Listen To This

So yesterday was a perfectly shitty day.  Lots of stuff went wrong, and I was feeling extra shitty because I was basically feeling ninety six years old.  Ever since I turned forty, nothing heals.  nothing.  Injuries used to get better.  Weird bumps went away.  Now, I wake up in pain.  My ankle that I injured over a year ago still hurts.  My knees hurt.  My back hurts.  My wrist hurts.  And this is from someone who a two years ago was in great shape, having just completed two full rounds of P90X.   But various injuries at various times kept me from exercising, and every time i tried to restart, I'd feel a new pain.  So in addition to everything that went wrong externally, I spent a good deal of yesterday feeling old, feeling shitty.  That's how I went to bed.  When I woke up, this sign was waiting for me:

So I didn't.  Well, I actually got up to pee and heard Samantha shout from downstairs, "go back to bed."  So I did.  A minute later, my wife joined me, smiling.  "What's up?" I asked.  "Just wait," she said.  A minute later, Samantha, fully dressed with an apron on, came in, smiling.  "good morning.  May I take your breakfast order please?"  I ordered what I usually have, coffee and toast.  Jane ordered coffee, orange juice and yogurt.  I sat in bed giggling.  It was so freaking adorable.  Jane got the coffee and brought it up, but Samantha brought up a tray with buttered bread, orange juice in plastic cups, napkins, the whole bit.  I think it was the first time anyone had ever brought me breakfast in bed.  And apparently, this was something she was planning the whole day before.  Of course I didn't notice any of it because I was too wrapped up in my own self-pity.   And as I sat there, in bed, enjoying my coffee, everything seemed so much better.  When I finally did get up, I actually put on sweats and did some stretching and sit ups.  You probably heard the creaking and popping of my joints from your house.  I had a positive outlook on life for 95% of the rest of the day.  I got things done, with a smile on my face and song in my heart.  Listen, I don't think my kid is perfect, not by a long shot.  But I have to say, I love my kid, more than I can say in a million posts.  I've had some memorable breakfasts in my day, but this one takes the cake.  or the toast.

I Am A Kleenex

It's like I knew it was coming.  Earlier in the day, I was thinking about my friend Jason, how he and his wife had completed adoption proceedings and I was wondering how he was doing in his new role as father.  My thoughts drifted back to when Samantha was born, and the little and big pieces of advice that people gave me, and what, if any, advice I could give to him.  He asked me months ago what it was like, and I told him, "you're like a kleenex."  I told him to go out and let strangers wipe their nose, mouth, eyes, ears, basically any orafice that bodily fluid could leak from, let strangers wipe themselves all over him.  For a year.  Then see if he still wanted to have children.  Well, I'm not sure if he followed my advice, but that lesson was reinforced last night around midnight.  Samantha was feeling a little off, she was getting over a cold, and after playing at a neighbor's house, had no appetite when it was time for dinner.  I thought she overdid the snacks while playing, and didn't think much about it.  She went to sleep, and later, around midnight, I was struggling to stay away through John Frankenhimer's "The Train (A great film starring Burt Lancaster, set in the end of World War II, a Nazi colonel is trying to smuggle a trainload of masterpieces out of France before the Allies liberate the city.  See it, you'll love it).  Even though I'd seen it, I couldn't remember how it ended and therefore struggled on.  Then I heard Samantha cough a few times, then cried loudly.  The wife was two steps ahead of me, and she sat on the bed next to her and therefore was in perfect striking range for what could only be called projective vomiting.  It was almost comical.  I had just turned on the light, and, Ka-boom!  The wife, being the trooper that she is, tried to catch it in her hands.  That worked when she was tiny.  And although she's still too small for a booster seat, she has the vomiting power to impress any Monty Python fan.   I, being who I am, froze.  But after the initial shock, ran for towels.  "No, the big ones you idiot!" I heard someone say at some point.  

After it was nothing but dry heaves, we peeled away all of clothing beding, (thank you mattress pad, I knew I could count on you).  The wife sponged off the child, while I got started on removing the various solids from the different fabrics.  (Thank you Oxyclean.  Really.  I thought those blueberry and rasberry stains were set for life.)  Samantha was very upset, and also very sweet in that she felt bad that she had put her parents through what would later turn out to be four loads of wash, two different rug cleaners and several rounds of vaccuuming.   I smiled and told her, "that's our job.  Do you know how many times I threw up and my parents had to clean it up?  Lots.  And that's just the times I remember."

So around 1:00AM, with the wash going in the machine and the rest presoaking in a tub (did I mention Oxy Clean?  They're not even the sponsors here, I received no compensation from anyone at the company to write this, honestly), we all settled into bed. Samantha asked for a tissue.  I held out my arm.  "Here," I said.  And she wiped her nose on my pajama sleeve and we all drifted off to sleep.

Best Gifts of the Year

Yes, it's been too long since I posted and I'll try to due better.  I have four goals this month (see the book  "Happiness Project" for more of what I'm talking about).

1. exercise
2. Check bank balance
3. Write something, anything, blog entry, grant work, journal, shopping list, etc.

Those are my daily goals for this month.  So far, I'm only one for three today.  Yesterday it was exercise.  Okay, so I'm a slow starter.  Sue me.

It was a great holiday break, even though we didn't go anywhere.  Samantha cleaned up, naturally, and continues to ask for more, which irks me to no end, though it doesn't stop me from buying her a few things when I go to the art supply store.  What can I say, I'm soft as eggs.  maybe that should be the blog title.

Anyway, haven't figured out how to post pictures yet, but here's a link to one of the best toys of the season:

http://www.brikablok.com/usa/index.php

These are plastic, 12"x12" interlocking squares, and you can build forts, tunnels, castles, anything the kids can think up.  Samantha absolutely loved this one.  she even wanted to sleep in the fort.  It all collapses and stacks into a very manageable carrying bag that you can easily store in a closet.  check it out its really great.

The other greatest gift of the season is Snap Circuits.

http://www.snapcircuits.net/

You can get both of these from amazon.  The set we got has 80 different projects and experiments to do.  Now, neither one of these was on Samantha's lengthly wish list.  But these two have become her absolute favorites.  It's fantastic to see her grasping the concept of electricity and thinking creatively how to alter the projects.  Okay, yes, this is only for use with an adult supervising, and there have been a couple of times where Sam has gotten a little zap.  It uses two AA batteries, so relax, I'm  not lighting a bunsen burner and heading out for smokes.  Right now the whole kit is at school, so Sam can show the other kids the different experiments using light, sound and motors powered through the circuits you create.  Very cool.  Major props to The Wife for finding and ordering both of these.

I think I'm the only parent who didn't the (three week) Winter break was long.  I as have mentioned and will continue to mention, I'm a softee, and I miss my daughter when she's at school all day.  And it was nice to spend an entire day with her.  Not that I felt I had lost any connection with her, but it's just different.  The house is so quiet for so long when she's in school.  And with after school activities, classes at the Y, playdates, I get dinner bath and stories.  that's it.  I know I'm not breaking any new literary or parental ground here, but it's going by fast and I'm glad to have some time to soak it in.

Best comments by the boo:

Samantha:  Daddy, are you going to shave today?
Me: Yes
Samantha:  Good.  then you won't look like a crazy person.


Okay, I have just enough time to check the bank balance before I have to go pick her up.  more later.