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Most Smartest Mommy ITW (In The World)
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Striving to be My Best Possible Self
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Sendith thou children back to the halls of knowledge and peace shall reign down upon thee. Mommy 51:50 My kids have been fighting like two cats in a bag. They are officially sick of each other. The problem is they’ve been around each other way too much. The house of brotherly/sisterly love is on vacation. Gone are the days of a hearbreaking work of staggering preciousness when my children had a 7-hour school day to miss each other and were eager to play nice with each other. And I am, in turn, about to lose my mind if I hear one more wail of injustice, one more screech of pain inflicted (physical, emotional or retaliatory), or one more shout of “Hey! That’s not fair!” My children’s animosity toward each other has escalated to such a degree that the first words out of their mouths to each other when they wake up is a below the belt shot. The intensity of conflicts seems disproportionate to the petty reason for fighting in the first place. Many times, they don’t even know what they’re arguing about anymore. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the War in the Just send everyone back to school. Until then, just put on a Full House DVD. ☺ ☺ ☺ Who knew a trip to the mall could be so therapeutic? Actually, I did know that as a big fan of retail therapy. But I meant for an 8 year old boy. We went from I, myself, was in absolute heaven after my own week of mommy heartbreak, since I purposely refrain from going to the mall because it just reminds me of all the oh-so-cute things I just have to have but don’t really need. But what really left me floating in neon pink, green and orange is: The 80’s are back! It was like someone put me in a time machine and I stepped out into 1985 Sunvalley Mall ready to shop for a pair of gray Dittos with pink pin stripes, matching LA Gear two-tone fold-down lace ups, a sleeveless hot pink button-down collared shirt with a fat silver studded belt cinched over it, matching dangly earrings with hearts on the ends, an arm full of jelly bracelets and cheap, bright, fat bead bracelets. I knew I should’ve hung onto all that and my WHAM! posters! Something as fabulous as the 80’s was sure to come back again. Hmmm, it just might be time to pull out my hot pink prom dress with matching heels and banana clip from the attic. ☺ ☺ ☺ I arranged the last two weeks of summer camp so each of my kids would get some one-on-one time with mom. My son decided one of things he wanted to do together was get some more jelly bracelets a la 1980’s. And being the excellent shopper I am, I knew just the place to get him an armful collection – Claire’s accessory store. So off to the mall we went – a mother/son shopping day. Being a miniature replica of his father, I thought Now, the only time my kids go to the mall is for Christmas to tell Santa what they’d like or for my daughter, a Libby Lu birthday party. If there’s going to be a rare trip to the mall for the pure sport of shopping, this woman goes solo. Bringing the kids would be like an alcoholic showing up with a flask at an AA meeting. You’re not going to get to indulge your vice and you should’ve known better than to try. Any how, on the way to Claire’s we passed a surf wear shop. Store after store, his excitement grew -- a shoe store with more varieties of Chuck’s than he’d ever seen to his delight and amazement. A hat shop that blew his mind with its seemingly infinite selection. When I told him there were more surf and skate shops we could check out, he asked incredulously, “How many stores are there in this place?” It was a great day of shopping. As Logan and I left the mall, three dozen multi-colored jelly bracelets on his arms, a “tight” hot pink skull shirt in his possession, and three stores he planned to visit again for back-to-school shopping, he declared, “This is the best day of my life!” Only a week after losing his Hammy the hamster and declaring it the worst day of his life, it was music to this mother’s ears. Plus, I had just gained an unexpected partner for my retail therapy sessions. Rough week this week. Our beloved Hammy the diabetic hamster went on to the big exercise wheel in the sky. And I had one devastated little boy on my hands which in turn devastated me. Holding Hammy’s fading little furry body in his hands I don’t know whose heart ached more – his for Hammy or mine for my son. The day Oh, and how he loved Hammy. Every morning he would collect her from her cage, rubbing his cheek along her calico fur proclaiming, “I just can’t resist her! She’s so cute and soft!” He even created her own special jingle. So many times I’d hear him sing, “Hammy is the cutest, cutest, littlest, littlest, sweetest, sweetest, prettiest, prettiest Hammy!” He diligently cleaned her cage, he was her fierce protector from overzealous young visitors, and every night he and I made sure she had fresh food and water before he’d call out to her cage on his dresser, “Night, night Hammy. I love you.” So, when I noticed Tuesday morning that Hammy seemed more sluggish than usual, a creeping dread ran through me. The same dread I had some weeks ago when I realized we had an unwell hamster – diabetes, common in dwarf hamsters. I thought we had held off the inevitable with a change in diet and care. But that morning I knew – this was the day my son’s heart would be broken. Later, when I realized the end was near, I called him and his sister in to break the news and say good-bye. It was excruciating to witness his devastation and it took everything in me to hold it together to provide him a measure of strength and comfort in his time of raw despair. One of my toughest motherhood experiences to date. Later, after many tears and a giant Slurpee to ease the heartache, we laid Hammy to rest in my flower wagon in front of The hurt is still fresh, the loss still raw, and the sadness lingers like a wet blanket of fog. And that’s just Mommy aching for her son’s first lost love and the tears he still cries. Will there be another hamster? My heart can’t take it. It looks like a cat will finally be in our future because despite me being allergic – at least I know it should live a good dozen years before I have to deal with it going to the big cat nip patch in the sky. ☺ ☺ ☺ The The free bike ride around the neighborhood is out of the question. The gratuitous swimming in the backyard pool just seems too risky. The no cost frolicking in the backyard with friends would be too costly. I know there is a myriad of things we can do indoors, and believe me, we’ve done plenty of them. Indoor bocce ball. Cat Lovers Monopoly. Hide and Seek and nearly break a toe trying to make it to base. But try telling two very active grade schoolers that this summer (going on three weeks here) they have to stay indoors. Despite a blotting of the sun with a gray pall of smoke until it glows an eerie orange, itchy, watery eyes and throats, headaches and slight nausea, they can’t quite seem to grasp that this all could be hazardous and permanently disabling to their developing lungs. So I distract them by taking them to the movies. I find I don’t feel like I’m cultivating couch potatoes if we go out to see a movie. Despite fertilizing ourselves with buckets of popcorn, gallons of Icees and smuggled in jumbo boxes of Junior Mints. So, we’ve become the Siskel, Ebert and Wheelers of summer kid movies. Kit Kittredge? Favorite! WALL-E? Fantastic! Space Chimps? I pray the prayer of a desperate mother these fires are snuffed out before I get dragged to that one. ☺ ☺ ☺ Thank you to all the firefighters for working tirelessly to preserve the beauty, resources and homes of The children explode out of bed Excited to decorate their bikes Streaks of red, white and blue As they parade with other tykes. Streaks of giggles, screeches of delight Fun and games in the neighborhood Three-legged race, balloon toss and popsicles Reminds us life is certainly good Smiles flash in sheer joy Splashes of color bobbing in the pool Bodies flying through the air A watery landing to stay cool The light of friends and family mingle Bursts of happiness abound The boom of fun and laughter Echoing a cheerful sound A huge display of summer’s bounty Bold and vivid tasty treats A colorful feast of fruit and more Too many good things to eat Crackles of excitement and anticipation pops As the darkness descends for the show A fantastic driveway display The children’s sleepy eyes aglow Looks of wonder lit up With awed faces turned to the sky Eventually the children fade Time to put to bed another family 4th of July
©KMW 7/08 |
