Tag: family

Applesauce and Pizza Birthday Surprise

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Mama

Well, I am officially celebrating the last of my 40s and if last week’s birthday surprise is any indication of what’s to come I am so hammering down on the birthday brakes right here folks. The day was certainly one I won’t forget with a spectacular 2:30 a.m. start as my eight-year-old son woke up running a fever. A thermometer, a cool rag and a dose of Advil signaled the end of my sleep and the start of my day.

birthday surprise Of course I had this whole fabulous day planned out, which was slated to start with brunch, end with dinner and contain some serious shopping in between. I was going to kick number 49’s tail and celebrate the day with friends, family and a little bit of myself. Sounds awesome, right? Wah-wah-wah. . .

For over a month, three girlfriends and I (my husband lovingly calls us the Fearsome Foursome) had been planning to have crepes and coffee together because one of girls who moved to Colorado earlier this year was going to be back in town. This was the day, my birthday, for us to catch up, enjoy some good food and have a few laughs without a single big boy or toddler in tow. Woo hoo (not that we don’t love our little boys very very much)!! My immediate disappointment at missing this glorious girl time was only overshadowed by my little guy’s illness, but thankfully my husband immediately stepped up and rearranged his own day in order to give me two hours with my friends. Yay for great husbands! So in the end, I did drink my coffee, eat my crepe and laugh with my friends; unfortunately, I also watched the clock and said some speedy good-byes but it was certainly better than nothing.

After nursing a sick kid for most of the day, I took him to the doctor and we left with a prescribed antibiotic and hopes that it would kick in quickly. Unfortunately, my child decided to redecorate the inside of my Jeep with the contents of his stomach before we ever made it home. Applesauce and pizza. . . need I say more? Thankfully my husband scored bonus points by offering to clean out my car when he got home because, as he so wisely stated, “Nobody should have to clean up puke on their birthday.” Agreed! So I let him.

By evening time, we were all exhausted and our dinner plans had of course been nixed; so we stayed home, I opened gifts from my boys and I blew out a candle atop a blueberry muffin (the closest thing to cake in the house). Nothing about the day went as planned and my poor little boy was still sick, but I strangely enjoyed it all the same. . . even if my Jeep still faintly smells of carpet cleaner and pizza.

Just How Grown Up is a Second Grader?

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Mama

Yesterday evening was “meet your teacher night” at my son’s school and today is our last official day of summer. Wow! I have absolutely no idea where it all went. Okay, so I have a few suspicions, but I probably won’t own up to the fact that I tried to cram way too much good stuff into a mere two and a half months (and I might do the same thing next year *grin*).

second grade — *PTA photo booth at Meet Your Teacher night.*

As usual, my son was a bit anxious about the school year but after he located his classroom, met his teacher and recognized a few peers he is now a bit more eager to get second grade started. Of course I would be happy if he was simply working his way backward and the first day of preschool was actually at hand. My sweet little boy is growing up so quickly and although I try to enjoy every new season of life, I’m not ready to cut the apron strings as soon as he might like.

Monday evening I asked him if he wanted me to walk him to his classroom on the first day of school. This has been the drill for the last two years and I thought it was simply a rhetorical question. Wrong!

“That’s so embarrassing,” he said.

I responded, “Really?”

*short silent pause*

“But you can walk me if you really want to,” he added.

That’s my boy! He is so on the fence when it comes to growing up, and if that is all I can get I’ll take it. I’ll let him make every justification in the book as long as it keeps him from morphing into a teenager at lightning speed. Yes, I want to walk him to class on the first day of school, and I bet I do it for as long as he lets me.

Have You Lost Your Marbles?

Posted on August 7, 2018April 1, 2020 by Mama

The end of summer is chasing us here in the Midwest, and my son and I are trying to cram in as much fun as possible before the first day of school, August 16. Yikes! When I say it out loud that sounds really early! Does anyone remember when we started school after Labor Day and still got out way before June?

Anyway, in the name of summer fun we headed to the Moon Marble Company in Bonner Springs, Kansas, yesterday. We arrived just in time to watch the artisan and owner of Moon Marble transform a few pieces of raw glass into a shiny, smooth and very cool marble. It’s an awesome process to watch (the owner also is pretty clever) and the marble company makes it easy on the gawkers with a nice sized set of bleachers and large screen television for comfort and viewing.

In addition to this main event, visitors ~~can~~ must also peruse the sizable retro toy store/gift shop, which of course everyone walks through on their way to and from the marble making room. And let me tell you, after you watch a marble being made you might look at these little round balls of glass in a whole new light. You WILL want to come home with a pocketful of your own shiny objects, and we did!

So there I was, standing in line to pay for my son’s plastic tube full of brightly colored marbles, when a lady leans forward and asks me if I ever taught school in Nickerson. Indeed I had, but that was so many years ago and many miles away that I was completely caught off guard. I didn’t recognize the face behind the voice and I quickly went into internal panic mode when she explained that she was one of my former students. I never like to forget a student; but let’s face it, she would have been a teenager the last time I saw her. Things got really crazy when she explained (probably because of the bewildered look on my face) who she was and that she recognized me because I “haven’t changed a bit.”

What did she say?

I squeezed that silly little plastic tube I was holding and literally lost some of my marbles! I swear I chased those fast-moving little suckers as quickly as I chased my memories (and I probably unknowingly left a few of both behind).

Although flustered and embarrassed after chasing my marbles about the floor, I did manage to recall her younger self after she gave me her name. It actually turned out fun to run into a former student from my first teaching job of so many years ago. We reminisced, talked about our kids (she has six by the way, with the oldest a senior in high school, and I have only one who is about to start second grade – go figure) and briefly caught up on our current whereabouts; but the one glaring (and extremely flattering) thing I took away from this whole chance encounter was that she said, “You haven’t changed a bit!”

Maybe she was the one who lost her marbles. . .

photo credit: Reva G Shadows vs. light via photopin (license)

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