Saturday Night Retrospective: Granny Pinkie

Prayers Answered

Well folks, my friend has made it through the storm. She had no power, but her house only had minor wind damage. They stayed with her parents (a few streets away), so they are OK, too.

Thank you, everybody, for all those prayers and thoughts. They worked!

Pray hard

My bestest friend and college roommate is in Houston with a husband and two small children. They are battening hatches (I tried to lure them up here for the weekend, but that didn't work- her parents are there, too).

For her, and any of you who are planning to hang tight in the path of Ike, we are praying hard here. Take care and stay safe.

Not missed

I got Joey onto the bus this morning, did a few needed chores, and went to get Andy.

When I arrived at Grandma's, they were on Grandma's bed, reading a book, and living it up. They had already had breakfast and washed up. They had talked much of the night,and had fun.

Andy had no desire to go home. Even now, as he prepares for his bath, I can hear, "Want to sleep at grandma's!"

We are planning on Joey's sleepover, coming soon. We know Joey is going to need a lot more prep than "wanna stay the night?" while sitting in Grandma's driveway. It will take more prep on mom's part to distract him when he arrives, and keep him focused on the activities they will do, and the activities need to be planned and prepped, to that he stays engaged. However, it should be fun to have him all to herself.

I suspect that once again, we won't be missed.

Wordless Wednesday: Sleepover at Grandma's

The Witching Hour

In stories and folklore, the Witching Hour is usually the wee hours of the morning, such as Midnight. But for those of us with children, we all know that this a misinterpretation. The real Witching Hour is about 4-6 pm.

Between 4 and 6pm, no matter where we are, no matter what the day has held, my children go berserk. They're tired. They're hungry (even if they just had a snack!). They are wound up and ready to tear each other apart, while vying for undivided parental attention.

In the car? Choruses of repeated soundified cacophony, bounced back and forth, or punctuated with "DHO-WY!!!DHO-WY!!! BE QUIET! I NEED QUIET!!!!"

In the house? Stampedes of elephants rampage through the house, chasing two terrified cats, while singing "Blue's Clues" or the daily Favorite Ditty at the top of their lungs. Sometimes trucks are pushed by said elephants, exponentially increasing the noise.

In the yard? Sand is flung willy-nilly to squeals of protest and sandy bodies dashing past the parental guard into the house... where the child promptly turns into a very sandy elephant.

In the store? I avoid the store during the Witching Hour at all costs. We'll survive a single night without milk, bread, and toilet paper instead.


Any relief from the Witching Hour is infamously temporary. Nothing will eradicate it completely from a day. A method that provides relief today will not work for weeks to come. There is nothing to be done but batten down the sanity hatches and hold on tight... and enjoy the roller-coaster ride.

Another baby lost

We just heard about James ManyWhiteHorses. Although it is not yet known if his mother killed him because he was autistic, but he is gone. Another life lost for no apparent reason- a baby loved dearly by his aunt, who wanted to take custody of him.

Spider on the Porch

We have a spider on our porch, and I got some cool footage of her spinning her web.

Monday Retrospective: In Memory of Love Lost, Part One

This December will mark ten years since my brother last spoke to me. I often think of all the wonderful things he is missing by not knowing my children, his nephews. We still love him.

The Two Princes

Our slumber party at Grandma's actually went really well. We had a Blue's Clues Roller-Coaster Birthday Slumber Party, with popcorn and mac and cheese and presents (they each got a Blue's Clues playset) and sleeping in Grandma's bed! We munched popcorn through Hanna, which was little more than a prolonged summer storm here. No real flooding.

Today we wandered into the woods to see how high the river was. I grew up in these woods. There was once a well-trod path here, beaten smooth by the passing feet of myself and my brother nearly every day. Now my sons had a look at their future domain, two princes of the woods where their mom once roamed free.

I was roaming mostly free in these woods by the age of seven, when we started building the house. I would run down the path into adventure and freedom, and return with the ringing of the ship's bell my mom and dad mounted on our porch. When you heard the bell, it was time to come home. I assure you that bell is very loud, and carries a lot farther through those woods than one might expect.

Joey is now six years old. There was a time when I thought by now we'd be spending summer afternoons with Joey wandering through these woods regularly. That has not been the case. WIll he ever roam free in these trees, in his own little kingdom? Will he learn to return with the clang of the bell? That day certainly is not yet here. I thin kit will come, but not today.

We wandered over to the garden, too, but the deer ate most everything we planted there. I am dreaming of building something of a walk-in cage for future planting, but when will I have time and resource to build such a thing? Anyway, by that time, most of what was being said were whines, as if they were allergic to the woods and outside. I think we need to take more walks together! Beat down the paths a little more!

I couldn't even get Joey to look at the swollen river, or the trees, or anything. He was preoccupied with branches constantly brushing him and insects buzzing about and being tired. I may come some mornings and hack at the trees and the paths so he can get more used to being outside, being in the woods, and has some set paths he can use before he strike out to make his own.

Andy was being persnickety, too, though he had more interest in the woods, like the tree we saw that had been beaver-felled, and the small yellow flowers, and looking for spider webs. He's not old enough to be wandering about unsupervised, but I still need to get him out into the woods more. I hate to see them both with forest allergy.

In the end, we retreated to the walking along the driveway. Joey is much more comfortable with having the set road to follow. Again, maybe if I make more paths clear, my little prince charmings will be more willing to survey their domain.

Slumber Party at Grandma's!

So we're at Grandma's, for the great Slumber Party. The plan is to stay overnight. WE'll see what reality brings.

The afternoon has seen the boys mostly hanging out, eating popcorn, and watching Little Bear ad Blue's Clues. It rained pretty good. Now it's just windy here.

Later entertainment: dinner. Jell-o. Cookies.

Hmmm.. maybe I need to get some real activities organized here...

Things I Noticed When I Woke Up This Morning

It's Raining. Finally.

There are two boys in this bed.

I am a Mom Sandwich between said boys.

Neither of them are asleep.

I'm still tired.

Hey, it's 8 am. They let me sleep in! (Too bad it was almost 2 am before I fell asleep!)

The cat is also on the bed.

With non-sleeping boys.

And she's alive. In fact, she's asleep.

And neither boy is trying ti either pet her or chase her. How weird is that?

Thus the day begins...

Preparing for the storm

Hanna is headed our way, so I've been battening down hatches and putting away lawn furniture. It should be a lot less than Isabel, but 40mph winds are not a pretty thing around here. Well, the city ain't made for it.

JoeyAndyDad is on his way to Texas (I hope the plane is taking off as I type with him safely aboard it). I hate planes. I'll be praying hard until I see him again on Sunday.

This may be a heavy-posting weekend. Or a non-posting weekend. I have no idea which.

Talismans

Kids like talismans- small objects to hold for security. Joey and Andy are no exception. Andy has blankie, which must be with him whenever he is upset or getting ready to sleep. The only place blankie goes out of the house is the beach; otherwise, it lives here, lest it be lost and disaster ensue.

Joey has sort of daily favorites, sometimes weekly favorites. Cars are popular. School buses seem to be a great favorite. Blocks work very nicely. The blue plastic elephant from the beach is this week's talisman.

These talismans are security for my kids. It is such a small thing, to save a lot of headache.

For some reason, there is a campaign among adults, including some of the teachers and therapists at Joey's school, to eliminate the need for a talisman. They think nothing to chiding children for having one, taking it away, telling them t put it in their cubby or their locker or their bookbag for the day.

How much more focus and work they could get if that talisman remained in the hand!

Whenever we go out to stores, restaurants, even the park, that talisman give Joey that little bit of solid support, that little bit of fidget, that little bit of what he needs to cope. The reason given for taking these items is that the kids might get teased.

Somehow I think a meltdown would be far more distracting and a target for teasing than a matchbox car.

But that's just me, I suppose.

Beach Trip: Part Four

In which we visit Marty's Playland.


On March 30, 2008, the Ocean City Boardwalk was ablaze: specifically, the Dough Roller, next to one of our favorite points, Marty's Playland. We had not been able to gather much information about the extent of the damage, and so with some trepidation, we approached the restored arcade on Day Three. Well, actually, JoeyAndyDad and I scoped it out on the evening of Day Two, while the little ones slept. We wanted to check out the SkeeBall and the ten-cent cranes and be prepared. For those of you similarly worried, it looks like Marty's lost a SkeeBall or two, but the others are up, running, and looking lovely. The cranes have been moved again, it looks like the floor had some damage that is still being repaired, but the are there and working, too.

So we started our Marty's adventure, and the boys right away discovered a new horse-riding game. Its kind of a combo of a ride and a game. We had to help, but they really liked it.

Then we made our way to the SkeeBall, and worked on bowling. Joey got good enough to win tickets- he even bowled a 150! Joey really liked playing. Andy was more interested in games that made more beeps and had more flashy lights. He was pretty good at one that raced little cars on a track, and he was not too bad at iguana game.

My favorite- and my mom's- is, of course, the ten-cent cranes. We don't have pics this year of the cranes. See, one of the things to be won this year were those little plastic crystal-looking animals, and one was a blue elephant. Joey had one earlier in the year as a prize, and of course it broke, and seeing one in the machine was very exciting. So he and Grandma went to work to try to "win" it.

Now, folks, the ten-cent cranes are antiques. As antiques, they often have trouble. Sometimes, you put your dime in, and they don't work just right. It's just part of playing the cranes.

But for Joey, when he puts his dime in, he expects the crane to work. Perfectly. So he was getting a little frustrated that the crane wasn't picking up the elephant like he thought it ought to. He'd get close, and move it around, and even grab stuff (he got lots of little toys!), but it just didn't get that elephant.

And then it happened.

He put the dime in, and the crane got stuck. It wouldn't go at all, because it got hung up on itself. Grandma called for help from the maintenance folks (who naturally hang out around the antique games), but it was too late. The noise of the arcade. The frustration with the machine. The lights, the people, the elephant not being caught. He started to scream, and I turned from what I was doing- which was mostly organizing tickets that the guys had won- and reached out to hug him to calm him, but I reached too late. I missed him as he whipped around a corner of the machines. Two steps behind, I whipped around the corner, too.

No Joey.

Marty's is something of a labyrinth of arcade games of all kinds. It is kind of two big rooms, but divided by games and cases into a maze of smaller areas. Fabulous if you like the crunch of an arcade. Pure hell if your child has just disappeared in teh crowd, despite wearing a bright orange shirt and screaming his head off.

Gone. He was gone.

I followed what I thought was the most obvious path, around the games back to where Grandma was standing, unaware that I did not have him. The sheer panic on my face must have spoken a thousand screams. We began scouring the arcade. I ran quickly through the little maze of rooms, familiar to me from childhood for the most part (and to my mom from her childhood), but there was no sign of him. He was gone. Maybe he had gone to look for Daddy?

But no, here was Daddy with Andy in hand. Seeing us panic, not knowing what happened, JoeyAndyDad had instinctively (and intelligently) grabbed Andy's hand, so we only had one to look for. Grandma and I headed to the Skeeball. Maybe he had gone there... or continued right out the door, maybe trying to get to the car? Or to his beloved and comforting beach? Was he lost in the crowds on the boardwalk? Was he lost in the arcade? Either possibility would be terrifying for him. (I was reminded later of the possibility of someone taking him. Fortunately, my brain didn't explode.)

No Joey at the Skeeball. No Joey to be seen anywhere outside. Grandma took up station at the doors, to watch for him, and I think JoeyAndyDad stayed at the Skeeball with Andy to watch for him, and I plunged back into the dark hub-bub of the arcade.

Retrace the steps. Go back to the cranes. I headed back to the back of the arcade, where the cranes are set up next to teh prize/ticket redemption counter. And...

There he was, right next to the crane!

He was pretty upset. A very nice lady saw me, and told me she was about to get someone to announce over the loudspeaker that there was a lost child (she had tried to talk to Joey to calm him down, but discovered that was not an easy task- when upset, Joey often speaks what would be perceived by others to be nonsense). I hugged my little guy tight and got him out of there.

Dad took the guys for another round of rides, but Joey was perseverating on the blue elephant, so Grandma and I feverishly plugged dimes into machines until we got one. Actually, I ended up with two, but that's a good thing, as these little toys break easily.

We came back the next day- our last morning at Ocean City- to play the air hockey. The boys were very into it. I think when Joey ran, that's where he went- it is a very dark corner of the arcade, so that the lights of the hockey tables show up. Until very recently, the idea of Joey running towards dark would be ridiculous, but with the glow of the lights, the corner may have seemed a good idea to him. Or a blind run into the dark. Either way, it is the one corner of the arcade where I probably would not have been able to spot him.

The boys thought the air hockey was great fun. Everybody was much calmer. Joey clutched his beloved blue elephant for the rest of the trip.

I think I'll put the other one on the Christmas Tree for good luck.

First Day of School: First Grade

We take a break from our vacation stories to note that today, I am the Mother of a First-Grader. Joey got up, dressed, packed with breakfast (yogurt and sugar-free snack cake), lunch he made himself (ham and cheese roll-up with grapes and broccoli), and snack (sugar-free Capri Sun water thing and sugar-free Jell-o). Oh, and some cash for milk. I think I did OK. Now I can feed him a snack when I pick him up for speech therapy, and a nice dinner, and not worry that I am over-feeding him.


We are going to be doing some experimenting with his placement this year, putting him in a "regular" reading group, and then later in a math group. So he'll have three teachers this year- actually 4, because the inclusion room has two teachers, a regular ed and a special ed.


I miss him already.

Beach Trip: Part Three

Assateague Adventure!

We had our first boatride! We chose the Assateague Adventure, which includes a landing on Assateague Island halfway through. The boys were so excited! They were very patient waiting for the boat to head out to sea.

Joey and Andy liked looking out and watching the water slip by, and the houses and boats in the harbor. Joey liked the patterns the water made as the boat slipped through it. We also passed the Duckaneer, a boat that looked like a pirate ship. Maybe we'll go on that adventure next year!

Andy also liked to show his brother stuff, like the ponies on Assateague, and some of the big boats. He also liked exploring some of the tanks on the boat- with horseshoe crabs and urchins in them! Fortunately, once the boat got going, the boys didn't have to stay seated, they could walk around the boat. Andy would have gone crazy.

My handsome boy sure liked being on the boat, even if it made him a little sleepy. It was also a little chilly, but we did OK in our long clothes. Some of the other folks on the trip looked cold.

We toured the Ocean City harbor before heading out to the island, so we got to see the big fishing boats and trawlers. The guide pointed out boats for fishing, clamming, and even collecting whelks. Andy got to show a whelk shell to the rest of the passengers on the way home.

The boat landed at Assateague, and we disembarked with nets to catch stuff in the water and check out what we found. Everything had to be left behind, though. Andy was eager to get out there and start looking!

We had to take off our shoes to keep the sand off the boat. When we came back, they hosed everybody off and checked to be sure everything we found was left behind. They let a couple of kids take some shells, but all the seaweed and sand had to stay put.

The boys wandered along the edges of the island looking for stuff to net. We rolled up the pants and got busy searching for cool stuff!

Some of the other passengers went into areas marked "closed for preservation of endangered species", which we didn't appreciate. We stuck to the shore, off the grasses and mudflats. Assateague is a barrier island, so it is constantly changing.

We got to see some of the ponies and some herons, but not the deer we saw last time. that's OK. We'll be back!

Joey found a few shells, including a spider crab shell and some clam shells. On the boat, he also got to touch an urchin, a starfish, and a horseshoe crab!

Andy's great finds included several kinds of seaweed and clam shells. This red piece was his favorite, but we also found some brown stuff, and some bright green kelp, and some seagrass (which the crabs need to breed!)

We made sure to carefully put everything back in the water that we found in the water. Andy wanted to keep his red seaweed, but we talked about how seaweeds help feed other animals, and he put that back, too. But I made sure to get a photo of it for him (which made him a lot happier about putting it back.)

Then we wandered back to the boat, and to the beach. We looked at all sorts of cool things on the boat, too. I think the boys really liked the Assateague Adventure, which was pretty cool for a first boat trip!

Beach Trip: Part Two

Our adventures continued at Trimper's Rides. Everything started out normal: Joey on the Whip, whipping it up, and Andy at the fishing pond, catching sharks and winning prizes, with nary a sidelong glance at the rides.
Then things started getting into gear. Andy got on a little train ride, one of those small things like you find outside grocery stores or in malls. He did OK. Then he got on the ride with the cars that light up. We were ecstatic! Wow! He rode like a champ! then he got on the ride with the bigger fire engine while his brother went outside.

Meanwhile, Joey discovered he was too tall to ride his favorite motorcycle ride. He was upset, and is still repeating, "I'm too tall! I'm too tall!" However, he discovered he was tall enough for Big Boy rides! He got on a boat that swung all around (I would have loved it when I was young... but now it looked a little dizzying), and the Himalaya (one of those rides that goes around with up-and-downs, and then goes... eeps.. backwards!), as well as some of the middling rides, like the smaller roller coaster.

Joey likes rides a lot. He was sad about not being able to get on teh little rides, but the big rides were no small consolation!

Andy is in that in-between size- he can ride the little rides, and those "middling" rides! So he got on the bumper boats and the airplanes. He loved the boats. They didn't look like much fun to me- he kinda just floated around- but he loved them!

Grandma even got in on the ride action! I think she tried to get on the Himalaya with Joey when she realized he got on it, but didn't manage it. She came and got me instead (and I would have liked to have seem photos of my face about every five minutes this whole afternoon. 'Andy's on a RIDE!' then 'Joey's on the WHAT????') She did manage to get on the Mixer!

The boys had a really great afternoon. Trimper's is always a treat- on the carousel, on the Whip, or just wandering around looking at the great paintings and happy faces. Andy and I even won a couple of real games- we pounded a frog into a lilypad for a big prize, and we picked up ducks, and we shot water guns!

And Holy Frijoles, he got on a ROLLER COASTER!!!!