How true!
If I could give just one gift…
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Tag Archives: Parenting
A great day!
Happy Mothers Day to all!
What a nice day I had today! It got off to a slow start with a morning filled with light recovery from a festive end of season soccer party yesterday. We had the entire team and their families for a late night filled with laughs, drinks, good times and a few fireworks.
The morning started with the girls giving me cards and crafts made at school, all very nice and thoughtful. They included cute things on “I love you because…” and little “helping hands” of items that I can cash in for help over the year. I think one of my favorites was the card from Madison which was a recordable card. I did not expect to hear he little voice telling me that she loved me as I opened it. I also got flowers and a gift card to the hair salon which will come in very handy this Wednesday when I once again will wash the gray away.
Frank got us take out from the diner for breakfast which was very tasty. After the girls and I laid on the sofa and watched a Harry Potter movie. 
An extra special event of the day was Madison’s first attempt to ride her bike without training wheels. She prepared by putting on both knee and elbow pads explaining to me that she was nervous that she may fall. She headed outside with Frank as I went to grab some shoes. I put on some flip-flops and headed out the front door just in time to see my baby pedal by. I could not be more proud! 
The day wrapped up with Frank cooking dinner and the girls helping with the dishes. Not a bad day at all! I have come to realize that it is the little things that make life exciting. Seeing my daughter overcome her fear and conquer a training wheel free bike, a hand written card filled with love or those moments just holding my girls while watching a movie. These are the things that are important in life and I cherish every one!
Some life lessons are hard
Yesterday I posted about the bird nest that had been attacked by the Crow’s. We were very hopeful that we had been able to save the bird family since the mother bird had returned to the nest. Those hopes started to wane around dusk last night when the nest seemed empty. We are not able to see into the nest due to its height in the tree. The girls refused to believe anything bad had happened instead believing that mom was out “stretching her wings”.
This morning Megan was first out the door to again find an empty nest. The realization set in. Sadness hit my girls.
Life is a series of lessons, some big others small many sad but others wonderful. They all have to be learned. For my girl today death, and the fact that sometimes no matter how hard you try, your best is not always enough.
The biggest lesson of the day, never stop trying and always give your best. As long as you do, the good will outweigh the bad!
The protector
What a morning we had today. We were going about our normal morning business breakfast ,music lessons and getting ready for school. The calm of our morning came to an abrupt end when Holly, our beautiful yet hyper and crazy labrador retriever started to bark like crazy at the back door.
Now I guess I should back track just a little and state that the girls and I noticed a Robin building a nest in one of the plum trees in the back yard a bit over a week ago. We know she laid eggs because the girls check on her daily as she sits ever patiently on them in the nest. She is very accepting of the curious little eyes staring up at her. I have stressed to the girls not to get too close and never to try to touch the nest.
So, back to this morning. Holly was barking out of control so I looked out the kitchen window. To my horror I saw 2 Crows in the tree with the nest. I ran to the door and opened it. Now, my dog is 80 pounds of pure lovable best friend. She has a mighty big bark and is very protective of my girls. When I opened the door she took off in a full sprint toward the tree barking the entire time. The Crows circled the tree and then took off. Holly ran back and forth until something caught her attention under the tree. She stood looking at us at the door and then back at the ground. She did this several times without moving.
I went out to find the tiniest baby bird laying on the ground. The girls of course followed. I told them to run inside and get a paper plate and a step stool. The bird was breathing but was so tiny and had just fallen about 7 feet onto rock. I could almost hear my mother’s voice in my head telling me not to touch that bird! In front of me were my girls and the very protective dog who all expected me to do something great. What could I do?
I sprang into action giving the little thing a push onto the plate. I rolled it into a little tube and then climbed up on the step stool getting as close as I could to the nest without having an eye poked out. I was able to get the plate right into the edge of the nest where I then poured the baby in. As I was climbing down I realized I was being watched by the mother from a fence panel. She seemed very calm waiting for us to leave before taking her place back on top of her perfectly made nest.
We have checked on her several times during the day. She has been in position on the nest. We all have our fingers crossed that the baby makes it through. I always knew our lovable dog protected my girls like a mother, who knew she was looking out for all of the creatures in the yard!
My new addiction
Every time I turn on the television I grow more disillusioned. Being from the Philadelphia area, the local news has continual updates on the Kermit Gosnell abortion murder trial. Murder, late term and live abortions, fetus’s found in boxes, this case has it all. There was a commercial break today during a non news show that started with “a woman who claims she was instructed to snip the spinal cords of fetus’s born alive…..” I changed the channel.
A few short weeks ago it seemed that we were being prepared for imminent war with North Korea. A daily barrage of missile launch warnings and dictator rants. Now that seems to be replaced with the Syrian war drums.
Terrorist attacks in Boston, Swat teams searching private homes, a totally, broken, dysfunctional and honestly in my opinion corrupt Washington all adds to the weight we all already carry with our own personnel lives and issues.
SO what is one to do? Well of course turning off the TV is an option but for a lover of the boob tube like myself that is not a feasible option. Instead I have discovered a loved for Netflix streaming. Who knew all of the gems that were on the air in early 2000. Alias and In Plain Sight or some still on the air that I had never seen like Numbers or Psych. We have seen many of the family movies available and Madison has fallen in love with HR Puff and Stuff.
I am sure to some making the conscious decision to tune out for a while is not smart. To others things that I have mentioned in this post are new to them which could explain why our system is so broken. To me it is a must, my brain can only handle so much bad news and lately that is all there has been. In the greater scheme of addictions, well it could be far worse!
Skip to the Lou, ouch!
Yesterday morning started like many others in our house, wake the girl, get them ready for school and out the door to the bus stop. With the nice weather and bright blue sky the kids were all hyper running around until he bus arrived. As the bus pulls up the kids grab their bags, get the morning hugs and kiss and off they go.
Madison and I began to walk back to our house when she looks at me and says ever so innocently, “let’s skip”. What a fun idea, the sky was blue, air warm and my beautiful baby wants to skip home.
Kind of how I felt straining a calf muscle skipping.
I made it the length of about a house when a pain shot through my left calf. I let out a small “ouch” and stopped. It was then that my six-year-old looked at me with those caring, loving eyes and laughed.
Nasty kid! 
In my head I can visualize myself doing many things. And then reality sets in. Getting old is a real B…….., well let’s just say I am not enjoying it very much!
Determination and Pride
Tomorrow Megan’s soccer team is playing in a soccer tournament. Our township is hosting this one which is nice, short ride to the field and the ability to stop home between games if we want. The tournament itself started tonight but her team has all 3 games tomorrow.
After an awful fall with no wins a tie and the rest losses, the coach made some changes. First he brought on an assistant to help him to work more closely with the girls in practice. The practices are definitely more high impact and the girls are more focused. He also pointed out something that we all saw very clearly, our little girls were in terrible shape. They would come onto the field full of steam to play but within a few minutes were out of gas. By the second half our girls were flat-footed to put it nicely.
Do not misunderstand me, none of us parents cared about the losses but seeing 7-8 year olds unable to play for the full-time was concerning. Twice a week in practice they now start and finish with a half mile run for a total of 1 mile. The first time Megan had to complete the run we had tears, lots of them! Before she even started she told me she would never be able to finish. It was tough for me to watch, I even went out and jogged part of the last lap with her to try to get her through.
It has been 4 weeks now and the results are showing. The team’s record is 2-1-1 and they play much stronger. With the tournament this weekend all of the fields have been closed in preparation. Coach wanted to make sure the girls were focused so he had them show up at the park Thursday night for a run. When we arrived we were informed that the distance would be 2 miles. No timers, no winners just finish and NO walking. Wow…I will admit I was worried. I whispered in Megan’s ear a reminder, breath, pace yourself and do not worry about what anyone else is doing or where you are in the group just stay focused and finish.
I stood with the father of another girl from the team and we watched the girls pass us, (each lap is a half mile). After the first mile I gave her a small drink and told her how great she was doing. After the next lap she was struggling but on ward she went. At the end of the fourth lap the coach patted each girl on the back as they came across told them to grab a water and walk one more for cool down. I walked with her with pride. My baby who literally almost collapsed the first run had just completed twice the distance with no tear and told me that although her legs felt like jelly she felt great!
I will admit that at first I thought the coach was a bit rough. He was asking too much from little kids. Sometimes it takes events like this to remind me, although I want to protect them from every ouch, every pain, I can not wrap them in bubble wrap. The best way to protect them is to ensure that they are strong, healthy and confident. I don’t know what the results of the games will be but I am sure that the girls will play hard and with confidence, and in the end that is all we could ever hope.
An old friend
Early in our marriage, Frank and I adopted a crazy little shih tzu puppy that we named Marshall. It was probably a bad decision at the time. We were very busy both working long hours. Marshall spent a lot of time alone. He had behavioral issues that we never corrected but we did love the little guy.
Marshall and Megan May 2005
Although the dog was house broken, it was a regular occurrence to have puddles around. Yes gross, but again, we loved the little fellow and tolerated it. When Megan was born the dog wanted little to do with the baby which was fine with me.
Then came the day that changed everything. I was standing in the kitchen next to a half wall that separated the family room. Megan was in there with Marshall, she was maybe 18 months old, and I heard the scream. I looked over to see Marshall with Meg’s arm in his mouth. I grabbed the first thing I saw which happened to be a shoe. He did not bite down instead only scratched her. I am very sure that if I had not been there he would have bitten her arm.
That was his last day in our home. We could not have an animal that we could not trust around our baby. We also loved the dog so after a little research found a refuge that would take him. We were very honest with the man who ran the refuge because we did not want Marshall to hurt anyone. He committed to us that even if he could not find someone to adopt the dog, he would not put him down. To our surprise we received notification that he was adopted by an older couple whose children were grown and out of the house.
Over the years we stayed in contact with the wonderful woman who took in our little monster. He bit her once pretty severely yet like us, there was just something about him that she loved. She took him everywhere and loved him deeply.
The last year or so he has had several health issues. Today we received an e-mail that Marshall passed away. I am sad mostly for the fine woman who took him in, cared for his crazy self over the years and loved him so. This is the last paragraph from the e-mail she sent to us today,
Marshall will be very missed by all of us. He had a very happy life with us, full of love and fun outings and good food (some good human food too!) My little sweetheart, my little handsome guy, go in peace to heaven, my Marshall, you are in our hearts forever.
What can you say to that? She is a fine woman. I am sorry for her loss and thankful that she was there to take in Marshall. He was very lucky to have her in his life!
Spring time snow
What a crazy day. It has been snowing since first thing this morning and the news called for 2-5 inches of snow. The spring so far has been less than exciting. Freezing temperatures, wind,grey skies and now snow.
Saturday we sat for a soccer game in 25+mph winds and cold. The calendar may say spring but someone seems to have forgotten to tell the sun! At least the snow started early today so by 9 am I knew that soccer practice would be cancelled for the night. Instead I am sitting at karate watching the rain fall. Thankfully it has been too warm for the snow to lay on the roads. We probably have gotten over 3-4 inches on the grass before it changed to rain about an hour ago.
As I sit here waiting for the kids, the snow miser song is running through my head. (Year without a Santa Claus). Maybe the brothers are battling and snowy refuses to give up. I am not sure what is going on but it would sure be nice if Mother Nature would have someone take a look at the calendar and turn on the sun. I have really had enough of cold dreary days.
Megan’s soccer team is in a tournament this weekend. We were lucky to have all 3 games scheduled for Saturday. The news is calling for mid 50′s, light breeze and sun. My fingers are crossed. The bunny will arrive later that night,we would not want to see the little guy freeze!
Step one
So, I took that step this morning onto the scale. My attempt to get back on track. The results of that step were not as bad as I had expected which in itself was a little motivating! I made a commitment last night to jump on the elliptical this morning and I kept my word! I will not call it the strongest workout I have ever done but it all starts with that single step.
Tomorrow is another day…we have miles to go, one step at a time!
