Category: My Family

From the mouths of babes…

Yesterday was like any other.  Get the kids up and ready for school.  Bus stops followed by normal daily function.  In the blink of an eye it was time back to head back to the bus stop for Madison.  That is when it all changed.

Madi is my active, hyper even crazy at times child.  Since Kindergarten is only half day she gets home bouncing off the walls.  So when she got home yesterday we had some lunch and discussed her day.  She does so enjoy school.  After lunch she decided it was time to dance.  Around the living room she flew laughing as if performing for an adoring crowd.  That is until she lost her balance and landed with her mouth into the back of a wooden chair.

I heard the impact and jumped.  I was next to her just as the shock turned to screaming and tears.  I pulled her with me to the freezer and got ice then noticed the blood.  She was in a total panic.  I got her mouth washed out and finally calmed her so I could inspect the damage.  Thankfully, my toothless little cherub just lost her two top teeth.  That was actually where the blood was coming from and I am sure that if the teeth had been there they would have been broken or knocked out.  He lip is purple and a size larger than normal but all in all not as bad as I initially thought.

From there it just continued, a trip over the dog landing her on her belly followed by landing a bit too hard on a bean bag chair and banging her head on the wall.

By 8:30 my baby,  looking tattered and a little bruised, looked at me with a shutter in her voice and asked “can I go to bed now?  It has been a bad day.” Tears followed as did a big hug and off to bed we went.  I think the poor kid passed out as she hit the pillow.

This morning started off well…the bus will be home shortly.  We can only hope this is a better day!

Use the force

For the last several weeks the girls have been interested in seeing Star Wars.  I guess the interest came along side the download of the Star Wars angry birds app.  They love those silly birds and the new one has them all decked out with different abilities including one who uses a light saber.

So with the holiday and my limited activities, a few days off from school and our first weekend soccer free, it seemed like a perfect time to rent the movies.  We have a Netflix membership but I was surprised that it was not available.  I checked Video on Demand and apple TV to find the same result.  I actually own the original trilogy on VHS but no longer own a VCR.

This morning I called a friend  and neighbor who has a son.  I know he loved the movies.  They must own them on DVD.  The next thing I know their teenage daughter knocks on my door with a bag and a VCR.  They have the newer movies on DVD but figured they could solve my VHS issue.  Very exciting!

I hooked up the player and turn to reach for a movie.  Madison, in her short 6 years does not remember ever watching a VHS tape.  “Can I put the movie in Mom?  How does this thing work?” If that was not bad enough, it was followed by “I saw these things on TV”. She inserts the movie with a giggle as if it is now the coolest thing she has ever seen.

I remember the first time I saw a VCR.  It was the size of a small car and had a pop-up door on the top so you could not put anything on the thing.  I guess I looked at it with the same amazement Madison did today.  The only difference was my amazement was due to the super cool technology.  Madison’s was more of child standing at a display in a museum wondering how we ever survived.

We settled in with mugs of hot chocolate and microwave popcorn.  That is our thing…it all helps make Bailey girls movie time special.

Me and my girls on Thanksgiving

Now, what really makes this all very interesting, is after all of this I start flipping the channels tonight to find a special airing on Television.  Tomorrow is The Empire Strikes back and Monday The Return of the Jedi.

Strange sometimes how things work out!

Heartache

My heart aches today.   Over the weekend, Saturday to be exact, a local 12-year-old girl went missing.  The story is that she was riding her bike in the afternoon and never returned home.  The searches had begun by that evening, candlelight vigils by Monday and the awful news this morning.  This young girls body was found in a  recycling container.

My heart aches for this family.  We do not know them but they are any all of us. They live just a few minutes away and this girls could have been any of our children.

You live in the suburbs believing that you are safe.  Yes you lock the doors, and at night you leave the front light on as if it will protect your family while you sleep.  As hard as we try, we can not keep our children 100% safe.

Tell them the truth, there are bad people out there.  Teach them as much as you can.  Love them, hug them, kiss them, be there and know what they are doing.  As my girls get older, I am finding this harder but it is my job.  I struggle to find the line between allowing them to stretch their wings and the realities of the world.  I want to wrap them in bubble wrap , keep them in my sight for ever.  But that is not possible.

A few minutes ago, police pulled her bike from a nearby house.  What a world.

I felt the need to update this post….an arrest has been made.  I am sick, two teenage brothers who want parts from her bike.  What in the hell are we becoming?  Here is the link.