The Wisdom of a 5 Year Old


The following wisdom has come from DS#3 today during a 25 minute drive:


1. Eagles like french fries. They can smell them from miles away in the woods where they live. They like to fly down and bite them out of your hands. (Can you imagine, an eagle instead of a seagull chasing you down for your fries? Are you scared? We have just been informed that they like to bite them out of your hands. Or, bite your hands off.)

2. Teenagers can wear jetpacks to fly. They are responsible. They can also wear a ninja sword while they fly with their jet pack. (Would any of you trust your teen with a jet pack and a ninja sword? I didn't think so.)

3. People should share. They should plant gardens and grow food, like pumpkins that lay on the ground. Then you can eat pumpkin pie. Famers grow pumpkin pie, a whole bunch, and they give it to the stores. (It will be very interesting planning my garden this year. I wonder what he will want to grow besides pumpkin pie?)

4. Driving is, if you see a red light you stop. If you see yellow you slow down. If you see a green light you go fast. And if you see a blue light, you get to go super fast. (I truly hope he doesn't mean the blue light on top of police cars...)


I hope this has brightened your day. Everyone could use the wisdom of a 5 year old. (I knew I should have named him Solomon).

No One Takes Care Of Mom When Mom Is Sick....


I was in the doctors office, sick and hurting from the neck up. After the myriad of questions and the poking, prodding, cold stethescope with commands of "Breathe deep..again...again...again", this statement was handed to me along with a diagnosis of sinus infection and a double ear infection.

I had been sick for two weeks. I had been down in bed for the last two days of those two weeks when I decided I had had enough and called the physicians office for an appointment. During those two weeks my family was solicitous. The kids asked if they could get me a drink. DH did a medicine run at 10:00 p.m. Dinner ended up being You're On You're Own (known as YOYO at our house) more than a few times. My older boys helped with the young kids.

It is not that no one takes care of mom when mom is sick. A more appropriate comment would have been "Mom never takes care of Mom when Mom is sick". More often then not, I forgot to dose up to ease my symptoms because I was too busy being Mom. Instead of seeing the doctor in the first week, I waited til I was miserable with pain. DH often tells me that I am impossible to get to the doctor, not because I am afraid, but because I'm so busy that I keep putting it off. In fact, the only thing that got me to the doctor was the fact that I WAS IN BED. Wait a minute, don't I often wish I could just lay in bed and read? Or sleep? I finally get my chance and I was in too much pain to enjoy it.

4 prescriptions and 48 hours later, I am making Family Night treats, getting dinner ready, the kitchen is clean and the laundry pile is diminishing. My head still hurts, but not as bad and it is getting better. To be honest, I rather like getting back to the Mom routine. Here's to taking care of Mom.

The End Of An Era

This past week we took down the crib. When we were first looking for a crib we had very little money. I saw a gorgeous sleighbed-style crib in an advertisement and made an off-hand remark to DH that I loved it. Next thing I know, he bought it for me. It was by far the nicest piece of furniture in our apartment. It was the only new piece of furniture in our apartment.

That crib was moved from apartment to house. It was a bed for 4 beautiful babies. It has seen its share of funiture abuse and has the resulting scratches and toothmarks to show for it. For 14 years it has been a part of our lives. I used to reach my hands in that crib just to feel my newborn baby breathing. I have a picture of my firstborn, with his white-blond hair sticking straight up, standing in that crib and waving to the world outside his window. I used to sit onthe floor beside the crib, reach my hands through the slats, and rub the head of my child that had a hard time sleeping on his own. I've watched my kids sleep at all angles in that crib and wonder how on earth that could be comfortable. I've even played peek-a-boo over, under, around, and through that crib with all four of my children.

For the past year, my DD has know how to get out of the crib. A contortionist of sorts, she lifts her leg straight up in the air and hooks her toes over the edge. Then this child (who is supposed to have low-muscle tone) lifts herself over with the grace of a gymnast doing a routine on the uneven parallel bars. She then hangs by her fingers on the other side until she can get her toes on top of the mattress through the bars and climbs down.

The only problem with this is that she can't get back in. DD has been know to wander into my room at all hours only to be put back in her own bed. We finally realized that she would get back in by herself if she could. So this past weekend we bought her a toddler bed. DD was so excited to see a bed just her size. She immediately grabbed her quilts and "made" her own bed with a flourshing "ta-DA!" thrown in at then end. She was very excited to have her own big-girl bed.

Now the crib is in pieces on my family room floor. I refuse to give it away as I want to save it for future visiting grandchildren. (That is such a strange thought. When I was 18, I could not imagine being in my 30's. Now here I am, on the upswing to 40, thinking ahead about grandchildren.) Today I will rub the wood with lemon oil and then wrap everything in a sheet and wonder where I will have room to store it.

I used to get excited about changes. Now, I am a little sentimental and I wish time would not have gone so fast. Sleep well, my little sweetheart. Don't grow up too soon.