Hello, internet. It's been a while, hasn't it?
I decided to make all my vox posts neighborhood only, because I stupidly used my real name for this and I don't want all my acquaintances to know all my brain quirks and etc.
So, if you want to know about me or read my blog, please contact me. Anyone with basic googling skills can do it!
-emily-
Elle is 5, and has been since November. Due to the holiday frenzy, I am just now returning to the blog. Enjoy!
Elle had been counting down the days to her birthday for weeks. I showed her the day on the calendar again and again, and still she asked almost daily if it was her birthday. She had specific plans for her party, she informed me it would be at Chuck E Cheese's.
The morning of her birthday, Jim laid out some clothes for her to wear on her bed and left her to get dressed. He returned to our room to finish getting ready for work, when all of a sudden Elle ran crying into our room. She was completely naked. I went to her to find out what had happened, and she told me, "All of those clothes are too small for me, I'm 5 now!" "We need to go to the store to get bigger clothes!"
[Excerpt from 11/18/07]
My kids are growing up in a different world than I did. I grew up in the country, my kids are growing up in the suburbs. We have spent time at my parents and the kids have enjoyed plenty of country activities, such as walking on the tops of round hay bales, mowing a field or 2 with Grandpa, seeing a "turtle pen", (ok, that one might not fit all country kids, but those of us with herpetologist mothers understand,) and I imagined my kids were acclimated to both environments, country and city. I was wrong.
Jamy is an avid hiker, he never runs out of energy, he is very observant, being the first one to see deer in the trees, he loves seeing all of the insects and wild flowers, and figuring out the trail. Imagine my surprise at the end of our hike today when he said, "Aren't you glad we're done with our hike? It's nice to not be crowded by all those trees."
My reaction? Silence, shock, confusion, concern. Am I really raising a "city kid" as my Dad would say? I've been in denial.
Is there a medical term for feeling "crowded by trees" or does it fall under the claustrophobia category? Are there any other city kids that have experienced this phenomenon? We need to raise awareness on this disorder, so they can find a cure. Until then we are going to continue treating the kids with hiking therapy, and visits to Grandma's.
If his conditions worsens, perhaps we'll be forced to move to the country to live out the rest of his childhood.
Send in your donations now. Time is running out. Only a few years left. You could help a child in need for as little as $1 a day......
As we gathered around the table today for our Thanksgiving feast, my mother-in-law said a prayer and asked us all to say what we were thankful for. Family, friends, & shelter, were the heartfelt answers, repeated by us all. The mood was reverent, as we were still in prayer, until we reached Elle, who said "chocolate." We all began giggling, and she exclaimed, "What?! I really DO like chocolate!"
I have to say, we really don't thank the Lord enough for blessing us with chocolate. It does help to counter act those mood swings. Everyone, please bow your heads in prayer..............................
Elle's teacher, Ms. Shelly, walked up to me today as I picked up Elle from school, and told me about an exchange she had had with her today before recess.
Ms. Shelly: "Elle, it's time to put on your sweater so we can go outside and play."
Elle: "No thanks, I want to feel the degrees."
I have always know that Jamy has a lot of love to give, but as he's gotten older we spend a lot of time in battle. I know that it will get worse before it gets better, but for now he still has moments of heart melting sweetness.
Today,he had one such moment. Unprovoked, and without any manipulative purpose, catching me completely off guard, he said;
"Mom, I don't think I could ever live without you."
Ok, people, scrape your hearts up off the floor while I wipe away the tear in my eye!!!
One day as I was backing out of the garage, I came extremely close to knocking the mirror off of the van on the edge of the door. Jamy, then 3, exclaimed, "Oh my God!"
Out of reverence for the Lord, or at least because I didn't want him to offend any Grandma's or church members where we had recently joined, I scolded him and explained that we only say "Oh my God" as a way to address God while praying.
Without pause, he quipped, "Well I was praying, and you interrupted me!"
This weekend we decided to hike at the Lakeside Nature Center. We packed up our water in our camelbacks, we each have our own, and our snacks, and headed out for a 2 mile family trek. The kids were very excited to go. They had new trekking poles and were eager to try them out.
James was attempting to guess where we were driving to. He realized we were in Swope park and he was going to guess the zoo. Jim and I silenced him saying, “If you say what you’re going to say, you’ll be wrong and somebody will be angry when we don’t go there.”
Elle piped up from the backseat, “Yeah, I’ll be mad!”
My daughter Elle, 4, has been refusing to wear pants for months. She wears dresses and skirts exclusively and won't be caught dead in shorts. Instead of making a big deal out of it, I have just been stocking up on dresses when I find a good sale. She won't wear tennis shoes for that matter either. It's dress shoes only, and sometimes, curiously, rain boots. I usually enjoy her sense of fashion and go with the flow.
Yesterday, however, she was complaining that it was chilly outside. I told her that pants would keep her legs warm and picked out some of the cutest jeans with pink stitching from the drawer of unused pants. It took a little encouragement, but in no time, she was dressed in pants! Wanting to encourage this behavior, I told her she was beautiful. As I said it, a powerful instinct kicked in to tell her that she was beautiful on the outside, but also on the inside. In this world of Barbie and models, makeup and plastic surgery, I obviously want her to focus on her internal beauty.
Her response went something like this,
"On the INSIDE? But there's BLOOD on the inside!" She was horrified.
We have a ways to go on the concept of internal beauty.
After spending many days at the pool one summer, we had a play date with some dear friends of ours. Jamy, (then age 7,) and his friend hadn't seen each other in a long while, and were quite excited to discuss what they had been doing during summer vacation. The conversation turned to their tanned skin, and Jamy was noticeably darker. Upon this discovery he informed his friend, "You're just a white boy, I'm an Indian!"
His friend quickly replied, "Really? What's your Indian name?"
"James," was the answer.
