Thanksgiving

Oh, chickadees, that time of year is here again, and I am most woefully unprepared. Tomorrow I must cook my cranberry sauce and stale my bread, and if I was a good girl, I would also do some veggie prep, such as dicing my celery and peppers for the stuffing. But chances are, I shall instead be navigating the store for that one item that I forgot (probably onions, as I never seem to have as many as I think I do).

But still, we are so thankful to be celebrating with our dear friends, the nitrorockets family, who will  be providing pie for the festivities. We are thankful to have good friends in our lives, and thankful for all this year has provided for us.

I am especially thankful for kitty snuggles, little boy kisses, hugs from my husband, dear friends, modern medicine, candy-cane Jo-Jos and the fact that my husband still watches Supernatural with me even though this season sucks so bad it's about to start blowing harder than a snowblower in February.

What are you thankful for this season?

Lessons

1. Little boys love to dig for earthworms. My little boy likes to put them in a pot and take them for a ride.
2. Big boys love to dig too, but they find grown-up excuses like "Let's extend the patio today!"
3. Christmas presents are already starting to arrive at this house.
4. Chanukah gelt is already being enjoyed as well.
5. Dinner with friends is always delightful.
6. A rosemary wreath will make the house smell so good.

Sentences I never thought I'd say

• Please stop licking the cat.
• If you take a bite of brownie I'll let you have another sip of my coffee.
• Don't lick the toilet!
• Don't lick the ground!
• Don't lick mummy!
• Yelling in kitty's face is like hitting her with your voice.
• If cars get flushed down the potty they go to Car Hell. Where they cry. FOREVER.
• All mummy wants for Chrismukkah is one day where I get to use with bathroom in private. 
• You are never too busy to love kitty, or anyone else for that matter. 

Furry love

There is pretty much no doubt in my mind that I have the world's most patient, tolerant, and loving cat. Also, she is going to get me for this. Probably in my sleep.

leaves

leaves, originally uploaded by wealhtheow1.

This picture is why autumn is simply my favorite time of year. And it certainly seems to be the boy's favorite time of year as well.

Travel with little ones these days

There has been a lot in the news about problems people are having with the new TSA regulations, but this story hits home with me in a rather personal way. A three-year-old girl had to be separated from her teddy bear while the bear went through the baggage scanner, which got her upset. Then she had to be patted down while she was crying and screaming "Don't touch me! Stop touching me!" Heartbreaking, and in my opinion, almost totally unnecessary.

Obviously bears need to go through the scanner, and maybe her parents could have prepared her for that happening. But little people, ESPECIALLY three-year-olds, are not always rational. Her parents could have done a fabulous job preparing her for what was going to happen. Maybe it was naptime, or maybe she was hungry, or just overwhelmed. Regardless, the TSA agent could have handled this with more sensitivity. Little people need to be treated differently than grown-ups, and a one-size-fits-all everyone-must-suffer approach doesn't seem to be working out very well.

I know some people will say that if you're not prepared to deal with this, just don't fly. I'm willing to bet that those people don't have children AND family who lives on the other side of the country. We have members of our family who are physically unable to fly, and if we want our son to meet these family members (and if we want to see them ourselves), we have to fly. The husband can't take the kind of time off of work we would need to make a 6,000 mile round car trip. (If we're seeing both sides of the family, closer to 7,000 miles).

We'll likely be making a trip this summer to Los Angeles, and I will not be allowing my little guy to go through those full-body scanners. There is just too much unknown about how radiation affects a developing brain, and I don't want him taking any unnecessary risks with that kind of technology. It is one thing to get a medically necessary x-ray, but I don't believe the safety of air-travel is significantly compromised by not scanning our nation's small children.

Hello Friends

I'm ready to jump back into the blogging world. I think. I hope.

What I know is although I have very little time for long, thought-out, well-written posts, I have had the bug to write about parenting and the new horizons my son and I have discovered within ourselves for quite some time.  With winter coming on and more and more days spent inside, I'm hoping you all will join me on our adventure together into the Terrible Threes.