Category Archives: Family Matters

Hello Camera

 

Book, Netbook, Coffee. Good stuff!

Book, Netbook, Coffee. Good stuff!

 

I finally dug out my camera for a few pictures.  First, here’s my adorable little netbook that Kevin got me for Valentine’s day.  It’s tiny and light and able to be tucked under my arm and trundled anywhere.  Now, no matter where the girls are, I can track them down and still be hooked into the Internet.  Gotta love that!

 

Size Comparison - Closed

Size Comparison - Closed

 

In between setbacks, I’ve only managed to eek out a little crafting time.  So sad but true.  One thing I’ve been working on is making Leina her very own Little House on the Prairie Bonnet.  She adores the Little House books.  Oddly enough, her favorite character and idol is mindful Mary.  She often wants to play Little House.   This involves me being Ma and telling Mary some important task to do.   Leina will listen to me carefully and then nod her head wisely and intone, “yes Ma” and then begin to mind the baby or fetch the cow or whatever else I can devise.  So far, she balks modern requests like clean your room or empty the dishwasher but I’m hoping that the addition of the bonnet might make her a bit more amenable to my suggestions.  If not, seeing her troop around in her very own prairie bonnet is enough to melt a hardened old heart like mine.

 

My Little Prarie Girl

My Little Prairie Girl

Confusion

Last night at dinner, Leina announced that she likes broccoli.  Just out of the blue.  Like she was saying her favorite color was pink.  We were sitting down to dinner and she looked over at my plate and said, “you know Mom, I like broccoli.”

Now, I have prepared 99.9% of this child’s meals and I can tell you, she does not like broccoli.  I have tried it dripping with butter, in melted cheese, or hidden between casserole noodles to no avail.  The offending green is plucked out, labeled disgusting, and tossed to the dog.  She has never knowingly eaten broccoli in her life.  Never.

So there I sat, a bit dumbfounded.  I was tired from this icky cold and I just wanted to eat my dinner.  I did not want to get up and make Leina a serving of broccoli just to have her take a nibble and then spit it all out.  So I decided to wuss out.

“Honey, you don’t like broccoli,” I told her.

“Um, yes I do Mom!  I eat it all the time!”  Leina retorted.

“No, honey, I’m not making you any broccoli.  Just eat your nuggets.”

“But I really want some Mom, please????   Just a little?”

Kevin intervened here and handed her a floret of broccoli and she popped it in her mouth and said, “Yummmm.  Can I have more?”

I was pretty sure she was pulling my strings.  She just wanted me to get up and cook her some and then by the time I sat down again she’d declare she didn’t really like it any more.  I’d seen this tactic before.  I wasn’t falling for it.

“No honey, just eat your dinner.”  

“But it’s so yummy!” Leina replied.  To this Kevin decided he was willing to part with his broccoli and passed it to Leina.  She ate it.  All.  And then started eyeing mine.  At this point I realized that maybe she really truly did like broccoli.   I mean, who really knows how the mind of a 5 yr old works, right?  So she ate Kevin’s broccoli, my broccoli, and all the extra still in the bowl.  It was amazing.

Kulia, who idolizes and follows everything her big sister does, also decided that she too loves broccoli.  So I made her a bow.  She took a big chomp and a look of revulsion pulsed over her face.  Luckily, Leina was more than willing to finish her sister’s share of that delicious green goodness.

Now the real question is, will she eat it again or was this some rare food fluke?  Only time will tell.  I will keep you posted.

Sick, Again

I think I might make a generic “I’m Sick” post to have on hand because it feels like that’s all I am lately.  Sick.   Sicksicksicksicksicksick.  Every time I claw my way back into the realm of  the healthy, I get dragged back down by something else.  So yes, I am sick.  Again.  The silver lining is my gum surgery has healed nicely so now I can go back onto solid food.   And, the sick spot on the sofa is totally broken in.  The icky part is that my house has fallen down around me in a pile of dirty clothes, unwashed dishes and dog-hair covered floors due to the fact that they have been left neglected for about a month now.   Sigh.  

So hello Mr. Sickness.  I’ve expecting you.  Come in and wear your welcome out, the way you always do!

Hello March!

I must confess that February is my least favorite month.  Neither winter nor spring but somewhere miserably in between.  Thank goodness it’s so short!  Now March, March is just a big tease.  She swings between sunny spring days and frosty winter mornings but there’s a feeling in the air and buds on the trees that lets you know she won’t break your heart.  March may tease but spring is just around the corner.

Which means….garden!  Yes, it’s the time of year when I start thumbing though cookbooks, rushing to the mailbox to look for gardening magazines, and reading gardening memoirs.  Of course, I’ve forgotten how horrible gardening really is.  The weeds, the slugs, the prickly brambly bushes that want so badly to play in my little space.  Right now those are just a dim memory.  This is a good thing.

My sister in San Diego could garden year round due to her lack of seasons but to me that holds  no allure.  The best part of having a garden are those winter months when everything is bare and bleak and all the planning and dreaming you have time for.  If I had to week year round, I think I’d lose my mind!  But my green thumb has started twitching so I know it’s time to start planning for spring.  Hip hip horray!

Banned Books

Unfortunately, there are some books I should never be allowed to read but I just can’t help myself.  These are any type of memoir that involves a city girl moving to the country where she plants a garden and raises chickens.  Chickens….my dream bird.  I suppose, like my unfounded love of West Virginia, chickens are really messy, stinky birds that require tons of work for a couple of meager eggs.  Fortunately, I am not one to let reality interfere with my dreams and I do dream of chickens.

These memoirs are like waking  dreams for me.  Someone actually did it!  Moved to the edge of a forest, the foot of a mountain or the middle of the prairie and planted their dream garden and built a chicken coop.  I can’t get enough!  I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and will have to add it to my list of banned chicken dream books.  I loved it.  The author and her family decided, after moving to a farm, to eat locally for one year.  All their food had to come from within 100 miles of their home.  Talk about adventurous!  Do you have any idea of what is in season during the month of Feb?  Nothing good I can tell you.  But they did it and they liked it.  While I have no intention of trying to eat locally all the time, I am inspired to do it more of the time.  I live in the middle of the Willamette Valley and we are surrounded by great produce all spring and summer long.  So as spring approaches, I think I’m going to try and use our local farmer’s market instead of Safeway to supply our fruits and vegetables.  In fact, as I was walking through Safeway yesterday, I found grapes from Chile, strawberries from Mexico and bananas from Ecuador.  I’m guessing it took a lot of energy to get those items here for me.  More energy than I am worth to be honest.  So even though Leina wanted a peach, we contented ourselves with raisins.  I discouraged the watermelon whining and instead grabbed some fresh asparagus.

Isn’t it odd how we forget our childhood lessons?  In my opinion, one of my biggest responsibilities as a parent is teaching my children they can’t have everything they want.  I have to show them that there is a vast difference between “what is good for you” and “what you want”.  This involves saving their quarters instead of buying everything they covet.  It involves learning one scoop of ice cream is enough even if four sounds delicious.  It encompasses the art of waiting their turn and sharing with others.  And then we go to the grocery store and all these lessons get thrown out the window.

Want a peach in December?  No problem.  Craving watermelon on a cold March day?  Got that too.  Corn on the cob can be had any day of the week in November.  I am quite convinced that my girls believe that strawberries grow year round on any farm.  When it comes to fresh food, we have reverted to preschoolers.  We no longer wait for things to come into season.  If we want it, we get it with no thought to how it happens or what it really costs.  So I’m going to try and teach myself as well as my kids a bit more.  I’m going to take the time to read where my produce is coming from.  I’m going to remember that patience is a virtue and that it is worth waiting for some things.  Not just for my health but the health of  this planet too.

And did I mention the chickens?  Someday….. Someday…….

The Runaway

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  It’s really a rite of childhood.  So I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised when Leina came downstairs and announced she was running away.  I’m not exactly sure what prompted this decision.  From what I can make out, Kulia was in her way and wouldn’t move.  Leina decided that was the last straw and ran upstairs to pack.  She came back down with her favorite blanket, Green, lovingly wrapped around her precious Marie stuffed animal, her markers, and some blank paper.   Yup, those were her most important possessions.  She was off to face the hard world well armed with craft supplies.  When she announced her intentions, I kept my poker face intact, looked out the window and told her it was raining pretty hard so to be sure and wear her raincoat on the way out the door.  

You should have seen the devastation on her face.  I think she thought I would freak out over the idea of her leaving.  Being told to zip up her coat wasn’t, exactly, the response she was looking for.  Her lip quivered and her eyes began to water.  “But, but, Mommy!  Don’t you want me to stay?” she moaned at me.  I did my best to hide my laughter and told her of course, I wanted her to stay and that I would miss her horribly if she left.  At this, she began crying and dropped her precious bundle of art supplies and we had a nice, long hug.

During this time, Kulia figured out what was going on and she announced that she too was going to run away with Leina and off she went to grab her blanket – Patches- and some crayons because clearly, no McLaughlin child would brave a cold and wet Northwest night without some sort of drawing utensil.  Raincoat?  Optional.  Drawing supplies?  Necessity.  This set off another round of bickering as Leina announced she would never run away with a stinky baby which caused Kulia to start crying and all too soon our house was back to normal.  By the time Kevin came home the drama cloud has blown away and he admitted to me later that he was very sad to miss the whole event.  He, too, remembers fondly his own aborted attempts to run away.  Ah, don’t we all!