“Oh when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof
And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fire proof
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be
Our Everyday
Sharing our stories, big and small.
On Tuesday Penny lost her third, and first front, tooth. It started to wiggle the week before school. We thought “any day now” but that stubborn tooth hung around like a clingy friend, awkward and annoying. So she started her first day of second grade with snaggle tooth in tow. She skillfully ate around it and prayed each night she wouldn’t swallow it in her sleep.
When she came home from school on Tuesday she ran right to the mirror to assess her new look. With a confident nod she deemed it “cool”. I think she looks kinda hilarious and I guiltily chuckle, as only a mom can, when I see that gaping hole.
Tagged: childhood, lost tooth
Four years ago I brought Lucas to Pirate Adventures in Annapolis. His vivid imagination overwhelmed him and he couldn’t enjoy the adventure. He sat closely to me on the boat, clutching my handbag so that the pirates couldn’t steal it.
It was a beautiful summer day, perfect to enjoy Annapolis. I knew Penny and Oliver would enjoy the pirate experience so after four years we made our way back to Pirate Adventures. To my surprise Lucas remembered every detail of that day four years earlier; how he tripped in the parking lot and scraped his knee and the things I said to ease his worries and keep a smile on his face.
Tagged: Annapolis, Chesapeake, childhood, Pirate Adventures, travel
Tagged: childhood, kindergarten, school
Today I say goodbye to the days of pre-school. No more mid-day play dates, outings to the farm, zoo, museum, squeezing in hugs and kisses between conference calls. No more pitter patter of feet outside my office door followed by a tentative knock, waiting to be invited in. No more barging into my office with squeals of laughter.
For the past nine years a baby, toddler, pre-schooler has been home during the day. While I look forward to the quiet and tidiness I will miss what having pre-school aged children means.
It means grabbing snacks, camera and child and heading into DC to enjoy the Sculpture Garden, American History Museum and street performers because the sun is shining on a Wednesday.
Tagged: childhood, Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
“I hope this is a good one, they usually don’t page me for just stitches” he announced as he walked into the exam room. As he cleaned off the numbing cream that had bubbled over his open wound he shrugged and relented, “OK, it is pretty deep, you can see his skull.”
He told us he was on his way home from seeing Chicago at Wolf Trap, he was on Baron Cameron when he got the page allowing him to arrive at the hospital in a surprising ten minutes, the fastest I’ve ever seen a paged doctor turn up.
“This is my week of call, it isn’t too bad because I only have to take call once every seven weeks or so but this week has been a busy week. On Monday I saw a gal who had been kicked in the teeth by a horse, oh wait I have a photo, hold on,” he quickly pulled out his phone and navigated to the appropriate photo. He showed Anthony and I. An inquisitive Oliver asked to see the photo. Then he told us the next day he saw a patient who had fallen off a ladder, that photo was much more gruesome and when Oliver asked to see it I quickly distracted him with talk of Paw Patrol. The doctor continued his conversation with Anthony while I snuggled Oliver and spoke to him of ice cream flavors and favorite colors.
The nurse administered a sedative in Oliver’s nostril which once inhaled produced a burning sensation. As I calmed a crying Oliver I could hear the doctor share his medical background with Anthony, his speciality being hand reconstruction. “Re-attaching severed limbs is something I really enjoy,” he said.
With Oliver fully sedated and relaxed, the doctor got to work. With bright light on he pointed out his skull and the small dent the edge of our metal coffee table had made to Oliver’s bone. I shifted my focus to Oliver’s little hand seeing the bright red light attached to his index finger to track his vitals. Moments earlier he had held his finger to my nose while I sang “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” as he sweetly drifted off to wherever he now resides. Anthony, obviously his father’s son, watched every stitch the doctor made.
“After I get through this week of call I have a few days off then a day of surgery next Thursday, I do cosmetic surgery. I used to schedule my surgeries on Friday but then I’d have to work on Saturdays to do my post-ops so I now I schedule my surgeries on Thursdays. I’m older now and I want my weekends to enjoy. I also travel a lot. My passion is hiking and my goal is to hike to the highest point in every state, I’ve done 28 so far.”
“We’ll need to schedule his follow-up appointment next Wednesday because Thursday I have surgeries then on Saturday I leave for Italy,” he said. I told him he’ll love Italy, that we had honeymooned there. He looked up from his work and shared a warm smile, giving me a glimpse of the man behind the doctor’s magnifying glasses.
My first impression of the doctor was of an egotistical surgeon. But when he finished the procedure and I felt calm, even relaxed, I realized his genius.
He finished and told us what a great patient Oliver had been. We shook hands, thanked him and he told us what a lovely family we were and he wished all his patients were so nice.
He has three more days of call and hoping he sees some interesting cases.
“Is that OK Mama?”
“Right, Mama?”
I hear these questions from Oliver in rapid succession about twenty times a day. Only I can answer and I can only answer with the correct response, “OK” or “Right”. Yes, yeah, a nod will not suffice. At first I thought this a demand for my attention, the youngest of three never seeming to get enough. Then I thought it a form of insecurity, a constant need for validation. Or maybe it is hinting at OCD, repetitive and exact. Or perhaps it is Oliver at five and at six this will all be a distant memory. Maybe it is all of the above. Whatever it is, today it is annoying and exhausting.
“Two drops of pee pee fell in my pants, is that OK Mama?”
“I farted, is that OK Mama?”
On Tuesday Oliver dressed himself and brushed his teeth, tasks that he has been capable of doing since he was three but simply refused to do. On Thursday he showed no nerves as we entered his kindergarten classroom. He explored, observed and understood what his new world will be come Tuesday. On Thursday, for the first time, I rushed a child to the ER. Oliver, playing in our family room, fell and hit his head against our metal coffee table creating a wound so deep that the pediatric general practitioner paged the plastic surgeon. Brave tears, sedation and thirty plus stitches later we brought home a sleeping Oliver who woke this morning as fresh and sweet as ever. He told me that when he runs he feels like his head is tied to a balloon. I told him not to run. We had plans to spend our last summer break day at Kings Dominion. When I told him he couldn’t go he cried with disappointment but was easily comforted. So as we said goodbye to Daddy, Lucas and Penny, Oliver and I headed out to enjoy our own special day together.
Tagged: beach, family vacation, lighthouse, North Carolina, Outer Banks
Forty three years ago my parents immigrated to America, leaving behind their parents and siblings. We grew up as four daughters and two parents. It was always just the six of us. Our aunts, uncles, cousins miles away and known only as names. A generation later my children have three aunts and uncles and eight cousins on my side of the family. Unlike siblings, cousins share a similar history but not the same roof, eliminating any rivalry or bickering. My children are the youngest three of eleven grandchildren. They are lucky to have eight big cousins who show them only patience and humor, granting every request for a piggy back ride, game of chase and to borrow their iPhone.
This 4th of July marks the end of childhood for the oldest three cousins, Summer, Justin and Simone. This fall they will start college as confident, independent adults. The foundation of family and love will help them make good choices, realize new possibilities and hopefully bring them home every holiday.
Water everywhere
Fill it up, burst, splash, spray it
Summertime is here!
Tagged: fun, sprinkler, summer, water balloons
Our Everyday 