i was hanging out with my girl tonight while she had a relaxing spa time in the bathroom. she'd eaten a bunch of sugar because it's chris' birthday so of course there was cake. and starbursts. it made for a very chatty half hour and for once she wasn't talking about her toys or favorite computer games. she was talking about puberty and when she'll be old enough to shave her legs and things she wants to do in her life. she asked me what things i wanted to do when i was a kid that my parents wouldn't let me do.
well, that list was pretty much endless, so i just picked a few. one thing i told her that i'd wished to do when i was a teenager was to go on dates with boys. she looked surprised and asked why they wouldn't let me date. i told her that they didn't trust the boys to behave themselves.
i debated on whether it would be appropriate to explain any further, but before i said anything else, she shook her head and with a knowing look said, "they were afraid the boys would bring chainsaws and cacti, weren't they? those teenage boys can be very irresponsible with chainsaws and break delicate things like clocks or even your arm!"
and once again, she was my sweet, naive ball of childhood innocence. i'm so glad.
you know how we all like to say, "nobody's perfect" and "everybody makes mistakes"? (i'm hearing the hannah montana song in my head now) it seems easier to apply that standard to ourselves than to others and their mistakes, doesn't it?
i've had an abundance of screw ups in my life and i generally accept them as lessons learned and not to be repeated.
like the time i went out of town for the weekend. brooke and i were at a rest area for a quick piddle when she looked quizzically at my feet and said, "mommy, one of your shoes is brown and the other one is black." she was right. and i learned not to get dressed in the dark, particularly when going out of town with no extra shoes. no more punky brewster moments for me.
or the time when the wee one was still a baby sitting in a car seat. i took her seat (with her in it) out of the car, set it on the garage floor, picked up the various bags and whatnot that every mom carries around and then closed the car door. except that it didn't close. because i'd set brooke's seat too close to the car door and the bottom of the door banged into her forehead. causing screaming and a bruise. thank goodness she was too little to talk because i wouldn't have been thrilled with her telling people, in response to the question of the bruise's origin, that "mommy hit my head with the car door."
and speaking of accidents involving children who COULD speak, i have another shame filled secret. one that still twists my guts when it comes to mind. when i was 19, i was hired to be a nanny. i'd done loads of babysitting for many different families and i felt that i was ready and capable of caring for 3 sweet little children full time. on my first day there, mom left the house, leaving me to care for her littles. we were playing and having a good time. the kids were crawling around all over me, poking, prodding, asking inappropriate questions, giggling. a good time was being had by all until the 4 year old girl stuck her finger into my open mouth & then yanked it out quickly. i was surprised by the oral invasion, but she thought it was funny and did it again, then laughed when i pretended like i was going to bite her, so we kept playing this game over and over. until one time when she didn't yank her finger out. and i bit her. and drew blood. oh my gosh. i thought my first day was also going to be my last day. i doctored up her little finger, complete with hellokitty bandaid, and prayed that she wouldn't tell her mom that i'd bitten her.
she did, but thankfully that mom was wise enough to know that even good nannies make mistakes, especially when they're only 19 and wearing outfits of all denim.
care to share one of your more memorable mistakes?
we were cruising down the road in vanny, ancient road princess of squealing and chugging. chris is deaf in one ear, so being in vanny is almost guaranteed to cause a relay of "what"-yelling, interpreting, clarifying swarm of irritation for all of us. whining commenced, frustration flared up, brakes were applied enthusiastically as we swerved over the side of the road and threatened to go back home and skip the movie.
i was sitting there, feeling my blood pressure rise, trying to maintain my tentative hold on my composure when i suddenly snarled, "i would rather STICK MY HEAD IN A TOILET than listen to any more of this CRAP!" of course my fellow vanny riders immediately said, "what? what did you say?" because no one can hear each other in our shrieking mystery machine.
that led to a round of "would you rather" which is always sure to lighten the mood.
would you rather.... eat a booger OR drive the wrong way in traffic?
i think i'm going to have to go with the booger on this one. because hospitals and pain are even worse than the shuddering yucks caused by boogers on my tongue.
would you rather... get a tongue kiss on the lips from a dog OR walk around publicly with a big wedgie where the back half of your pants have been eaten by your crack?
i think i'd prefer the dog kiss. i can't stand to feel or see a giant wedgie when i'm out. when someone in front of me has one, i just want to go ask them how they can possibly not feel it & please to dig it out so i can look away from their rump region.
would you rather... step on a big juicy slug with your bare foot OR step in dog poop?
i've actually done both and the slug was much worse. it exploded between my toes and filled my toes with the kind of jam that cannot be washed off for far too long. and i kept having flashbacks of the exploding slug for days afterwards, always causing me to convulse violently. poop can be washed off & leave your foot as good as new once the stench dissipates.
would you rather... go for a swim in a pool filled with worms OR have dinner at the food court of the mall topless?
this one is a bit troublesome for me. i would not AT ALL like to swim with worms, but i don't know if i could stand the staring of dining sans shirt at the mall. maybe if i wore a sign taped on my back skin explaining my predicament about the worms...
would you rather... eat a live hissing cockroach OR get arrested?
can i pick what the arrest would be for? because i think i'd prefer a few hours in jail for jaywalking to consuming a hissing roach. or more likely it would be for the indecent exposure at the mall. maybe i should just suck it up & chow down on that giant beetle. *shivers* ugh.
would you rather... step in a nest of fire ants OR go on a date with an unwashed hobo?
i would have to pick the hobo this time because i could choose an outdoor eating place for our date to improve the smell situation & i'll bet that hobo would have some interesting stories to tell.
what about you guys? got any good "would you rathers"?
a while ago i heard about a thing called a weighted blanket. a friend had asked if i had one for brooke. i didn't even know what it was, but it sounded interesting, so i did a little research. apparently, weighted blankets are good for people with lots of kinds of issues, including autism, restless leg syndrome, ADHD, insomnia & many other things. a lot of special ed classrooms use them or other weighted things (like lap pads, vests, or shoulder drapes) to help kids calm the heck down when they're agitated. it's supposed to create pressure on the body that helps relieve tension and release serotonin, causing happy or calm feelings.
i've never seen anything like this in a store, so i couldn't look at one, but when i mentioned it to brooke, she immediately wanted one. for a few months i've been thinking about what this would look like and how i might make one to use during school or any stressful time.
this weekend i finally broke out my sewing machine that's been packed away, brand new and untouched for 7 years. it took a bit of work & stamina and a liberal dose of mom-wisdom, but i got my machine running. for a few hours anyway.
i decided to use dry popcorn kernels for the filling because it's smooth, cheap and won't rot if it gets wet. i bought 2 cheap baby blankets made out of flannel and sewed them together; then we figured out that the best way to make this thing was to do it with little individual pockets to keep the popcorn from falling all down into one side. we used another thin fabric & created 36 little bags and filled them with a half cup of popcorn each. then i chucked one into each space & sewed it all into place.
it took me two days and some help from my mom and her fabulous, fancy sewing machine since mine crapped out on me before i even got to the hard part. but the end result is fantastic. it weighs eight pounds and is pretty heavy for brooke to even lift or carry, but she LOVES it! she named it oatmeal. she's had it on her in bed each night since i finished it as well as on her lap during school and other times when she's just reading, drawing, or computing.
it doesn't hold heat in, so it's better than covering up with several heavy blankets and it can be used all year round. i'm fairly proud of the way it turned out. plus i only spent $12 to make it as opposed to the $80 or more that it would have cost to purchase. but most of all, i'm happy to have been able to give brooke something that can help her maintain her calm when she really wants to freak the freak out.
i didn't take any pics during the assembly process, but i took a few pictures today. just look at that beautiful stitching!
sometimes homeschooling is great and i don't hate it at all. there are certainly days when i want to shuck that kid off to school & pass her aspie issues to someone else so i can have a break, but so far this school year, we're doing quite well. i've made a lot of changes in how i structure our days and it seems to be working nicely for the brookster. i'm more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person, but she's not & since it's her education we're working on here, i need to be more flexible in accomodating her need for a schedule.
we've had great sucess in keeping the cats close at hand for intermittent "kitty therapy" when brooke starts to feel overwhelmed. it helps to defuse volatile school situations when she can dig her fingers into some warm kitty fur for a minute.
though, sometimes, the cats can be more of a distraction than a help...
i was trying to help her understand fractions a couple days ago and the little manipulatives we were using weren't quite making the point. so i wrote on her feet. i told her that if i was only in the mood to eat 1/3 of her foot, look how much she'd still have left!
and this one, brooke took of herself. she was doing an art project where she needed to make a realistic picture of someone lost in thought. she couldn't think of exactly how to draw it, so she set up my camera on a timer & posed herself in the position she wanted to draw her picture critter. here's her drawing.
and when we have to tackle things that i know are going to be really difficult, i try to think outside the box in order to make them more fun. for instance, yesterday we were needing to do some dictionary practice. brooke detests doing anything dictionary related. alphabetizing is really hard for her and spelling is rough too, so i had to come up with a way to make it less suckish. so i had her look up the following words: plop, boll weevil, tuna, fat, urine, hag, tinkle, spit, breast, tinkle, mud. then i read the definitions to her in a very prim, proper voice. today, she's begging for more dictionary time and she even said that if we don't have time for it during school hours, maybe we could do it after school. i would have to count that as a win.
i suppose i need to do a little work on phone etiquette though because yesterday when we were at my sister's house, the phone rang. brooke picked it up and said, "woof," then hung up. oops.
we've had great weather this weekend & some nice, outside adventures. i've kept my camera handy and captured a few things i wanted to share. here are some pictures of my happy.
we went to a renaissance festival and brooke got a daddy's eye view of the jousting.
during a romp through the woods, i came across a fungus that felt like the softest corduroy ever.
i don't love spiders, but i sure like taking pictures of their webs when the sun hits just right.
this log was so smooth and curvy and enticing.
my girlie with her hair dyed reddish. we were out looking for deer with my mom.
i love that my mom still climbs trees and does adventurous things.
and this is anna, my parents' st bernard, hanging out on brooke's bed with her.
