Quote of the day

I don't care if there is hot lava on the floor, don't climb on the train table.

 

 

(As Trey pointed out, only a mother would say something like that.)

 

 

Locks of Love

Yesterday was a big day for Monkey.

  

Last year, Monkey decided she wanted to give her hair to Locks of Love.  Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hair pieces to children suffering from long term medical hair loss.   Her hair was already long, but she wanted to make sure that when she cut her hair, it wouldn't be "super-short,"  so we've been letting it grow on it's own for about 6 months or so.

 

We decided that spring would be the perfect time to cut her hair because then it would be short for summer.  She's been very excited about the whole process and telling people she was going to give her hair away to Locks of Love.  We've even wondered about the child that might get her hair.

 

She has been asking me for weeks starting at the end of February, "When are we going to get my hair cut?"  Soon, just a few weeks away.  Then this week she was ready.  And on April Fool's day, too!  So we went to my hairdresser yesterday afternoon after school.  Luckily, I still had a few minutes from picking her up because I had forgotten my camera.  This was something I had to document for myself and family, so I rushed home, grabbed it,  then went to the salon.

 

 

First, her hair had to be measured.  A minimum of 10" is required to donate and she had just enough.

 

 

 

Then her hair is braided and secured on both ends.

 

 

 

The cutting began.  Yes, this tore at my heart just a little because Monkey had beautiful, long, free-spirit hair and I loved it.  But I'm very proud of her for doing this.

 

 

 

Her pretty braid, ready to be sent to Locks of Love.

 

 

And her final "new 'do!"  No more free-spirit hair, just spunky six-year-old hair, and it totally suits her.

 

Oh, and while I was cleaning the junk out of my car yesterday afternoon (again!), Monkey was practicing on her bike and she started, rode and stopped all on her own, three times, I think.

 

Yes, yesterday was a big day for us.

 

 

Nightmares

Monkey woke me up last night when she had a nightmare.  It was, I dunno, around 2 am.  When I heard her feet shuffling in (and felt the cat scatter away from her sleeping spot) I figured it was Little Man, but no, it was Monkey.  She asked if I'd get into bed with her and since it's been a long time since she'd asked, I said OK.  But just for a little while.  My kidneys tend to get bruised when we actually sleep in the same bed.  I'm still recovering from our week of visiting family.

 

Anyway, it got me to thinking.  What do children have nightmares about?  Not enough cake at the birthday party so they don't get a slice?  A bully at school?  I never ask Monkey what her nightmares are because I don't want them to linger in her mind any more than they already do.  And remembering dreams is so difficult anyway.

 

But, still, I wonder.

 

She's in a stable home, she has loving parents, clothes, food, toys out the wazoo, a pesky brother.  From my perspective, anyway, her life seems pretty good, so what would she have to be afraid of?  I'm not naive enough to think that all children are this lucky.  I'm know that there are children all over this world that have legitimate nightmares and may possibly be living those nightmares out.  That is terrible and a whole other topic.  It's not my intent to travel down that road first thing this morning. 

 

I remember having nightmares as a kid.  I had a recurring one that was, in hindsight more strange than scary, and had to do with being stuck on the furniture because the floor was hot lava with some big monster chasing me and I had to jump from couch to chair to steamer trunk to get away.  Yes, I was a creative child.

 

Monkey is a creative child, too.  So what does her vivid imagination create for her at night that scares her?  I don't know, but I'm glad she still comes to get me.

 

Life's interruptions

I have a few minutes to catch up on my blog.  Let's see... I took Little Man to the doctor last week and found that he has a double ear infection.  Oh.... hang on.... the phone is ringing.

 

 

Ok, now I'm back.  As I was saying, Little Man has an ear infection.  He kept complaining about bugs in his ears.  Yeah, I have creative children.  Oops.... there goes the door.

 

 

I'm back.  Anyway, he's doing much better these days.  Now if only I can remember to give him his medicine twice a day!  I've also been getting things ready for this big consignment sale this week.  I just dropped a van-full of toys and clothes to the sale yesterday and the presale starts tomorrow.  Oh, crap.  I can't finish this now, I have to type up something for the PTA.  Back later.

 

 

Well, that's done.  As I was saying, I have things in this big sale.  Last fall, when I participated, I think I made about $250-$300 from it.  I can't remember exactly, because I use that same money for buying clothes and things for the kids during the year.  I'm hoping for a good sale this time around, too.   I've also been spending a lot of time researching materials for home schooling next year.  Monkey and I are both excited about it.  Right now, I'm focusing on Science and History.  You'd be amazed at how much information is out there.  Well, I'll have to catch up with this in a while because I have to get some laundry done.

 

 

I only have a minute because now I have to run to the store.  Man, having a blog to keep up is a bit time-consuming.  I just don't know how other people do it.  I follow writers that post daily.  Either I'm too busy or just not that creative.  Anyway, folks, I'll do my best to keep writing.  I hope you'll have patience with me.

 

Sick day

Today we're having a "sick day."  Moms don't usually get sick days, but their kids do.  Little Man got sick yesterday.  I'm not sure with what, but he had a fever when he woke up from his nap and didn't want to eat.

 

My guess is that we were going and going so much last week that his little immune system just got plum tuckered out.  So we gave him some medicine and sent him to bed at his normal time.  We thought he was starting to feel better because he played his normal "get out of bed every 3 minutes" routine before finally going to sleep.

 

Then sometime around 2:00 am, he came to wake me up because his pajamas were wet.  My first groggy thought was his pullups leaked, but he said it was his shirt.  My second guess was water leaked out of his sippy cup.  Then I got a whiff of that harsh acidic smell of vomit.

 

Great.

 

So I get up to check his bed and discover that it's all over his pillow by sticking my hand in it.  It's no fun to stick your hand in cold vomit at two in the morning, just so ya know.  I say a little prayer of thanks that he didn't aspirate on his vomit while sleeping and, with one eye open (which is probably why I stuck my hand in vomit), I got his clothes and his bed linens changed.  I then got him more medicine because I noticed while changing him how hot his little body was and sent him back to bed, again with prayers that he wouldn't get sick again. 

 

He slept through the rest of the night.  He hasn't been vomiting again, but he still had his fever when he fell asleep on our bed this morning.  He's since been moved to his bed and he's still sleeping.

 

Oh, and I have a headache and a sore throat.  Gee, it's good to be home.

 

 

Hello world.  I have about 40 minutes left to complete this post and catch up on my reader from Sunday morning, which means there are probably 235 more entries that I won't get to read before the night is done.  You see, people, I'm visiting family and we're staying with my uncle who is still in the ... ummm ... pre-computer age?  I don't even know which decade to fill in there, but he has no computer, thus no internet. 

 

Do you have any idea how strange and frustrating it is to not have access to the internet?  I had to resort to using a phone book for goodness sakes!  And actually CALLING someone to get directions to their location, find out how much admission is, and so forth.  Wait, I think I may have lost some of you.  We're visiting family, which means we're also in a house that doesn't have anything to keep a 6 and a 3 year old entertained but the TV.  Not to mention the family driving in to visit and bringing twin 4 year old cousins to see Monkey and Little Man.

 

Thank goodness dear ol' mom had a crack-I mean-Blackberry, so that I could sorta google indoor play for children in the city where we are.  I was able to at least get a name and a number of a bounce house, although the number on the webpage wasn't the right one.  Hence, needing the phonebook.  Since I'm not all that familiar with using her blackberry, I just called the location to verify what little info I was able to get from mom's phone and get directions and such.  

 

I decided to go early to the bounce house because it was 9:30 am and I was already being driven crazy by the boy.  I grabbed my laptop on a whim and guess what?  They had Wi-Fi there!  YIPPEE!  Only, I couldn't get it to hook up to the computer right.  I still don't know what happened but it wouldn't work.  Not even on my iTouch.  Bummer.  So after a little while longer we went back to my uncle's to meet Mawmaw and Pawpaw and Aunt Pat (not her real name) who were bringing my nieces. 

 

So after lunch with the family, we went back and stayed until closing.  I'm so glad they were able to make it.  I hadn't seen them since last summer some time and so I was able to talk and catch up with them and Monkey and Little Man had great fun with their cousins and seeing their grandparents and great aunt.  

 

So, it's been more than 24 hours without internet.  Thankfully, the kids, after today's running and jumping, went to bed and I was able to escape to the local library.  I owe Hayden big time for pointing me in the right direction (thanks, girl!!).  So, while I'm able to update on my blog, time is running out and I'm having to divide my time between this, facebook, twitter and homeschool research.  I'm not sure how much time I'll have for any of these things.

 

Isn't it amazing how much we have come to rely on the internet?  Not necessarily for social stuff like social network sites and blogs, but for simple things like finding something to do or getting directions to a certain place.  I was shocked, and a little ashamed, that I was so lost without internet access today when I was trying to think of something to do on a rainy day.  I admit, I'm an internet junky.  This week just goes to show me how much I've come to depend on it.  I follow my friends on social network sites, read status updates and blogs and use it for simple information retrieval.

 

So, could you go without the internet?  And for how long?  Well, I have to go.  They're kicking the library patrons out - it's closing time....  (oh, and Hayden, when I have more time, I'll come back and link to you ;) ).

 

Decisions...

I have a decision to make.  It's not an easy one but it's one that thousands of people face.

 

I have an old dog.  She's 14 and a half years old which is very old for her size and breed.  She has something going on with her hip and she doesn't bear much weight on her right hind leg.  X-rays would be too expensive and would only serve to confirm that she has a problem.  Even if it was "fixable" through surgery, I would not put her through that.  She's just too old.  

 

She's on medication for the pain now, and I do notice a difference.  She's more comfortable and a little more like herself, although she still has an obvious limp.  So while the medicine may be helping, it's not getting rid of the pain altogether. 

 

The problem I'm having with all this is that I would like to know what's actually going on inside her hip.  Is it cancer?  Is it arthritis?  Is there a bone spur?  What is it?  Knowing what it is isn't really going to solve the problem, as I said before.  It's just that I want to KNOW.  I want to know if it's cancer or arthritis.  But that would just be satisfying my own curiosity.  It wouldn't really help her.  My knowing what's causing the problem isn't going to fix the problem.

 

So we're in a holding pattern now, giving her medicine to help her stay comfortable and less painful.  She's still getting excited about eating, so I know she's feeling better, but at what point am I medicating her for me?  Where is the line that delineates my wishful thinking and her quality of life?  At what point will I KNOW that she's ready to go chase bunnies in the sky?

 

I'll be gone for the next week, visiting family (so I may not be here often) and she isn't coming with me and the kids.  She's hanging out here with Trey and the puppy - who still irritates the snot out of her - so I'm hoping she'll be able to maintain until I get back.  The last time I left town for a long trip without Trey, our very old cat died.  That's not setting a good precedent.

 

But still, having that decision hanging over my head.... It's no fun.