WILLING WINTER AWAY
Last week I decided I was done with Winter. All I needed was a couple of 60 degree days and I was through with it.
We’ve done the months of bundling up, mittens, hats, winter coats, wind chilly days. We’ve done boots and outer wear drying on towels by the front door.
It’s time for Spring! Easter is quickly approaching and our crocuses are out!
So I visualized warmer days and put my money where my mouth is- I put my most cumbersome winter coat in the dry cleaners.
Then it got cold again.
But I picked it up yesterday and put it in our back closet where it will hang until next winter…
I was chilly this morning taking my little guy to nursery school but like I said, I am willing winter away! I’m done with it! Winter does not serve me anymore!
Yesterday evening, after my son went to bed my husband and I heard geese coming back north for the warm weather… Victory! I was right…
Maybe not- forecast of snow flurries possible for tonight, UGH!
‘RECYCLED’ TODDLER FURNITURE
What do you do when your 4-year-old son vomits incredible amounts of medicine, food, liquid, some brown particles, and a few carrots, onto his favorite chair? You throw it away…
That was my first reaction. But the chair in question has been a mainstay in our home. He sits in it, does art projects in it. We make paper maps on top of the coffee table while sitting in it. It is a fixture.
It’s been through a lot in the past three years- snack incidents, mucus and colds, more vomiting, but I’ve always been able to clean it with whatever cleaning solution I’m into at the time.
But this time was the vomit of all vomits. And after trying to clean it and scrub it, my husband and I realized that it may have reached the end of its time with us. The chair smelled so bad, we had to put it down in the back part of the basement.
I started thinking… It’s gone. This stinks… literally.
Stain cleaners can’t tackle this job. It’s been a great chair.
Hmmmmm, I’d always noticed a zipper on the bottom of the chair. I went downstairs and looked at it again. There were a couple of zippers strategically placed on the chair, so I looked for possible laundry instructions. Then I saw the tag, and I quote:
‘Do Not Remove the Cover’.
“Shoot, I can’t take that off,” I thought.
Bummer!
Wait a Minute… Wait One… Little… Minute.
I can’t believe I’m obeying this little tag! This is worse than obeying those PILLOW tags that read- ‘Do Not Remove’.
I can do this. I WILL do this. I’ve lived through a 17-hour labor! I’m not listening to a little tag. I’m an educated mother, wife… woman.
I will remove this cover, I will wash this cover and take my chances. Consequences be damned! I will not obey this little tag, but instead obey my instincts!
I removed said cover. It felt great.
Into the washer it went… with a lot of detergent.
How will it look? Will it fit back on? The wash cycle seemed to take 45 minutes… Well, it always takes 45 minutes, but back to the story.
I took it out and it looked BRAND NEW! I’m embarrassed to admit how excited I was…
Victory seemed so close. So then I dried it on just the ‘AIR’ setting to prevent any shrinkage. Would it work?
My husband and I took it out of the dryer; he was completely into the ‘Saving of the Chair’ by now too.
It took some prying and wiggling and me pushing on the chair with my full weight at strategic angles to put the cover back on. I was sweating by this point, again… literally. BUT IT WENT BACK ON!!!!!
It’s beautiful! It looks like it can last another 3 years! Victory is mine (start humming ‘Rocky’ theme). I didn’t listen to that little tag or any little voices telling me to obey directions!
What a victory… I have saved a beloved chair from extinction!
Okay, it’s a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
I am so psyched! Gotta go upstairs to the bedrooms to remove all those tags from the … well, you know.
This victory tale is crossposted at DC Metro Moms Blog. It’s a great site!
MOMS MAKE THE MAN
“Men are what their mothers made them.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Boys need instruction, leadership and a good model to follow.
They also need kindness, love and comfort.
No matter how old our ‘little boys’ get, they will always remember-
hugs we give them, bandages we apply, our laps to sit on, encouraging words and knowing that they are great ‘just the way they are’.
ROCKING MY ‘BABY’ TO SLEEP
Last night my 4-year-old son was very tired. We played outside most of the day. Well, my husband and him played mostly, while I cleaned house, got taxes done, paid bills, planned lunches and dinners for the week and did three loads of laundry.
After dinner we played some more until it was apparent that bedtime should be moved up a few minutes. I saw my son getting that tired and cranky look in his eye…
‘I have just a short window,’ I thought. But it was too late at that point (ugh- rookie mistake) and I knew there would be some kind of power play upstairs.
Turned out, it was just over teeth brushing. After several minutes of negotiating, if that is what you would call it- aka: trying to persuade him to do it and then resorting to making it a game (that’s what I call it in my house), the teeth were brushed.
On to his room we went. He was still a little bent out of shape, so I picked up my 4-year-old (my cardio) and sat down in the rocking chair. I started to rock him and he took to it like he was a baby. He nestled down in my arms and started to relax.
I could have put him in bed at that point with no problem. I was about to… and then I realized I had an opportunity I RARELY get. I could rock him to sleep.
I spent the next 10 minutes rocking him. I closed my eyes from time to time and completely enjoyed every second. He fell asleep in my arms and I kept rocking slowly for a couple more minutes.
I looked down at him ‘sleeping like a baby’ in my arms. My big boy, whose favorite line is, “I can do it” looked like he did when he was 12 months old. I stared at his little cheeks, the flawless baby skin and his long eyelashes resting comfortably.
“I love this moment,” I thought.
I put him in bed and closed the door and went downstairs.
My husband grinned, “You got to rock him to sleep, didn’t you?”
I nodded with a big smile.
“Good stuff,” my husband said.
“Great stuff,” I replied.
TAXES
I’m preparing our taxes for our accountant.
Even when we are getting a refund, taxes don’t put me in a great mood.
I look at Social Security withholdings on my husband’s W-2. Then I remember that we are the generation that will somehow support the aging ‘Baby Boomer’ generation.
Social Security? I’m not feeling all that secure about the nation’s ‘Social Security’ program…
But then I pause. Mine is not to figure out how…
There are accountants and lawmakers and government workers and Social Security officials and managers and financial whizzes and assistants and assistants-to-assistants to work that out… Hmmm, maybe that is part of the problem.
But I digress…
Mine is to smile and give thanks that I get to see the world through a 4- year- old’s eyes.
Besides, you know what they say, ‘It’s only money’!
INVEST TIME
“The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother.”
-Napoleon Bonaparte
The best gift we can give our children is our time.
SUCCESSFUL TUBES!
My son got ‘tubes’ put in his ears yesterday morning.
It was a little rough seeing him going under anesthesia. But he’s fine. His ears are good. And maintenance is going to be easier than expected.
We’re done. He’s on the mend.
Thank you!
SAFEWAY PIZZA
So I found myself down the street from my house checking out the NEWLY RENOVATED Safeway on Old Georgetown Road… Wait a minute, this sounds a lot like my post about Wegmans and Mad Housewife Merlot.
Disclaimer: Contrary to how it sounds, I do other things with my son than just go to grocery stores.
This Safeway in Bethesda is beautiful. It reminds me more of a Balducci’s than a Safeway; a huge, bountiful produce section… and don’t get me started on the meats. It’s not a Wegmans, but then again, what is?
What really elevates the store is the deli section. It’s really a step up from your typical Safeway or Giant. That is where I came across my find worth blogging about- Safeway Pizza.
You heard me right- Safeway Pizza. This is not your grandmother’s frozen pizza – this isn’t frozen pizza at all. It’s fresh, unfrozen pizza, already made for you. And the price is… $7.99 for a large cheese; a pizza big enough that the box barely fit in my refrigerator and my husband, son and myself did not finish it.
But is it good? It’s EASILY as good as DELIVERY pizza.
(Parking note: This Safeway is about a block from the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Ave. Turn from Wisconsin Ave. onto Old Georgetown Road because it’s a one-way street for that block or so, just make a right into their underground parking garage right before the entrance to the store. There is PLENTY of FREE parking for the Safeway underground.)
I have not seen this pizza in another local Safeway store or my local Giant store. I’ve only seen them in higher-end food stores, but change may be coming… Who knows?
This is a phenomenal idea: ready-made, fresh pizza for… $7.99! It made dinner easy on a Friday night… and that’s all we are really looking for, isn’t it?
This blog post can also be found at DC Metro Moms… it’s a great site!
ANOTHER GUY WHO LOVED HIS MOM
President’s Day is upon us…
So here is another great quote from a President about his Mom.
“No one in the world can take the place of your mother. Right or wrong, from her viewpoint you are always right. She may scold you for little things, but never for the big ones.”
– Harry Truman
MAD HOUSEWIFE CELLARS
YEY, Mad Housewife Cellars!
They wrote about and linked to my blog (on DC Metro Moms) on their blog!
Check it out- Mad Housewife Cellars Blog.
It’s the power of the Internet… and more importantly… MOMS !
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I Was In The 2012 Show !
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