Posts Tagged: baby


23
May 10

part 2: noodle straps

9 year old on her vitamin: “it tastes like a dog’s throw-up that a monkey swallowed and then pooped.”

me to 6 yr old: “hey, what’s that on your tush?”

6 yr old, “nothing. you just want to squeeze it for fun.”

me to girls while looking at a flyer: “hey we should go see this show.”

6 yr old: “i am already going to see it with daddy.”

9 yr old: “yeah, and i don’t want to see it. it’s for ages to 5-8 and i am almost a tween. u know, a tweenager? that’s what they call it these days.”

joke written by 9 year old. she has warned me not to “plagiarize,” therefore it is reprinted here with her permission:

what did the client say about the hairdresser?

she is nice and easy-combing.

9 year old: “she said that i could babysit when she has a baby, but that won’t be for awhile because he hasn’t popped the question yet.”

9 year old: “what is the weather supposed to be tomorrow?” me: “i’m not sure. we need to check when we get home.” 6 year old: ” it will either be warm or cold.”

me to 9 year old: “are you sure you want to sleep with such a warm blanket?” 9 year old: “yes. i get cold even though my personality is warm.”

grandmother to 6 year old,” ok. let’s turn the light off for bed time.” 6 year old: “no, leave it on.” grandmother: “how are you going to get to sleep with such a bright light on?” 6 year old: “i will turn it off when i fall asleep.”

upon learning a couple is going to have a baby who is not currently married, 9 year old asks,” isn’t that illegal?”

9 year old: “mommy, take that backpack off the counter. this is where we eat and we are going to get germs in our food and get sick. we will get what they call the H1N1 Influenza they have been telling us about in school.”

one morning, i accidentally turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze and woke the girls up for school a wee bit late. since we were rushed, 9 year old sprung into action to help me get both girls ready. when i got downstairs, she was busy making lunch for her sister and said to me, “you had to have another one?”

scene: double play date at my house

6 year old and her pal decided to paint their nails without asking me. i wasn’t pleased and muttered to myself that they “dragged all the nail polish downstairs to the basement”  within ear shot of 9 year old & her pal. the friend misunderstood & asked incredulously, “she drank all the nail polish?” to which i replied, “no dragged it.” and 9 year old added, “yeah, she’s 6, not mentally retarded.”

9 year old consoling 6 year old: “it’s just a fly. nothing to be scared of. it’s only 3 letters.”

how the tooth fairy got hustled

9 year old: “make sure you tell the tooth fairy about my tooth, so she leaves me a gift.”

me: “didn’t you tell me that you don’t believe in the tooth fairy anymore?”

9 year old: “no, i do.”

me: “okay then.”

next morning after collecting her loot:

9 year old “i know you’re the tooth fairy.”

me: “but last night you told me you believed in the tooth fairy.”

9 year old: ” i know. i just said that to get the money.”

me: “oh, i see.”

9 year old adding insult to injury: “also, it’s not that i don’t appreciate the “fairy dust” and all, but could she use a little less? it’s all over my bed & i have to change my sheets now.”

9 year old walking past plum tree in front yard: “i can smell the plummy goodness.”

6 year old to 9 year old: “you can teach me spanish.” 9 year old: “let’s just leave that to dora.” [the explorer]

6 year old: “this week is ‘poem in your pocket’ week. i have to rememberize a poem.”

6 year old: “there are different parts of your tongue for tasting different things. this part here is for butter.”

after observing meal laid out upon the table, 9 year old to grandmother: “you really know how to put together a dinner.”

9 year old discussing a friend: “she misses a lot of school. she is going to end up in the street with credit card debt and invalid health insurance.”

note in my lunch from 9 year old on a morning i had an upset stomach before leaving for work: “dear mom, i love you. stick it out.”

6 year old singing lyrics that say come closer: “get cole slaw”

grandmother to 9 year old: “3 lion cubs were born in a zoo the other day.” 9 year old, “who’s the lucky couple?”

9 year old: “hello, loser.”

6 year old: “hello, idiot.”

9 year old. “touche.”

9 year old: “she [6 year old] can sleep in my room in her sleeping bag.”

me: “well, i really don’t want her to sleep on the floor.”

9 year old: “no, in the sleeping bag in my bed. it contains her – she kicks.”

while cat-sitting my mother’s kitty, 6 year old was beckoning the cat to follow her up the stairs which prompted 9 year old to admonish, “he’s a cat, not a seeing eye dog.”

9 year old & i had the pleasure of watching a puppet show performed by 6 year old in which one of the characters became extremely wild and had to be “disciplined” by 6 year old. 9 year old turned to me and said, “you will have to excuse him [the puppet], he’s on medication.”

6 year old: “mommy, i can’t wear this shirt to school tomorrow. it has noodle straps” me:”ok, but i think you mean spaghetti straps.”

9 year old: “why would a cleaning product be called bleck?” me (barely containing my laughter):”that’s bleach.”

among other items i had put out for bulk collection week were 2 female dress forms – one black and one white. upon discovering that scavengers had taken the white one, but not the black one, 9 year old exclaimed, “how racist!.”

quote from 6 year old’s mother’s day project: “my mom is: as pretty as a flower and a unicorn.” that is the highest compliment i have ever received.

9 year old: “when i am an adult, i am going to have a purse & shoes to match every outfit.” me: “well, my work here is done.”


make mine extra dirty, please.

BackflipBlinklistCiteULikeBlogMarksDiggFavesGoogle BookmarksShare

16
Feb 10

skip to my loo, my darlin’

so i just spent 2 days curled up in bed with a nasty stomach bug. and i wonder not from where i contracted the pest, but more so why it always strikes after i have eaten an unusually large 12 course meal mere hours before. it was sunday pig out day and i take that very seriously. my only saving grace was that the wee ones and i happened to be sleeping at my mom’s the night the virus attacked, which meant i had my mommy to take care of me. it was almost worth being sick, because during the marriage (a term which i use loosely), the hat normally left me for dead when i got sick. he was most likely too busy allegedly jacking off or allegedly toking up and lost track of time in a drug haze like those parents of the infant in trainspotters. but, i digress…

i find the suspense of the crippling nausea to be worse than the actual up-chucking, for awhile i beg my stomach to hold steady and then i do a 180 and beg to just get it over with because you really do feel better after the ol’ heave ho. it’s all about facing the fear for me. but then the suspense starts all over again for round 2. i always find an hour to be the magic amount of time. if i can just get  past an hour i will be fine. if i can just sleep. and why is it always in the middle of the night when these things happen? i always think, if i can make it through the night i will be fine. it will all be over when the sun shines. and it just blows my mind if i barf during the day.

so, while my partially digested meal proceeded to exit six times using all possible means of egress, and i was laying in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, i was thinking, “at least i’m losing weight.” never mind, the broken blood vessels all around my eyes, the dehydration, sallow skin, and relentless physical torture. naturally, i couldn’t wait to get on that scale when i was finally able to rise above a crawl position. and then the cruelest of all jokes: not one ounce lost. how is that possible? isn’t there an entire eating disorder based on this premise? what was i doing wrong?

but it was so nice to have mommy there to take care of me. she brought me water, flat coke, hot tea, held my hair back, & cleaned up after me like she used to when i was a kid. which means bad news for us mothers: it turns out no matter how old our kids get, we are never ever done cleaning up vomit & poo. well, you’re the best mom. and uh, thanks for the loaner undies, the reason which necessitated such, we have agreed never to speak of again…

on the second eve of the aftermath, i am still wiped out and i am finally just able to keep down water. my stomach is still gurgling incessantly and i am in fear of a full relapse. then there is also the worry about the rest of the household being struck down with the same merciless ailment. how many days is it until you can be sure it’s icy grip has passed like the angel of death on pessach? is there some pagan offering to be left for it to skip your children? can i smear lamb’s blood on my door?

i have a friend who lives in fear of stomach viruses and will quarantine you at the mere mention of “throw-up.” her children are interrogated every day after they get home, with, “did anyone throw up at school today? did anyone say they were nauseous? did anyone mention being around anybody who was sick? did anyone go to the nurse? was any sawdust spread on the floor of any room by yours? no? fine. go wash your hands before you touch anything!” her mother once sent back 52 bags of groceries because the cashier mentioned she felt nauseous at the end of the transaction. so, it would seem my pal does come by it honestly, and in following parental suit, she has a complicated formula by which she figures out the square root of the hypotenuse of how many days from initial exposure until infectious danger has passed and she will agree to meet you out in public. the time frame for when you are allowed back into her home or vice verse is an entirely other much longer formula which is proprietary and usually works out to be a minimum of 6 weeks. mind you she is no math whiz, but she has a ph.d in barf. she claims it’s because she can’t stand to see her children suffer. i say it’s more to do with cleaning the carpet. oh, wait, that’s me.

please, don’t get me wrong, i hate to ever see my girls in any discomfort, but i was quite thrilled when they learned how to make it to the bathroom on time or at least aim successfully into the bedside bucket. i have a weak stomach & overactive gag reflex which makes cleaning up vomit more difficult for me than your average bear. i once came very close to barfing on my own baby at the sight of a diarrhea explosion up to her armpits. i had to strap her to the changing table & run to the toilet. so, it’s no surprise i have to talk myself down when i have to deal with puke. i repeat a mantra of, “grow up. deal. you are NOT going to throw up. keep it together, dammit.” only thing hat was ever minimally useful for was that particular clean-up detail. and when kids get sick, they always manage to sprinkle every piece of linen on the bed and projectile within a 5 mile radius. baby spit-up was bad enough & was generally controllable with my babies. but when they got bigger and  it turned into real vomit, i was done for. and don’t get me started on barfing in a moving vehicle. that strikes terror into my heart like nothing else. that is one scenario for which i am rarely prepared. the clean-up is monumental. you might as well total the car at that point. is there a vomit clause in auto insurance? there should be if not. i must ask that progressive chick.

then there is nothing quite like the test of a relationship when barf is introduced. does he run screaming or does he hold your hair back? does he barf along side you at the sight of vomit or does he want to rub your back and sleep next to you on the floor of the bathroom even though you protest pitifully? does he bring blankets into the bathroom for you while breaking & entering even though you tried to lock him out because it’s just too soon for him to see you this way & you are really embarrassed? cute bf saw me at my worst fairly early on and i knew if he didn’t bail then, there may be no getting rid of this guy! ;-)

anyway, that concludes my dissertation on vomtiology.  now, here i sit, sipping flat bourbonless coke, patiently waiting for a complete recovery. hoping i will be ready to face the world in 24 hours knowing the world has no idea what i just faced a mere 24 hours earlier. if i am lucky i will be able to have a cup of coffee with my friend in 8 weeks or so when she agrees to see me to celebrate the spring thaw…

BackflipBlinklistCiteULikeBlogMarksDiggFavesGoogle BookmarksShare

7
Sep 09

i am mother. hear me slack.

tush

a few confessions from my diary of motherhood:

1. when playing interminable, yet fascinating games with my kids like candy land,  i slip the winning card in the pile for them to pick on their next turn when they aren’t looking so the game can end.

2. 90% of shows recording on my dvr are cartoons…that i watch.

3. when doing my kids’ laundry, if the clothes look clean, i.e., no obvious signs of dirt or stains, i fold them up & put them back in their rooms.

4.due to over-squeezing, my kids have forbade me from further tushy grabbing. so to get my fix, much the same way people ask, can i pet your dog?”, i will ask if i can squeeze your child’s tush.

5. i consider microwave popcorn or chips & salsa perfectly acceptable dinner choices.

6. since my first baby was born, i have redefined my personal hygiene. the new standards are quite lax.

7. several famous people i would love to meet are actually cartoon characters.

8. i have spiked my water bottle. many times.

9. during any given week, i do not brush my teeth 4 out of 7 mornings or 3 out of 7 nights.

10. sometimes i pretend not to hear my kids fighting or calling for me.

11. i have turned the heels of the bread inside out & used them to make school lunch.

12. many times when something seems to have been lost, i have previously disposed of it & then vehemently denied such.

13. sometimes i watch the disney channel at the gym..by choice.

14. i don’t dust anything above my eye level. at 5’0, this allows me a wide berth.

15. sometimes, i eat the school snacks before the kids even knew they were brought home from the supermarket.

16. i secretly hope they won’t finish their mac ‘n cheese/chicken nuggets/pizza so i can eat the leftovers.

17. to facilitate getting ready in the morning, i will pretend i don’t know they didn’t brush their teeth or hair.

18. i once instituted a sticker chart for myself. it was a great success.

19. my 5 yr old does a spot on dr. zoidberg impression.

20. i think phineas & ferb is the most brilliant cartoon ever created.

21. i have convinced my kids that posing for pictures & smiling dammit at any given time i demand, is what they owe me for giving them life.

22. when the girls refuse to clean up their stuff, i grab a garbage bag and tell them i will do it myself. this always gets immediate results.

23. some nights i am so tired, i ask my 8 yr old to read me a story.

24. i love those 2 girls more than anything in the entire world and i marvel at their intelligence & beauty.

25. i had no idea how much my parents did for me, nor did i appreciate any of it until i had my own kids.

BackflipBlinklistCiteULikeBlogMarksDiggFavesGoogle BookmarksShare