The important thing is that I kept up my special birthday tradition of gut-wrenching misery and horror.

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Happy birthday to me :)

Since I celebrated 37 buying a house for my new life, it seems oddly fitting that I celebrate 38 enjoying my last day of being a stay-at-home mom. Both are exciting turning points, but also scary and stressful and not anything I saw on my radar when I looked a few years ahead at 36. I think I was supposed to be going to Europe this year to get *my* fancy import car; I certainly wasn't supposed to be where I am today.

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It seems a sort of apropos commentary that I started this yesterday but the girls would not let me finish. Right now I feel like absolute crap - fever, body aches, an ear infection and a nice, hacking cough. Yay first day of work! I'm going to medicate it all into submission rather than call in sick, but damn, I just want to lay on the sofa for a day. Or three. I'm fairly certain I'll be spending my weekend off laying around trying to recover.

Yesterday after Bean ran off for the millionth time, I finally broke it down for her with the "Look, if you run away you could either get taken by a stranger and never see mommy and daddy and Miss O again, or you could get hit by a car and die. Do you want either of those things to happen?!?" spiel. Naturally, we then talked about those things ad nauseum for awhile. And then I said: "Now, do you understand why you can't run away?" And she replied, very soberly, "Yes. And I could even get eaten by a bear if there was one around."

Prior to this, on our way to a birthday breakfast, actually, she started on her 'dead people in the ground' obsession. She was convinced they buried people under the road. So I finally introduced the concept of a cemetery, as a park with dead people. "Do they have playscapes?" was her first question. I explained that they did not, they had some benches, and then had to explain the whole concept of digging a hole, putting the box with the person in, refilling the hole and, because she needed to know, putting the grass back on.

So, naturally, our next field trip will be to a cemetery. What 3.5-year-old doesn't want to check out a park with dead people??

And before anyone starts on me, it's her own damn fault for asking so many questions.
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6 comments:

Julia said...

Love it. Because seriously, what 3.5 yr old doesn't ask about dead people? I'm just trying to get explain how a "rock got into my belly" to C.

Amanda Bindel said...

We're into death here, too. Happy Birthday a day late, and Happy first day of work!

D said...

Ditto here too! We have a cemetery right up the road from us and last week on the way back from HEB Kiddo asked me about it. He has talked non stop about it ever since. He is very obsessed with death lately - and I hate talking about or even thinking about it so yeah, it's been a great week! ;) Have fun on your "field trip" - sounds like we could make it a group thing! lol!

Melissa said...

Happy birthday! My favorite is when my six year old promised to buy me a 'pretty rock' for when I died (aka. a gravestone) I was oddly touched and a little freaked at the same time...

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Anonymous said...

WAY late, but happy birthday Vick. I am sorry I missed it.

 
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