Wise Beyond Her Years

As you should know by now, the princesses are prodigies of sorts. Tootie tends to be the free-spirited, fun loving twin and Lia is the more studious, deep thinker with a mature sense of humor. Both are beyond smart.

Yesterday, Tootie had to be taken to urgent care because she doubled over and started complaining about a stomachache. It turns out that she is a little bit anemic and has a urinary tract infection. (Not sure what caused either thing for her, but she is on antibiotics and will be following up with the pediatrician.) Anyway, Tootie is NEVER sick and hates taking medication with a passion. So, the idea if having to take an antibiotic TWICE a day is pure torture.

Well, last night after finally getting her to take the medicine, Tootie began pulling down her pants and heading to the bathroom seemingly to potty. She returned a hot second later and announced that she had spit the medicine out. I ran to the bathroom and saw that, sure enough, she had spit it all out into the toilet. I was so upset with her. Cool-headed Lia, though, took control of the situation. She went and got the medicine and dosing cup and said, "Tootie, you ARE going to take your medicine right now!" She handed the dosing cup to me and, obediently, I redosed, but at a smaller amount in case Tootie had swallowed something the first time. Tootie did take it and I checked her mouth to make sure it was gone. Then, I turned to pick up the bottle of medicine only to find that it was gone. Here is the exchange:

Me (to no one in particular): Where did the medicine go?
Lia: I put it on the counter in the kitchen.
Me (giving her a hug): Wow, Lia. You really know exactly what mommy needs sometimes before I have to ask. What would I do without you?
Lia: You would ask Daddy.
Me: So, true. So true. Baby, you are wise beyond your years.
Lia(giving me a hug): I know.

BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Giving Thanks

It's Thanksgiving and I've been a little down. See, I put up many walls to my heart, but when someone finds their way on the other side, they are more dear to me than anything. When they hurt, I hurt... badly.

On Tuesday, I spoke with my friend and found out that she was on her way to see her father. Hospice was on the way over, and they were not sure if he would make it to Thanksgiving. Her daughter came in from out of town, and her son was going to have to do double duty since hospice was called in for HIS father-in-law as well. I was just too down for words. Then my friend said something to put it all back into perspective for me:

I'm not sad, though because my daddy knows the Lord. He will finally get a chance to see who he has spent his whole life waiting to see, and he won't be sick and suffering when he does.

Isn't that what it's all about anyway? In the midst of making a life for himself and his family, her daddy never forgot that he was also WAITING for something much bigger and better than the big house in the right neighborhood, the status cars and gadgets, and the never-ending list of the season's must-haves... Hmmmm.

We walk around here so busy all the time, running from project to project, task to task. We often seem to forget to stop and be thankful for the blessings of the day. Maybe it's just me. I mean, I love to say prayers with my girls at night and thank God for the blessings of the day. But the sad truth is that I sometimes rush through the prayers and think of them as no more than an item to be checked off of my daily to-do list. Just typing that confession fills me with a tremendous feeling of shame and sadness.

You see, I often think about the goals I've set and have yet to reach, and I allow them to sometimes overshadow the real blessings that mean everything to me. Here it is, I have a nice home in a good neighborhood, a vehicle I didn't even have to go shopping for. I just called and said what I wanted and it was delivered to my door. I have a job that really DOES make a difference. I have healthy, beautiful children who were born from my womb to supplement the healthy, beautiful ones born in my heart. I have a husband who loves to come home to his wife and children after work every day. I still have both of my parents, and I know my family all loves each other, despite our halos being a bit crooked. And I have great friends who love me and are there for me whether they are down the street or across the world.

Yes, I am a very blessed woman indeed. I am just sorry that I sometimes forget to acknowledge them because I've allowed myself to go about the business of forgetting that I, too, am waiting for something much bigger and better than the accoutrements of this life.

So, as we go about the business and "busy-ness" of this season, let us remember to laugh often, to love hard, and to strive to be a blessing and learn something along the way. This is not our home, folks. We are simply passing through on the way to something truly great.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Three Year Olds' Christmas Lists and Other Problems

Would someone please, please, PLEASE help me to understand how and why my three year olds climbed into bed with me this morning with the big toy books from Toys R Us and Walmart, a notepad, and a pen so we could make out their Christmas lists. I honestly don't know where they get these things. I mean, one twin perused one book while the other twin was careful not to miss anything in the other book. Whenever they found their "must-haves", I had to write it down on the notepad (with the pen they also supplied, mind you). Ummm, yeah...

So, if anyone is interested in the must-haves of the season for children aged 2-4, please let me know. No, really. I have the ENTIRE list.

Oh, and just an aside... If you're able to explain the aforementioned events to me, could you also explain why they are currently sitting under the desk eating a slice of pizza and looking through the circulars? Thanks in advance!

Pizza Hut--Blacklisted!

Pizza Hut is the latest establishment to be added to my personal blacklist. I placed an order tonight and received the worst ever customer service. If you know me at all, you know how highly I value great service. You also know that I have already lodged a written complaint to their corporate offices. I'll keep you posted on their response.

They made me do it!

Now, I pride myself on being professional in most situations. Yesterday, though, not so much. I had been sick as a dog and was trying to make it through the day since I needed to give a curriculum assessment to my three classes. Well, on the way to daycare, Kalyn (Tootie) announced that she had to go potty. There was no place to stop at the time, so I told her she was going to have to hold it until we got to daycare at Ms. Jena's house. She gave me a weak, "Okay" so I knew she was struggling to hold it. After two more, "I have to pee-pee's" I stopped at this Shell station that also serves at a corner market/liquor store that I saw. Mind you, it was raining, so I had to take both girls out of the van in the rain, sick as a dog, with one child on my hip and one holding my hand while trying to balance the umbrella over the three of us somehow.

Well, I got to the door of the store and asked if they had a bathroom. Here is how the exchange went:

Me: Excuse me, but so you have a bathroom?
Older Korean Lady: Bah-woom?
Me: Baath-rooom. You know, restroom, potty, toilet, bathroom?
Older Korean Lady: Baaahk (pointing to some doors at the back of the store)

At this point, I am running through the store with the girls pleading with Tootie to hold on just a minute more. We got to the doors and found both doors locked. I turned to the front of the store and asked which door was the bathroom.

Younger Korean Man (who had been watching the entire thing): Bathroom no work.
Me: Then why in the heck didn't you say something when I asked at first?
Younger Korean Man: Bathroom at laundry mat down sigh-walk.
Me: You should've said that at first, hell! (I know. I NEVER talk like that around my girls, but I was ready to shank a fool at that moment.)

So, we go racing down the sidewalk of the strip center to the laundry mat where I once again pleaded with Tootie to just hang on a minute. Then I noticed for the first time that we had to walk through a bunch of guys who were waiting to be picked up for day laboring jobs. One even had the nerve to try to holler. I mean, did anything about my foul azz expression lead him to believe that I was looking for a damned date? I was REALLY ready to shank a fool at that point. We finally got to the laundromat and its nasty azz bathroom (no, it was really dirty). I didn't allow the girls to touch ANYTHING and held them up over the toilet to use it. When we got to daycare, I scrubbed their hands and mine.

I'm proud of Tootie for holding it as long as she did when I know she really had to go badly, but I'm telling you. If she had had an accident in that store, I would've been on the news because I was just that pissed.

I'm better now, and, thankfully, my girls didn't seem to notice the "hell" I added at the end of my exchange with the Korean dude. Please pray for me and my temper 'coz I really can't stress enough just how badly I was ready to set it off in that store.

Are You Smarter Than a Three Year Old?

Okay. I know most parents like to believe that their children are geniuses and everything they do is ahead of the curve. I am no different, and I am always amazed at the things they come up with. Take this morning, for example.

I am home from work today because I've been VERY sick and tried to ride it out. Finally, I just couldn't make it any further and had to break down and go to the doctor. Well, this morning Eliana (Lia) came up to me and said, "Mommy, E is for Eliana." I responded, "Why, yes it is. E is for Eliana." At the time, I was sending another copy of my substitute lesson plan to my partner teacher and giving her some instructions to pass along to the sub. Since I was on the computer, I asked Lia to point out an E to me (She knows all of her letters and numbers, mind you). To my surprise, she pointed to the number 3. I said, "No, Lia, that is incorrect. That is NOT the letter E. That is the number 3. Where is the letter E?" Lia looked at me with doubtful eyes, almost as if she thought her mommy, the teacher, was an idiot. She then pointed to the letter W. I said, "No, Lia, that is NOT the letter E. That is the Letter W." At that point, lia had had just about enough of me. She said, "No, Mommy. That is an E. See?" She then turned the computer keyboard to the right so that the W looked like an E (actually it looks like the Greek symbol Sigma, but you get it). Then, she turned my keyboard around until the number 3 looked like an E. At that point, she said, "See, Mommy. It's an E."

My response, you ask? There was nothing I could say but, "Well, I see that you are right when you turn the keyboard around. But just out of curiosity, if you didn't get to turn the keyboard around, which letter would be the E?" She replied, "Here's the real E" and pointed to the letter E. Then she got off my lap and announced that she was going to play with Daddy instead.

Sigh. Whatever!

Coke is NOT the real thing!

As a consumer and otherwise concerned American, I am so NOT happy with Coca-Cola. I understand that a business' bottom line is important, but I am not pleased with the way they are going about it.

You see, on December 1 (just a few weeks before Christmas, mind you), Coca-Cola will be laying off people here. Their offices handle much of the collections and back office type work. The operation is being outsources to Guatemala. Earlier in the year, there had been some buzz about this and which of the countries overseas would actually be the recipient of the outsourcing. Well, here it is.

Now, this is not the part I think is so cold. The severance package they announced earlier this year SUCKS! Apparently, employees will receive one week of pay for each year they've worked there. So, the lowly employee with one year of service would only get one week's pay. That's it. So, there will be a lot of kids this year wondering why Christmas missed their houses. Oh, and they have even been holding meetings telling the employees that their numbers are down and that they have to get productivity up. Ummm. Hello!!! You're firing them in a couple of weeks and you're wondering why in the hell morale is low?!! Let me help you here, Mr. Coke Guy. You're giving their jobs away to the Guatemalans you're currently training! But, to Coke's credit (I say this with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek), they are holding job search classes to help the employees get their resumes together so they can find other jobs. Ummm, one more thing, Mr. Coke Guy... the F-ing economy is on the verge of collapse and unemployment is the highest it's been in a decade! There's pretty much NO ONE hiring at year's end, you MORON!

I guess you can tell that I'm sooooo pissed, huh? It's just that, in light of all of the problems with the economy IN THIS COUNTRY, we have a company that has been pretty much synonymous with every American pasttime throwing even more Americans into the unemployment lines for the sake of a few more dollars, much of which will end up in senior level executive's pockets.

That's just great, Coca-Cola. You've lost my business and the business of many Americans, I hope, once this story gets out. Hey, but at least you're helping to boost the economy of Guatemala. Too bad that when vendors have to call you with an issue, they will be speaking to people who they can barely understand. As it is now, your IT department is in India and your employees have to wait up to two weeks to get logins and passwords that work.

Coke, you SUCK!!!! I hope you remember how you've treated your American employees when you want a government bailout within the year because your sales are down.