Lesson 39

I know, I know. A long time since my last post. I know I say it every time, but we've been pretty swamped. Dad had his pacemaker put in, and just as things were getting back to normal around here, he had to go in for his valve repair. That took open heart surgery, and 6 weeks of recovery time before he's getting back into things. Let's see, we got a dog. She was a beagle. She was 7, but she kept doing her business in the floor. Even our bed. We tried our hardest to re-train her, but after 2 months we ended up taking her back to the rescue. You handled it well, Dad didn't even though he's the one that made the call. We've spent the summer swimming, going to the park, and even a couple trips to Paradise Park. We've spent a lot at home too, we got lucky and had a pretty mild summer except for a couple weeks of crazy hot. You've been swinging outside and running around, dying for your brother to be able to walk and chase you. We had a small herb garden and tomatoes growing on the back deck. You loved watching them and taking care of them. Anytime I picked anything, you wanted to do it Which brings me to lesson 39...


It's good to care for living things. Even just plants. It's very good for kids to do it. One day, when I have grandbabies, plant them a garden. It doesn't have to be much. We did tomato plants in 2 large planters on our deck and various herbs in some window boxes. Every morning you would run out to see if there were any "matoes" yet. When it was time to pick them, you were so careful to not knock off any of the other blooms. Once, you knocked off a bloom and spent 10 minutes trying to put it back. Finally, you buried it under the dirt so it would grow a new plant. It didn't work, but you had fun doing it. Tending a garden helps teach skills. Patience, self sustainability, it grows a knowledge of how to care for plants, and makes kids more willing to try new foods. Before growing our own, you refused to eat tomatoes. After growing them, I hardly got any of our cherry tomatoes because you would eat them right off the plant! Right now, our herbs are looking a bit ragged, mostly because it was a learning curve for me, I've never grown and used fresh herbs, but they're great. Much cheaper too, we're going to expand next year I think. You're already excited about planting more too. If nothing else, $50 will buy you a summer of "something to do" with the kid(s). 

Lesson 38

Wow, I really missed a few months there, didn't I? I've been kinda swamped. I've been doing all the stuff Dad usually does while he heals up, last weekend he was finally cleared for "duty" so things have slowed down a little now. You're growing like a weed, firmly in the "what will happen if...." phase. If I have to answer one more "Mom, what would happen if the Roomba does..." I might toss the damn thing out the window. I try to answer your questions as much as I can, but you ask a lot. :) I hope that you never stop doing that, I mean, you can stop asking me 100 questions an hour, but I hope you always want to know why and you always find out. We recently got you a library card, you were so excited. In fact, yesterday we brought home 12 books. It reminds me of when I was a kid, my grandmother used to take me to the library all the time. I knew our local library better than my house. I read and re-read so many books that I know a lot of the children's books by heart. When I found out I was pregnant with you, the first thing I bought was a collection of Curious George. I would read any book I could get my hands on. If I found a book that belonged to the library, I'd always return it... after I read it. Which brings me to lesson 38...


It's important to always have an interest in learning. It doesn't have to be something like Calculus or brain surgery, but learning is what makes people grow as a person. You can do that by reading. You don't even have to read information books, you can read fiction and learn things. I know it's cliche, but you really can go anywhere in a book. I read to you every night and you're finally getting interested in reading yourself, I know you might not enjoy it the same way I do, but I hope you find something you can enjoy. It's an interesting feeling, reading a book. You get to know the characters. You learn their flaws and it makes you a better person. You start to empathize with others better. You can almost see parts of the world you probably will never go, and become interested in places you will. By the time you get this, paper books might be practically non-existent, but books have a smell. They smell almost like history. The history of all the people who have read and connected with that book in some way, you become part of that history for a long time after you've read it. A book will change you forever. Sometimes it's not noticeable, other times it will be so profound that you will never forget the lesson or character you fell in love with on those small pages. What you read in life will help you define who you are. So read often, and read a variety of things.  

Lesson 37

Holidays are over, your birthday is over, we're on to our new year. Dad had a pacemaker put in last week. You did pretty well, we didn't tell you a whole lot about it, but you were worried. Nana stayed at our house with you and Mathew while I stayed the night with Dad at the hospital, but we were back home the next morning. I have noticed that since this all started, you're starting to have trouble controlling your temper. I don't know if the timing is coincidence or not, but we're working on it. Anytime a toy or something doesn't work the way you want, your blocks for example, you get frustrated and growl. Sometimes you'll throw the toy, and you'll yell. You come by it honestly, Dad and I both have tempers sometimes. As we've gotten older, we've mellowed out and learned to deal with it. Which brings me to lesson 37...

There are going to be things that frustrate and anger you. It could be bad traffic like Dad, or inconsiderate people like me. What is important is that you learn how to deal with it without blowing up. Take a breath, walk away, or just think about what is frustrating you being smashed in a car crusher. If you go through life blowing up at small things, you're going to find it hard to find and keep friends. No one wants to worry that their friend is going to get mad about something and cause a scene, or wind up in jail.