stories on CD, a McQueen/Mater t-shirt and a McQueen baseball hat. He insisted on wearing both the t-shirt and hat to bed. Cute. He is so excited about Christmas this year. He got out of bed 300 times tonight to sneak down and gaze at the tree lights and ponder over the presents surrounding the tree. Ty got new pants and two great shirts to match. (Thank you cousins!)
Mark is feeling like crapola tonight and has retired to the couch to convalesce. He is now sipping gingerale and watching the Sound of Music. Me? Well, no rest for the weary. After the kids went to bed, I started the laundry, and am now on load three. I got out all of my Christmas linen and set the table in the dining room with the good china and wedding silver and crystal stemware. I found and washed all of the serving dishes for the desserts. Did the prep work for the dessert I am making tomorrow morning (Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake). Cleaned the downstairs bathroom. Swiffered the basement floor. Tidied the toy room in preparation for vaccuuming tomorrow. Got together 3 last-minute Christmas gifts and now I have to go wrap them and fold the next load of laundry. Whew!
Thank God that last night I was able to escape for a few hours and run away to the hairdresser. Man was THAT a necessary appointment! I had such a skunk-stripe happening that I was "this" close to committing barbacide!
That being said, off to do a few more chores, then I am going to collapse for a few hours before it all begins anew. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, good night!
She put on a great spread of appetizer munchies including stuffed mushrooms, crab pastries, breaded wings, skewered BBQ pork, shrimp, veggies and the list goes on. It was all very yummy. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. I promised them that they could open their cousin Christmas gifts after dinner. They were so excited. (Except Ty. He was just tired).
Phoenix got a cool Hot Wheels set, which he was extremely happy about, and Keegan was ecstatic about his gift, which was a set of three Thomas books, plus the stories on CD, a McQueen/Mater t-shirt and a McQueen baseball hat. He insisted on wearing both the t-shirt and hat to bed. Cute. He is so excited about Christmas this year. He got out of bed 300 times tonight to sneak down and gaze at the tree lights and ponder over the presents surrounding the tree. Ty got new pants and two great shirts to match. (Thank you cousins!)
Mark is feeling like crapola tonight and has retired to the couch to convalesce. He is now sipping gingerale and watching the Sound of Music. Me? Well, no rest for the weary. After the kids went to bed, I started the laundry, and am now on load three. I got out all of my Christmas linen and set the table in the dining room with the good china and wedding silver and crystal stemware. I found and washed all of the serving dishes for the desserts. Did the prep work for the dessert I am making tomorrow morning (Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake). Cleaned the downstairs bathroom. Swiffered the basement floor. Tidied the toy room in preparation for vaccuuming tomorrow. Got together 3 last-minute Christmas gifts and now I have to go wrap them and fold the next load of laundry. Whew!
Thank God that last night I was able to escape for a few hours and run away to the hairdresser. Man was THAT a necessary appointment! I had such a skunk-stripe happening that I was "this" close to committing barbacide!
That being said, off to do a few more chores, then I am going to collapse for a few hours before it all begins anew. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, good night!
Friday, December 22, 2006
When Good Parenting Bites You In The Ass
One of the things I love best about Christmas is the Santa-threat factor. If used properly, a parent can use the Santa-threat for up to 6 weeks leading to Christmas. For example:
"That's fine, boys. Don't go to bed. But Santa is watching you. He's always watching you. And if you don't go to bed right now, he's going to put your name on the naughty list, and all you will get on Christmas morning is a lump of coal in your stocking!" (Cue children running like hell to get in bed before Santa edits his naughty/nice list).
However, I had a shocking thing happen to me last night. My perfect and awe-inspiring parenting skills (snigger...) came whipping around to bite me in the ass. After delivering the Santa-threat to Phoenix when he kept getting out of bed, Phoenix says to me, "Mom, it doesn't matter if Santa doesn't bring me anything on Christmas morning. Christmas isn't about presents. It's about being with your family and loved ones."
KRIPES...
So what do I do to shore up the crumbling wall of perfect parenthood? Do I hug him in the joy of his having learned a very important moral message in this season of commercialism and greed? Nope. What I said, albeit sweetly, was this: "That's wonderful Phoenix. I am glad that you will have the comfort and joy of your family and loved ones. I hope that makes you happy as we are all sitting there opening our presents from Santa, because we were good, and stayed in bed when we were supposed to."
Chalk it up to stress, bah-humbugism, or what have you. I admit, sometimes my sarcasm gets the better of me, as countless friends and family will attest to (no comments from you, Leanne!) I should know better than to unleash it on a helpless child. My excuse is that I am a Scorpio, and a bit of a bitch. So I just can't help it. Plus I read somewhere that children that were not breast-fed as babies (as I was not) are sarcastic due to lack of oral gratification as infants. So there.
But as I lay in bed last night, I did feel a tiny glow. That when all was said and done, I must be doing something right, if beneath all the gimmee-gimmee of the season, my son knew what was important. And he learned it from me.
PS. He got the good-boy hug and kiss this morning...
"That's fine, boys. Don't go to bed. But Santa is watching you. He's always watching you. And if you don't go to bed right now, he's going to put your name on the naughty list, and all you will get on Christmas morning is a lump of coal in your stocking!" (Cue children running like hell to get in bed before Santa edits his naughty/nice list).
However, I had a shocking thing happen to me last night. My perfect and awe-inspiring parenting skills (snigger...) came whipping around to bite me in the ass. After delivering the Santa-threat to Phoenix when he kept getting out of bed, Phoenix says to me, "Mom, it doesn't matter if Santa doesn't bring me anything on Christmas morning. Christmas isn't about presents. It's about being with your family and loved ones."
KRIPES...
So what do I do to shore up the crumbling wall of perfect parenthood? Do I hug him in the joy of his having learned a very important moral message in this season of commercialism and greed? Nope. What I said, albeit sweetly, was this: "That's wonderful Phoenix. I am glad that you will have the comfort and joy of your family and loved ones. I hope that makes you happy as we are all sitting there opening our presents from Santa, because we were good, and stayed in bed when we were supposed to."
Chalk it up to stress, bah-humbugism, or what have you. I admit, sometimes my sarcasm gets the better of me, as countless friends and family will attest to (no comments from you, Leanne!) I should know better than to unleash it on a helpless child. My excuse is that I am a Scorpio, and a bit of a bitch. So I just can't help it. Plus I read somewhere that children that were not breast-fed as babies (as I was not) are sarcastic due to lack of oral gratification as infants. So there.
But as I lay in bed last night, I did feel a tiny glow. That when all was said and done, I must be doing something right, if beneath all the gimmee-gimmee of the season, my son knew what was important. And he learned it from me.
PS. He got the good-boy hug and kiss this morning...
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Do You Have Someone Missing At Christmas?
I heard a song on the radio today, strangely enough while I was thinking of my Mom, and how much I miss her at this time of year. As much as she complained about the stress of pulling the day together, she loved it, and always made the day so special for us, both as children and as adults. The song was called, "Someone Is Missing At Christmas", by Anne Cochran. I heard it at lunch as I was feeding Ty, and balled my eyes out. I just had to share the lyrics with you. If I was more blogger savvy, I would provide an audio link, but as I sadly, am not, here are the words. Grab a tissue:
Someone is missing at Christmas
Someone I loved all my life
Someone I played with and laughed all night long
Someone I think of when I hear that song
Someone is missing at Christmas
Someone has left me alone
Someone so close even though we’re apart
Someone who’d finished the sentence I’d start
Someone whose love is my favorite gift
Someone whose presence is my Christmas wish
Someone who always was here
Someone is missing this year
Candlelit snapshots of Christmases gone by
You in your favorite chair
Memories like snowflakes melt in my eyes
I look and you’re not sitting there
Someone whose love is my favorite gift
Someone whose presence is my Christmas wish
Someone is missing at Christmas
Wait… someone is touching my heart…
Someone has heard me and answered my call
Someone I love is not missing at all
Someone is with me at Christmas
Someone’s right here in my heart
Someone I love is with me this Christmas
And will be each Christmas to come!
******************************************************************************
Sigh....I miss my Mom. But you know, the song is true for me. I know that she is touching my heart, and will be with me this Christmas and each Christmas to come.
Someone is missing at Christmas
Someone I loved all my life
Someone I played with and laughed all night long
Someone I think of when I hear that song
Someone is missing at Christmas
Someone has left me alone
Someone so close even though we’re apart
Someone who’d finished the sentence I’d start
Someone whose love is my favorite gift
Someone whose presence is my Christmas wish
Someone who always was here
Someone is missing this year
Candlelit snapshots of Christmases gone by
You in your favorite chair
Memories like snowflakes melt in my eyes
I look and you’re not sitting there
Someone whose love is my favorite gift
Someone whose presence is my Christmas wish
Someone is missing at Christmas
Wait… someone is touching my heart…
Someone has heard me and answered my call
Someone I love is not missing at all
Someone is with me at Christmas
Someone’s right here in my heart
Someone I love is with me this Christmas
And will be each Christmas to come!
******************************************************************************
Sigh....I miss my Mom. But you know, the song is true for me. I know that she is touching my heart, and will be with me this Christmas and each Christmas to come.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Move Over Betty Crocker
Today was Christmas baking day, part one. I made Toblerone fudge (okay), Score-bit shortbread (yum!), mocha butter balls (dee-lish) and Jello cookies (surprisingly good). My back is on fire from standing at the table all day.
I still have more stuff to make, but I'm going to spread it out through the week. I will be making Score Bars, chocolate/raspberry jam bars, and for Christmas dinner dessert, a Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake. Spent $70 today on baking supplies. Kripes! It's the butter that does me in. Time to buy our own cow. Just think of the money we'd save on whole milk alone!
Still haven't found a present for my Dad, but I have an idea now, thanks to my cousin. He occasionally reads this blog, so I won't spoil it for him here, but I think he'll like it.
Tomorrow is the church Christmas kids pageant. Phoenix and Keegan are dressing up as shepherds. I will post pictures after the event. I will be happy when it is over and I don't have to listen to Keegs singing at the top of his lungs, "GO! Tell it on the MOUNtain!"
It is a very busy week coming up.
Tuesday, I have to take Bun to the dr's for a checkup, and to pick up a vaccine sample to bring back to the allergist for Ty. Also, in the morning, one of the moms in Bun's class is having a seasonal tea party for fellow-moms, so I might go to that. Wednesday morning, my friend Christy is hosting a kaffee-klatch for the Healthy Snack Program moms, and since I contribute in a teeny way by writing a blurb about food in the Parent Council Newletter, I get to go to that too. Wednesday night is Phoenix's school Christmas concert, so we have that to attend, and Friday morning is Keegan's concert. After that, Mark's office is having a little lunch thing, and since Phoenix's class has early dismissal that day, we'll go to that, then later, I'm getting my hair done (YAY!). Saturday, we are off to Brooklin to my cousin Cyndi's house for some Christmas cheer, and then Sunday is Christmas Eve. Mark and I are hosting dinner for his family (as they do the big present/dinner thing on the 24th every year and his sister and I trade houses for the event every year and this year is my turn). Christmas Day, we are having my Dad and my brothers Mike and Paul over for dinner, and on Boxing Day, we are having the same crew plus my brother Tommy and his family over for brunch. Whew!
Wow. Holy run-on paragraph, Batman! (Ha, I just typed Barman by mistake. God telling me I need a drink, I think).
Anyway, I'm tired and my back is giving out, so I think I'll go curl up with my book and the heating pad and then go to bed. How are your holiday preparations going? Busy week for you too? Drop me a line, give me some competition for busy-ness...
I still have more stuff to make, but I'm going to spread it out through the week. I will be making Score Bars, chocolate/raspberry jam bars, and for Christmas dinner dessert, a Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake. Spent $70 today on baking supplies. Kripes! It's the butter that does me in. Time to buy our own cow. Just think of the money we'd save on whole milk alone!
Still haven't found a present for my Dad, but I have an idea now, thanks to my cousin. He occasionally reads this blog, so I won't spoil it for him here, but I think he'll like it.
Tomorrow is the church Christmas kids pageant. Phoenix and Keegan are dressing up as shepherds. I will post pictures after the event. I will be happy when it is over and I don't have to listen to Keegs singing at the top of his lungs, "GO! Tell it on the MOUNtain!"
It is a very busy week coming up.
Tuesday, I have to take Bun to the dr's for a checkup, and to pick up a vaccine sample to bring back to the allergist for Ty. Also, in the morning, one of the moms in Bun's class is having a seasonal tea party for fellow-moms, so I might go to that. Wednesday morning, my friend Christy is hosting a kaffee-klatch for the Healthy Snack Program moms, and since I contribute in a teeny way by writing a blurb about food in the Parent Council Newletter, I get to go to that too. Wednesday night is Phoenix's school Christmas concert, so we have that to attend, and Friday morning is Keegan's concert. After that, Mark's office is having a little lunch thing, and since Phoenix's class has early dismissal that day, we'll go to that, then later, I'm getting my hair done (YAY!). Saturday, we are off to Brooklin to my cousin Cyndi's house for some Christmas cheer, and then Sunday is Christmas Eve. Mark and I are hosting dinner for his family (as they do the big present/dinner thing on the 24th every year and his sister and I trade houses for the event every year and this year is my turn). Christmas Day, we are having my Dad and my brothers Mike and Paul over for dinner, and on Boxing Day, we are having the same crew plus my brother Tommy and his family over for brunch. Whew!
Wow. Holy run-on paragraph, Batman! (Ha, I just typed Barman by mistake. God telling me I need a drink, I think).
Anyway, I'm tired and my back is giving out, so I think I'll go curl up with my book and the heating pad and then go to bed. How are your holiday preparations going? Busy week for you too? Drop me a line, give me some competition for busy-ness...
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