BC (beloved child the elder) – Page 22

Category: BC (beloved child the elder)

…worse than blue acid. apparently.

Posted on May 2, 2007 by wrekehavoc

BC has a cough. she’s had this cough now for about three years. it gets worse during allergy season (which, in the washington metro area, may as well be three seasons long) and when she’s sitting in lots of dust (such as in her room, which is a convention center for dust bunnies.) part of it has to do with some asthmatic fun, for which she takes singulair and, upon occasion, a puffer of Q-Var (a med i love to say since it sounds like something from Mork and Mindy: i come from the planet Q-Var. Nanoo nanoo.) but the allergies really aggravate things. and, judging from our time at the pediatrician’s last week, everyone and their dog is having allergy symptoms this week. even BS and jools are sneezing, and neither one of them has any allergy issues.

it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

so yesterday, BC came home from school bewildered. i pressed her for some info, and she told me that while she was not directly mentioned, her teacher was looking right at her when she noted that not everyone in the class had a real cough. and those without a real cough (and she named two boys who apparently have get-out-of-cough-trouble-free passes) are now in her book, down as people making trouble. “but mama,” BC protested to me, “i really do have a cough!”

so i wrote a note to the teacher, informing her that BC, in fact, has a real, honest-to-G-d, annoying-as-hell cough; and that i’m very sorry if it disrupts class. she is on medication, and i also send her in with cough drops so that she doesn’t make a ruckus in case a coughing fit ensues. i just wanted her to know that BC doesn’t cough for fun (even if another child was, which BC felt was the case. see, everyone was laughing because one child was making hilarious coughing sounds, apparently spoiling it for the real coughers (and no, i couldn’t make this stuff up if i tried.) and getting people like her in trouble.

so today, BC came home from school. how was school today, dear? well, apparently, she felt a cough coming on. she asked her teacher if she could get a cough drop. the teacher called the nurse’s office. then, the teacher sent her to the nurses’ office so that she could have her cough drop there. and there she sat. and sucked. and then she returned to class. (and no, i couldn’t make this stuff up if i tried, either.)

i’m so glad she missed important classroom time simply because she was wielding an apparently deadly cough drop. lord knows that asthma is contagious. and you really gotta watch out for that mentholyptus.

clips show

Posted on May 1, 2007 by wrekehavoc

i’ve been informed by some people that they’d prefer to see more funny. i’m not feeling like miss yuks-a-lot this week, considering there’s been a death in my friend’s family; so here’s some recent funny.

jesus is just alright with me

by the time we got to gimme shelter

the bitch is back

we’re gonna turn this mother out

one day, i’ll get us kicked out of elementary school

there are loads more in the archives; i just don’t have the chance to scour.

(now get off my back 😉

no matter what

Posted on April 26, 2007 by wrekehavoc

Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute? – Emily, from Our Town by Thornton Wilder

having nearly lost my mother twice before i was in college, i’ve always been a sort of carpe diem kind of gal, though there are plenty of diems i wished i’d carpe‘d and didn’t. days, weeks, months, years pass; and sometimes, i miss things. i forget things. it’s probably the main reason i write in a blog. i want to remember things – crazy things people say to me, funny moments with my family, that sort of thing. i may be one of the snarkiest people you’ll meet, but when you get up close, you find i am a giant mushball crybaby. especially on days when i have to face up to things like my mortality.

the good news, of course, is that there’s a treatment, IVIG, for my CVID. the infectious diseases doctor who is able to get me IVIG and who is graciously willing to take me on as a patient as a courtesy to my wonderful hematologist (and don’t think i don’t know that this life has me feeling like a professional patient who collects doctors like my kids collect Pez dispensers) has really moved the proverbial ball forward. the company that provides the IVIG has been contacting me today, getting health and insurance-related information from me. i am astonished at their efficiency; and i am wildly, wildly grateful that i possess solid health insurance that will allow me to do this life-saving activity without bankrupting my family. oh, i wish my family knew how grateful i am to each and every one of them. and they never really will.

when i push beyond the gratitude, i find i have to face up to this ridiculous fury i possess. it’s pointless, really, to be angry about something over which you have absolutely no control. i mean, i can be mad at myself for being fat. i can be mad at myself for not being kinder to people in my life. i can even be mad at myself for falling on the ice and ripping up my knee (though that, of course, was unintentional.) but i didn’t do this to myself. i didn’t cause my immune system to not be strong. hey. i drink my green tea. i eat my veggies. i even was exercising to make myself strong. but my genes? they just are what they are.

when i was a little girl, my mother instilled a mantra in my head, a mantra she still tells me, a mantra i have carefully taught my children. she always told me that she loved me no matter what. and of course, i love my children no matter what.

i guess this is the point where i have to look at myself and tell myself that i love myself no matter what.

tonight, i put on van morrison; and as he sang have i told you lately, i danced with my children. BC, of course, snuggled in my arms as she tried to lead while we danced (she’s just like her mom). and jools grabbed his blanket, danced with us in a big hug for about 10 seconds, then started to do his crazy pee wee herman meets david lee roth maneuver. i didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. of course, though, i knew at the end of the song, when poor BC had damp hair, i’d become a mushball mom again. and it was ok. “i love you, mama,” BC said as she looked up at me and smiled.

i guess if she can love me, so can i.

party out of bounds

Posted on April 26, 2007 by wrekehavoc

jools would like to have a cars-themed birthday party this year. (to be more accurate, he wants a “lightning nu-queen party.”) i recently made an inquiry on DC Urban Moms regarding where to hold a birthday party and whether folks had a better idea of fun, car-themed activities. one mom wrote that she has had it with parties and people upping the ante on “events”.

i totally agree with her in the sense that i see little sense in making a birthday party some elaborate experience with a hired entertainer. as one who is party-planning inept, i even found an old birthday party book i cherished as a child and bought it (online — is this a great country or what?) for ideas. and i’m very grateful for the legions of parents out there who are sharing party ideas with me.

to borrow liberally from my posting, i am interested in places **outside** my home to host the party. last year, we had a simple, traditional party in the house. jools and his buddies tore my house apart and left BC crying for days because several of HER toys ended up broken. maybe we could hold it in my backyard, though it’s is a big hill/luge run (which actually might make it interesting if we try to race cars down it, now that i think of it, though i’ll have to have massive first aid supplies on hand if that happens.) in short, though: my house is a disaster, and i don’t feel like putting it together at the moment and then having it torn asunder. i ain’t doin’ it. i just had knee surgery 🙂 i want the party out of there.

i’m also very grateful that people are sending me ideas for games and such. there are some inexpensive locales (like community centers), and so if we go that route (to get the party out of my house), it’s helpful that people more creative than i’ll ever be can share ideas for simple activities that will be fun for the four-year-old (and under) crew. (i’m definitely enlisting BC to wrangle the kids this year. maybe she can do face painting? a big win-win.)

birthday parties for kids under two are a piece of cake. why people hire entertainment for toddler parties mystifies me when these kids would be entertained playing with a giant cardboard box. i can only guess that there are older children at parties and so the party thrower wants those kids entertained. but i have been to some really over-the-top weddings/bar/bat mitzvahs where the solid gold dancers (as i’ve dubbed them) recruit you to the dance floor, where you have your picture taken and put it keychain frames, where you get glow-in-the-dark necklaces and blinking hats, watching the video montage of the family members play with careful musical editing, etc. etc. ad nauseum. i agree that things have gotten out of hand in partyland. hell, my husband didn’t *have* birthday parties growing up. his mom made his favorite dinner and then cake. the end. and i think my biggest birthday was the time we went to howard johnson’s — i got ice cream with a cookie in it and then my friends and i got to swim in an indoor pool, which was big stuff back then in the 1970s. usually, though, we ate cake and ice cream and ran around the house until we all felt ill. it was great.

the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel: BC, who will turn 9 this year, wants a small sleepover party. two or three friends. that’s it. i can hardly wait 🙂

why i have the best husband in the world. reason #367

Posted on April 24, 2007 by wrekehavoc

sunday was our 17th wedding anniversary. yes, 17 years of wedded bliss. or something like that. you could not find two more different people who have so much in common. i’m sure people have looked at us over the years and marvelled that one of us didn’t end up with a toilet seat cracked over his/her head at one point or another. i’m sure he’s been tempted to do something like that. i know i have.

[to anyone out there who doesn’t know us: that last bit was a joke. really. put down the phone. no need to call the authorities.]

anyway, because i have not been getting out as much as i normally do (and couldn’t find what i wanted online), i did not yet get BS a present. (yes, i suck.) he kept saying to me, don’t worry. i ordered your present a long time ago, and it still isn’t in. so all the while, i’m wondering — what on earth did BS think of, in advance no less?

it came in yesterday, a day late but still wildly appreciated.

BS got Pat DiNizio, the main songwriter and lead singer of the Smithereens, to hand write a copy of the lyrics of my favorite Smithereens song, beauty and sadness, for me!!!!!!!!! i know most normal women out there are more interested in jewelry and other crap like that, but i actually cried. the smithereens hold a very special place in our life story together, and BS definitely put a little thought into this. to borrow from this is spinal tap: i’m shocked. and stunned.

and thankful 🙂

another reason to stay healthy

Posted on April 20, 2007 by wrekehavoc

apparently, crocs might be hazardous to your health.

[note to self: should i end up back in the hospital, i should write a note that indicates that a) i am allergic to most antibiotics, b) i wear contacts, and c) for G-d’s sake, someone needs to remove my daughter’s footwear.]

massacre

Posted on April 17, 2007 by wrekehavoc

there’s simply nothing funny about what happened at VaTech yesterday. i was going to post today about how amazingly well i did in PT yesterday, but to be truthful, we were all riveted to the TV at the PT shop yesterday. it made my pain so miniscule in comparison. one of the PTs has a son at Tech; fortunately, she was in cell phone contact with him.

it made me think about a conversation i had with BC a few weeks ago when her elementary school had a lockdown drill. “tell me about the drill,” i asked her, curious to see how an eight-year-old mind processes such an experience.

“well,” she said, “we put a paper over the door window, and then everyone had to run and find a hiding place in the room. it was kind of fun.”

trying very hard to breathe and not react, i continued: “why do you think you had a lockdown drill?”

very calmly, BC replied, “because if a burglar comes to our school, we might have to hide from him to stay safe.”

there are a few moments in parenthood for which you can never be prepared. for the parents, families, and friends of the victims of yesterday’s horror, i send out my heartfelt condolences. this is simply too much to bear.

girl power

Posted on April 9, 2007 by wrekehavoc

one day, probably not too long from now, BC will start to wonder why she can’t look as perfect as models on magazine covers. it’s kind of an inevitable modern rite of passage: comparing yourself to these pictures and finding yourself woefully inadequate. but as a webgeek, i know the truth about photoshop.

i will show her:

these;

and

these.

mom to kettle: you're black

Posted on April 8, 2007 by wrekehavoc

BC remarked: “mama, do you know the house is all smoky? have you been cooking again? did the smoke alarm go off and i missed it?”

i’m a great baker. i’m a terrible cook. i’m so sorry, farberware stockpot. you deserved better. RIP, old friend.

[note to my brother larry: hey, remember when you got me this for my wedding present? (oh. i didn’t think so. see, mom bought it and slapped your name on the card. really.) well, it’s been 17 years. i need another one. thank you.]

the end of the innocence

Posted on April 7, 2007 by wrekehavoc

BC’s friend told her last night at a slumber party that her mother was the tooth fairy. so now, BC has shared with me that she knows i am the tooth fairy.

i knew it wouldn’t last forever, but i’m so bummed.

—postscript—

at about 8:30pm, BC came out and said she couldn’t sleep. she looked over to find BS filling the easter baskets. i walked her back to her room.

“mama,” BC said, “daddy lied to me. he told me he wasn’t the easter bunny.”

i thought for a second. “no, honey,” i said. “daddy didn’t lie. daddy is helping out this year because my knee is messed up. he isn’t usually the easter bunny.

i am.”