Author: kanniduba

Do yourself a favor…

kanniduba8 Comments

So, when’s the last time you had a Root Beer Float?  Seriously.  Ages ago, right?  Do yourself a favor, and run out to the store and buy yourself a two liter bottle of root beer and a half gallon of cheap vanilla ice cream, and go whole hog tonight.  I’ll bet you’ve forgotten how good one of these tastes…I know I did.

I ordered one in Disney, while the girls crinkled their noses at my choice.  I forced them to try it, and now they want one every night for dessert.  Yummy!

The Recipe:

Get the tallest glass you can find.

Fill it halfway with root beer.

Cram as much vanilla ice cream into the glass as you possibly can.  (Foam-over is completely acceptable, and lickable.)

Gorge yourself until you’re sick.

Any questions?

Since we’ve been talking about helmets….

kanniduba6 Comments

Nervous Nelly Mommy that I am, I was watching my son attempting to play basketball in the driveway the other day, and my heart leapt into my throat every time he teetered this way, or tottered that way.  I wondered out loud to Zan, “Do you think they make helmets for babies as little as Mister Baby Boy?”  He gave me the look that lets me know that I’m about to cross the overprotective line into Crazy Land.  I stopped wondering….until I took him to the Dr. for a checkup yesterday, and lo and behold, what were they selling?!  Helmets for toddlers!!!!  Did I buy one?  HELL YES!!!!

*Ahem*  But of course I’ll only make him wear it when we go on bike rides.  *Ahem*  (Or if he’s climbing the slide…or running on the blacktop…or playing basketball…or sitting in the grass…or taking a bath…or reading a book…or sleeping.)

Okay…so I’m not really THAT crazy…honest. 

But I’m reminded of this Saturday Night Live skit.  So for your viewing pleasure, I present “Philip the Hyper Hypo!”

It’s a sickness, really.

kanniduba3 Comments

So, I have a little problem.  I know I’m not the only one.  Tolle would say that it’s my ego talking, not me.  Little comfort to my dear husband!

My little problem is that I am never content.  I always have to have something to look forward to.  I should say that I am extremely content with the “big stuff” in my life as it is–I don’t “need” anything to make me happy (for example, another baby, a new house, a new job.)  I am truly happy in the moment. 

But my mind always seems to need the preoccupation of looking forward to something.  Now that the anticipation of Disney is over and I’ve had a week to come down off the trip, my mind is already busy conjuring up “the next thing.”  If the next thing isn’t a trip, it invariably becomes a new house project. 

Poor poor poor poor Zan.  Now that I’m not working, I have more time than ever to think…and dream.

“Hey Honey, I’ve been thinking…”

*sigh*  “Oh, no.”

Yep…that’s usually how the story starts.  And before you know it we’re heading off to Lowe’s.  A friend of mine used to say, “It all starts with a throw pillow.” 

So let me tell you about the “next thing.”  Mister Baby Boy has discovered the Big Outdoors.  However, Mister Baby Boy gives Mommy heart attacks because he wants to be running around very unsteadily on the blacktopped driveway, trying to make baskets in the way-too-tall-for-him basketball hoop.  He is not satisfied to play with the toddler-sized basketball hoop in the yard.  Oh, no…he must be Danger Boy (he has his own theme song, by the way—but that’s a story for another day) and nearly cracks his handsome little skull on the concrete as he looks up to the basket which is so high that he loses his balance and falls backwards. 

So, I say to myself, “Now, if we had a big deck off the back of the house, I could gate off the stairs, and sit outside and let Mister play on the deck with a bunch of toys, and watch the girls without having to chase him around all summer long.”  Some chasing, good.  All chasing, bad.

Ergo, “Honey, I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh, no.”

So we’ve spent the last two days looking, measuring, researching.  An easy do-it-yourself weekend project!  *tee*hee*hee* 

Relatively inexpensive!  *tee*hee*hee*

And somehow, a very simple, square, 20×20 deck has become this elaborate extension with a tree coming up through the middle of it.  And who wants plain old deck flooring?  Wouldn’t a herringbone pattern look nice?  And what about those wood balusters?  Ew!  Boring!  I’m thinking THESE would be nice.

And who wants plain old post covers?  Wouldn’t copper be great?  Or, ooooo, what about these????

And a brand new deck definitely needs a brand new grill!  And did somebody say screening?  Screening would be nice.  And…..*sigh*

See?  I told you, I have a problem. 

But I think Zan has an even bigger one.

🙂

 

Tiny Victories (Or..it shouldn’t HAVE to take a village…)

kanniduba9 Comments

So there’s this little boy who lives down the lane.  (Okay, it’s down the street, but doesn’t “lane” sound better?)

I started to notice him last summer….walking, or riding on his bike erratically, always alone.  Being a teacher, and a Nosy to boot, I started to pay closer attention.  This child looked extremely young, definitely too young to be alone…hmmm.

So I watched.  I would see him at all hours of the day, well into the evening, out and about, never with anyone. 

My dear neighbor started to notice him too.  Hmmm.  How old is this child? 

So we started asking our kids, “Do you know this little boy?” 

Turns out, he was in my neighbor’s son’s class—Kindergarten class.  Hmmm.

So I start not only paying attention, but watching out for him.  “Get out of the middle of the road!  Ride on the side!  Where’s your helmet?  Shouldn’t you be home since it’s getting dark outside?” as he would zoom past my house, head down.

One day he comes so close to getting hit by a car in front of my house, I decide I can’t stand by and just watch this unsupervised child anymore.  There are benefits to being a teacher and knowing every support staff member in the district—so I make a call, explain the situation, and ask for advice.  Apparently there’s already been concerns.  I’m told to place the call. 

Done.  And I’m practically laughed off the phone.  It seems as though this level of unsupervision is not a cause for CPS to investigate…No lie, I am told, “Now if he got HIT by a car in front of your house, that would be different.”   I swear to God, if I could’ve reached through the phone to throttle the woman on the other end, I would’ve done it.  “Let me get this straight…you can only help the child once the child is dead?  Are you for real?”  Big sigh, and I’m put on with a supervisor who instructs me to approach the parents and discuss the situation since, “Maybe they aren’t even aware that he’s out and about.”  WHAT????!!!!!!!!  “Well, isn’t that a problem right there??!!!  Thanks for your lack of help.”  And I hung up the phone.

(Upon re-reading this post, I will insert here that I know CPS is overwhelmed, and there are children out there in worse circumstances.  However, I think they’re completely missing the boat with this kid.)

So, anyway…being way too protective of my own family to approach the parents personally (I’ve heard Dad is beastly) I’ve opted to pray, and watch, and protect when I can.  “Get out of the road…stay on the side…play in the dirt in my yard, not in the dirt on the side of the road.”  And suddenly, he’s coming around more. 

He’s been hanging around between my house and my neighbor’s house, playing with our kids.  He’s a sweet little thing, and looks even smaller than his six years.  Never once has anyone come around looking to see where he is. 

So last night I say, “If I bought you a helmet, would you wear it?”

A shy nod.

“Do you PROMISE??  I worry about you.”

A shy nod.

And my dear neighbor jumps in and says, “Wait!  I have one right here!” and pops into the shed to grab the spare that she had.

I help him put it on.  We make the fit just right.  And he rides off toward home around 8:00pm.

We stare after him, then shaking our heads say, “Well, I’ll bet that’s the last time we ever see that helmet,” but feel at least we tried.

This afternoon, he zooms by my house afterschool—–proudly wearing his new helmet.

I think it will take a village to raise this child.  I hope we’re up to the task.