Mama Mama Quite Contrary

Well, I didn't make my goal of blogging every day this month but at least I had a good reason-- pinworms. Internet, that may be the only time I use the word good and pinworms in the same sentence. My house is proof that it makes no difference how neat and tidy you are, sometimes kids catch some pretty undesirable stuff.  After dealing with head lice and pinworms in the span of six weeks, I can attest to just how undesirable those things are. By the way, undesirable is a nice way of saying really, freaking gross. After wiping Elie's bum and discovering that she had worms, I did what any caring mother would do. I sat down and cried at my bad luck.  Yes, because it is always about the mother.    When I told Elie that worms were the reason she had such a sore bummie, she said in a very concerned voice, "Oh no. This is such bad news.  I hope my sister Jude doesn't get the wormies." And like most twins, they shared that too.

I was wrong.  Lice is not the gift that keeps on giving.  That honor belongs to pinworms which we discovered Elie has.  (I think it might also take the cake as more disgusting than lice too.) Seriously, can a mama and a kid get a break around here? While I am off dealing with more laundry and a poor, pathetic three-year old, I am going to leave you with my personal parenting philosophy: Happy Friday!

I have decided that I need a goal. Something really meaningful.  Something I think I can achieve.  Not the usual lets see if I can get all 12 loads of laundry done today  nonsense. My goal is to blog every day this month and, unlike the laundry, I am actually looking forward to it! Soooo, with that being said, do you want to know what yours truly got for her 36th birthday? Here it is: A pretty awesome "birthday sculpture" made from the recycle bin. My favorite vanilla cake from my favorite bakery. Too many birthday snuggles to count. Oh yeah, and head lice. And let me tell you folks, that is the gift that keeps on giving. The girls were all in the tub and I was doing my usual bathroom ritual which involves searching my head for gray hairs and promptly plucking them.  (Hey, it takes work to look this good.  Hardee har har...)  Anyway, while perusing my scalp what to my wondering eyes should appear?  A bug. ...

I just ate a piece of chocolate bundt cake for breakfast.  It was homemade by moi and smothered in chocolate ganache.  I sat at the kitchen table and ate it right off the serving plate. (At least I didn't eat it while leaning over the sink. A woman has to have some limits.)  The worst part was that it wasn't even half as delicious as I had hoped and I still ate it. Since I was setting a bad example for my Turtles who sat at the table with me, I decided to share my cake breakfast with them.  They seemed to think it was delicious.  So maybe the worst part was NOT eating it while leaning over the sink. So, in a span of about ten minutes, I was able to turn a perfectly okay morning into one where I feel bad about myself, my mothering, and my complete lack of coping skills.   It's certainly fair to say that I have had a lot of stress the last two days.  My sister had major surgery yesterday and while the operation seemed to go smoothly, this particular p...

The preparation for our winter hibernation has begun. Like a switch, we've gone from the hustle and bustle of warmer weather to the paradoxical illness and fortifying associated with the colder months. Being of old Yankee stock, I rather look forward to this hunkering down. With the wind and the rain, the cold virus has swept into our home. It hit Vivi first and now the Turtles' are dripping and sneezing and all around feverish. They have still maintained their congenial temperaments as though they accept this as part of our transition. Their sleep is sporadic but when it comes it is deep and peaceful. As is mine. Vivi has found a lot of solace in playing quietly and independently. She loves to sit at the table and practice writing her letters and her name. She is pensive and creative and seems to have absorbed that we're moving at just a little slower pace these days. The last vestige of summer-- Vivi's dresses-- are still present but they are on top of pants and shirt...

I was pretty sure that at this point in my pregnancy, I would be getting it all together. My floors would be mopped. The freezer would be completely stocked with food. I would have finished the quilt I wanted to make for one of my dearest friends whose due date is a few days after mine. I fully expected that there would be a handful of odds and ends to accomplish in the waning weeks of the Turtles' gestation but those would be trivial like pulling the diapers out of the box and putting them on the change table. Well, let's just say, my expectations were off... WAY OFF! First of all, I got Vivi's cold but what was a cold for her is something of a flu/walking pneumonia for me. It's been a week now and I'm not feeling much improved. I've taken to sleeping on the couch in part out of mercy for my husband but also because I am more comfortable in a semi-upright position in a colder room. I'm trying to nap when Vivi naps too which seems to leave me more groggy tha...

Back in September, my husband and Vivi came down with a horrific cold. Both had runny noses, coughs, fevers, and were far too exhausted to do much of anything. They were a pathetic pair and I was their sympathetic caregiver who managed to come out of the whole thing without so much as a sniffle. This was not because I took extra precautions to wash my hands or refrained from eating Vivi's leftovers. (As if!) I reasoned that I didn't get sick because I am a pregnant lady with a superstar immune system. Yeah, well, the jig is up and my superstar immune system ain't so super anymore. Since November came, Vivi and I have been sharing a cold back and forth. She feels fine for a day but then I'm wiped out. I feel better and she turns into a cranky monster who wipes her boogers anywhere she can reach. We're both too gross for words. Amazingly, in all of this, Vivi seems to have associated being "pregnant" with being "sick." Last night, she asked, "...