Band aids are the new stickers

Every child I know is addicted to Band Aids. I don’t think they even need pictures on them to like them. My son took a while to warm up to Band Aids, but once he realized they came with a cuddle and a kiss, they became the new thing to whine about when nothing else was wrong. I'm sure Johnson and Johnson knows this and is raking in the dough on us moms buying Band Aids every trip to the store. I think I'm going to start buying them in bulk. We have them in all characters—Dora, Diego, Hello Kitty, Backyardigans, Spiderman, etc. I don’t even think my kids know half of these characters.

Recently, I think Band Aids have replaced stickers in my house. I find them on the floor, in towels, on lovies, in the bathtub, in the toilet, in the car and everywhere else but on the boo boo. Luckily, I have a special box stored away in my bathroom out of the sight in case we ever really have blood since we’ll certainly be out of Band Aids if we really need them.

Oh, and kudos to my neighbor Heather for thinking to put them in birthday party goody bags. I was able to let my kids go to town on Band Aids just for the sake of it.

A homemade Christmas

It’s not that I need projects to do. God only knows I have enough things to do between my kids (with a husband who travels all the time), my blogs, my book that I’m trying to get published and all the other daily household chores I’m expected to. But I need to feel the Christmas spirit in me again. For me, that means turning this Christmas into a homemade one, as best as I can.

So, I’m trying to balance getting more involved in the Christmas season with enjoying it more too. It’s been hard, but I think it might more a state of mind. Going against what I said back in October about starting Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, I decided to ease into Christmas even before Advent begins. [Gasp] That’s usually my official “green light” to start with the preparations, but then I get swamped and before I know it I’m days behind and deep into stress.

Since I’m making my cards this year, which I know seems crazy, I started them this weekend. Surprisingly it has taken less time than I expected, and I’m enjoying it more than I thought possible. But each evening while the kids play or watch a DVD, I sit with them and work on Christmas projects. Sometimes they craft at the same table, sometimes I have to run from them to keep yogurt-covered fingers from my red paper. It actually has turned into a fun thing to do with the kids. Perhaps some creativity will pass on to them. They don’t seem to mind that I’m working on something else as long as I’m sitting with them. So it works.

To add to my own craziness, I’ve decided to make a few of the gifts this year. And those that I don’t make, I want to personalize. Not sure how that will go, but I figured if I finish my cards this week that will leave me time for the rest. Since I enjoy the creative outlet, I’m hoping it will help engage me more with the season. I will do more baking and decorating since for the past four years (due to moving or babies) I have just let that slide.

I’ll keep you posted on how this goes. Come mid-December I might be frantic like I was back in October trying to make costumes.

Conversations of babies

This was the discussion at the breakfast table earlier this week:

Alex: Daddy, I think I want to have a new baby.
Daddy: Really. Where did that come from? (My husband looking at me as I shrug.)
Alex: I just want to have a new baby.
Mommy: You do know that would mean you’d have to share your toys with someone else. It would be like having another Anna.
Anna: I am Anna. We can have two Annas.
Daddy: Well, we can't just have a new baby. Mommy and daddy have to decide to make one. Then we have to wait while the baby grows in mommy's tummy.
Alex: What does that mean.
Mommy: We have to cook one up. Make a baby.
Alex: But God makes you.
Daddy: Yes, God does make you. (Starts muttering about something here and Alex's eyes glaze over)
Daddy: If we had a baby what would you like a brother or a sister?
Alex: A sister.
Daddy: Really, what should we name her?
Alex: Isabella.
Daddy: Why should we name her Isabella?
Alex: Because we don’t have an Isabella. (Alex smiles) Mommy, can I have more cereal?

No, I am not pregnant!

Ow, my head

The inevitable finally happened. Today, in our VERY wooded neighborhood playground, I was hit in the head by a falling acorn. Damn, it hurt. How are there not more dead squirrels from that?

Thoughts of Thanksgiving

This week I’m putting aside the Christmas cards I started addressing, and the Christmas presents I started shopping for. This week would be what it is: Thanksgiving. This is a very important Thanksgiving for our family. My parents and my brother and his wife will make the trip to my home this year and join our four. In previous years we’ve been abroad or too far away, so this year will be the first that my family comes to my house for Thanksgiving.

It is also a special holiday because of my parents. I don’t use this blog to talk about it, but I feel it warrants mentioning in light of the holiday. I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my parents being able to make the trip this year, inshallah. (God Willing) My mother had her fourth chemo treatment last week and seems improved—in both body and spirit. I am thankful she has only two more rounds before she is granted a temporary reprieve. I am thankful for my father who is taking care of her during this time. I am thankful he has hobbies and projects to distract him from cancer and chemotherapy. I am thankful that my parents built the bond with my kids very early on and that my son asks about her daily. I am thankful that his favorite place to be is at Grandma’s house. I am thankful for my husband who will lets me drive down to see them at the drop of a hat without the kids to spend time with her or help out when I can. I am thankful for all they still do for us.

I am thankful that this thanksgiving we will all be together.

I want to spend this week remembering this and being thankful for the blessing that I have. I want to take a step back and enjoy the food I make and savor the memories.

Thanks to fellow DC Metro Moms blogger who inspired me to start a new tradition. From their first Thanksgiving as a family, they used an inexpensive table cloth to write down what they were thankful for. And each year that table cloth is used for the dinner. I’m going to spin it a different way with napkins. (Quite honestly because I’m not up for decorating my Damascene table cloth I bought in Syria for my rather large table.) Each member of my family, including the kids, must write what they are thankful for after dinner. And we’ll reuse them year after year until there is no more room.

For Christmas he wants anything . . .

For Christmas this year, Joey wants anything Thomas the Train. And Sally wants anything Dora the Explorer. Ok, I have real issue with this line of thinking. How is it that our children want things, anything, with some character on it: shoes, towels, clothes, dolls, blankets, hats, etc. Is our world so full of commercialized product that we can’t have toys for the sake of learning, exploring and creating?

Someone puts Dora on the Candy Land game and suddenly that is going to make a child want to play it more. Perhaps a parent will choose to buy that since Sally loves Dora, but shouldn’t we be buying toys for a purpose other than to clutter up our homes with more crap. Have we really learned nothing from the year of toy recalls? We are a culture consumed in commercialized products and I’m astonished that by this every time I step into Target. I wanted to find a bike helmet for my son without a character on it. Luckily, a local bike store stocked enough non-Dora/Diego helmets for those of us avoiding the cartoon character takeover of our world. Sometimes a set of colorful blocks can be something to stimulate a child, help them learn and grow. Putting Thomas the Train or Elmo on the blocks does nothing but endorse our need for this type of stuff in the marketplace—mostly, if not all of it, made in China. It’s even on my kid’s diapers. I really don’t need Elmo in my face every time I change her.

So this is for you Disney, Nick Jr, Sesame Street, Hit Entertainment, Marvel Comics—I am not buying any of your commercialized stuff this year. If my kids want to watch your DVDs, fine, but I don’t need the cast of High School Musical, Big Bird or the Wiggles (no offense Wiggles, cuz we love you) hanging around in my living room, kitchen, playroom, bedroom, bathroom and car.

Simply Fall

I love Fall. I love the light, the beautiful colors on the trees and the cooler temps. I can’t compare it to the other seasons since I think each has its own special qualities. This afternoon, the kids and I enjoyed fall the simple way. The weather was just perfect—fleece only weather—to take a walk in the surrounding forested trails near our house. This is one of the things I love about Reston. A short walk will take you into a whole new, calming world away from the crazy life of suburbia.

The kids hopped in the wagon—Radio Flyer with all-terrain wheels (I knew this would come in handy eventually)—and we started our nature hike. No destination just a walk through the trees to enjoy the weather. We stopped along the way to watch the squirrels, play at the playgrounds, throw rocks off bridges into the streams. So often we walk and I have to hurry them along to get here and there. But today, we just walked.

The kids took turns pulling the wagon full of random stuff we picked up along the way. I turned around now and then and would catch one of them squatting on the ground looking at something or staring off into the distance. I wondered what they might be thinking. My son stopped, looked up at the sky, sighed and said: Mommy, the trees look so beautiful. I love fall. Let’s collect some pretty leaves to take home.

And that was just what we did.