Just Another Day

Last week, it was my turn to be "snack mom" for my son's volleyball team. Turned out that he was too sick to play that day (as has been the story of our lives since December) but we only live about ten minutes away from the gym, so I called the coach on Friday to let him know we would still be delivering the snacks despite Mr. P's illness. It was shaping up to be a hot day, so I had the bright idea to put the Gatorades into the freezer to give them a really nice coolness. Except I wasn't feeling all that great, and fell asleep. Which meant that the Gatorades stayed in the freezer a bit too long, and wound up being sort of frozen. Not completely frozen, but very close. I let them sit on the counter for an hour before Hubba-hubba left to take them, but I wasn't sure if it had been enough. When he got back, we all decided that it was warm enough that those semi-frozen Gatorades would hit the spot perfectly. And I admit, it took quite a bit of poki...

Small doses today. -I don't know what minor, easily-annoyed god I have angered, but man, we cannot stop getting sick over here.  Poor baby girl went to the ER last Tuesday because the advice nurse didn't like the sound of her four days of high fever, vomiting, and facial rash.  There's a meningococcal outbreak warning in these here parts, and I KNOW that's what she thought it was, because it had crossed my mind as well.  So, instead of making a possibly large mistake by not taking her, we made only a small mistake in taking her, as all she apparently had was a virus. Which of course, she promptly gave to the rest of us. - I find it very strange that two of the most violent children who live in our area have been girls.  Should I find it strange?  I mean physically violent and making threats like, "I'm going to kill you" and things like that.  Has happened to my son more than once, which is disturbing no matter who does it to him. - I was T...

Scene: Miss P's preschool, staff sitting around table Teacher: So, how do you think we should punish the parents for Easter this year? Aide 1: (raising hand) Oh, I know, I know!  Let's give them something breakable as a craft! Aide 2: (laughing) Yeah, let's give them something made out of glass! How about DIY "snowglobes?" Teacher: Glass for special needs kids?  What a great idea! I wish I'd thought of that. Aide 1: How about we even make it all slippery, coated with the baby oil we need for the inside!  We won't wipe it off or anything, or even make sure the lid is closed all the way! Teacher: (cackling) And to top it off, we won't even TELL them their preschooler has a breakable item in their backpack! They'll never know what hit them! Aide 2: You, madam, are a genius. Cut to Gina's house Gina: Oh honey, why don't you show me the eggs you got during your egg hunt at school today? Miss P: I open backpack! I open backpac...

Because I just don't have enough for longform. On Saturday I ran into the woman who was my first boss.  She gave me a hug and said, "Oh, you were always one of my favorites!"  And indeed I was, as she also was the person to give me my first promotion.  She told me, twice, that when I was ready to work part time to call her and she would hire me on the spot.  I guess that doesn't say much for the current crop of people working for her. My daughter managed, about two hours before we left for my sister's house (long story there, I guess) for Easter, to give herself a huge cut right underneath her nose.  I'm talking about an inch and a half long and half an inch wide.  She found out the hard way that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, courtesy of a bucket handle.  Hmmm, probably long story there, too. A neighbor a few houses down from us has a large cross that fits around their doorbell.  I find this intriguing.  I would never...

My lovely daughter, who is about a year or so behind developmentally (give or take a few months) is still not potty trained.  I'm OK with that, as long as she tells me when she has poo-poo. Unfortunately, she is known for being a bald-faced liar, denying the presence of it even as I am checking her diaper. Today, I kind of figured she was in the process of going poo-poo, as she often will go into the playroom (for privacy, I suppose) when she needs to go.  I can see into the playroom about 80% from where I normally sit, and there happens to be a couch separating the living room from the playroom (don't ask, this is a weird floor plan) so that makes me sort of unable to see most of the floor unless I'm standing. Anyhoo, I see her hanging around in there, and I ask her if she is finished.  Mind you, I'm not exactly watching her like a hawk or anything, I'm deleting old programs from the DVR while looking over occasionally. I'm sure you can already tell t...

So today was Ms. P's first day of special education preschool. It apparently went well. Although both the teacher and I agree that this might not be the case come next week when she isn't quite as overwhelmed with newness. I knew that there would pretty much be zero trouble leaving her the initial time, as she will willingly walk with anyone who is talking to her. Sure enough, the teacher (who is a zygote compared to moi) greeted her by name, and even though Ms. P looked at her like, "How exactly do you know my name?" she was fine with leading the line into class.  Even though she didn't really know what leading the line was at all, and kept stopping to look around. So I had the same shiver of sadness run through me that I always do when I leave my children with strangers that I need to trust.  But it was tempered by the knowledge that she truly needs this program and she loves other kids and people so much that it will be so much more beneficial than be...

Hubba-hubba enjoys shopping at Costco more than I do, so he is usually the one who goes there.  I think it has a lot to do with the constantly changing inventory.  Anyhoo, he came home the other day with a coffee cake.  I looked at him and said, "Who actually goes and buys coffee cake?" He said, "I do! I love coffee cake.  It's my favorite." Seriously? Who the hell picks coffee cake, out of all the hugely delicious cakes in the world, as their favorite? My weird spouse, apparently. In other news, we had our daughter's IEP meeting today to determine her eligibility for special education services, and I was expecting a bit of a fight.  I am so used to institutions being unwilling to extend services that I am kind of conditioned to a fight response at this point, I think. Instead, we were actually a bit overwhelmed at all the services they wanted to schedule her for, which includes a five day a week language-immersive preschool, occupational the...