July 14th, 2011

Look at me!

I loved this post from Grumbles and Grunts about getting down and playing with our kids. And it reminded me of a story about me and my dad and rather than hijack her comments, I thought I would tell it here. Plus, I have nothing to talk about but Spencer turning 2 next week! eek! and BlogHer eek! So, this will be away to put off those posts for another day.

I would like to preface this by saying that I don’t remember this at all, but it was told to me so often by my parents that I feel like I do. Which, interestingly, is how much of my childhood memories are framed. I remember people telling me about them, not the incident itself.

My dad mowed the lawn without fail every Saturday. For a few years, maybe 6-8 yrs old, I would be right out there with him, following him with my pop mower and telling him about my week. For an hour or two (we had a big lawn). The only breaks in my narrative would be to fetch him beers. I was happy as a clam, with my dad’s undivided attention. I only had the one sister, but at this time, my dad worked long hours and one-on-one time was rare.

The smarty-pants in the crowd might have noticed the point of interest in this story. He could not hear a single word I was saying. Not a bit. And as a child, I neither knew or cared. All I knew was that I had daddy time. Overall, my parents were pretty game with the “look at me!” or the plays or the roller skate restaurant, which, by the way, I think might have served air food and actual beers. My sister and I knew how to throw a party, even at that early age.

I guess my point is that we remember the playing, not the ignoring, for I am sure they didn’t play every time we asked, but I couldn’t tell you. I think it is important to have a balance. And we learned at a young age to go bug my mom when Big Ten football was on. That was craft time.

As a child, I did a ton of reading. A ton. It warms the cockles of my icy heart to see Spencer flip through the pages of a book and narrate the story in his own little way. If Spencer ends up an only, he is going to need to learn to play on his own, but the onus will be on us to play more, too.  I think one of the biggest benefits, as a child, to having a sibling is the built in playmate. As an adult, it might be having someone to get drunk and price things for the estate sale with.

July 11th, 2011

The Little Gourmand

I get asked quite frequently what I have done to make Spencer such a good eater and really I have one very simple response: he was born that way. The kiddo loves food. He asks for peas for lunch. He love gouda and feta and goat cheese and monster (muenster) cheese. He loves every carb every invented from rice cakes to noodles. The only thing he’s ever really objected to was flan. And he used to dislike zucchini, but the other day he tried it again and decided he really liked “zoo-pini.”

Yep, the kid hates food. If I had a actual piece of advice, it would just be offer lots of different things and don’t force it. My sister and I turned out pretty picky and we were raised being forced to clean our plates. I try and make something every will like at every meal, but I don’t really make separate meals. Spencer is pretty good with proteins, he’s happily eaten tuna, lamb, sea bass, steak, chicken, turkey, all forms of pork and he adores bacon (that’s my boy); so if we are having a questionable vegetable (previously zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower, but he likes them all now), I would also have carrot sticks or peas as an option. Oh, beets. He used to love beets and suddenly he does not, but whatever. I don’t always like beets.

I’ve heard turning 2 is a game changer and the best of eaters can suddenly become picky. Well, I guess we’ll just take that as it comes. I do love that I can ask him what he wants for lunch and the response is “chicken, rice and peas;” it seems so healthy.

July 10th, 2011

And Sometimes I Overreact: A Short Play

Scene begins with banging on the door

Mother With Toddler n hip [Opens Door]: Hello?

Door-to-door religious person: Hello, happy day! I see you have your hands full. Ha!Ha!

MWTOP: MmmHmm

DTDRP: Well, we’re just here today to talk to you about death. A lot of people are scared by the big, bad world out there, with terrorism and {mumble} trial and I would like to read you a verse that you can find comfort in.

MWTOP: Are your parents still alive?

DTDRP: Why, yes!

MWTOP: Mine both died by the time I was 35 and no bible verse is going to bring them back.

DTDRP: {wtf look on face}

MWTOP: [Closes door]

end scene

July 8th, 2011

BlogHer Book Club: The Beach Trees

I love reading, plain and simple. I will read almost everything and anything, but I prefer to read books that are good. Obviously. I loved The Beach Trees by Karen White – great mystery and even a Southern one, I adore a good Southern novel with its manners and society. We just don’t have that in Southern California, at least not in the suburbs. To read my full BlogHer Book Club review, head over to BlogHer: Past and Present Collide in The Beach Trees.