Holpineville

Monday, I'm in Love*

Don’t you wake up with some song going through your head?  I do. Carl apparently does. Why else do people sing in the shower?  Rod says no, not him, and gives me that look that faintly says, what kind of weirdo are you, anyhow?  For me, the daily tune is not even a song I like, necessarily.  But I dutifully share it with the kids to get them moving some mornings, and they tell me “no singing!”  So, I switch to speaking in foreign accents, and then they tell me not to talk that way.  Life around here can be such a drag.

Here is Carl’s latest school picture.  I am hopelessly in love.

 

Oh, wait, that’s not it.  That’s his Auntie Heather. I love her, too, and it’s so easy to get them confused. Here’s Carl:

 

 Somewhere, there’s another picture of Heather that looks just like that. 

Also, I found a picture of Heather at four, wearing a bikini and it looks like my son cross-dressing.**   

  

Oh, Ruby got her school picture taken, too, but it’s nowhere near as adorable as the little Carlitos Buckarito’s.  She fixed her hair funny, her eyes don't normally look like that, and she didn’t even open her mouth so you could see all the missing teeth.

 

What do you wrap up on Christmas for the child who wants nothing?  I know it’s early for me, the don't-rush-it-enjoy-the-season-shop-later slacker, to even think of Christmas, but I’m a bargain hunter, you know, and I’m trying to plan ahead a bit this year.  Carl has a list of things he wants that keeps growing: Nerf dart gun, Lego Jungle Cutter, Lego Troll Warship, Lego Batman Somethingorother, Ninja turtle toys, guitar, balls, skateboard, Skippyjon Jones/Captain Underpants/Captain Raptor/Scooby books, pocketknife (only in his dreams), more dot-to-dot-books, “monster pen” (?), art supplies, etc., etc.   With him, I am trying to manage expectations:  Santa brings ONE THING.  Mommy and Daddy will get you something, but not everything on your list. Grandma usually gives you clothes.  Grandpa tends to give money, not stuff, etc. 

Ruby, though, isn’t making much of a list.  Lately she’s not into anything in particular.  So asking her to tell me what she wants for Christmas isn’t getting me much feedback.  Today, Ruby gave it some deep thought, and her list consisted of a stuffed cat (because apparently none of the 65,439 we already have is quite right), and a robot kit or a sewing (I think she means needlecrafts in general) kit.  She might like a book, too, or some clothes, maybe, she mumbles. 

I feel some need to maintain child present parity, so that just isn’t a satisfying answer for me.  I have a couple of minor ideas, but she's only six and already she's a tough case.  She is not a traditional-toy kid.  Maybe I will give her IOU’s for Girl Time Outings with Mommy or Big Kid Time with Daddy; she seems to like experiences and individual attention more than things.  But, that doesn’t unwrap well, compared to giant toy boxes.   It is a good thing I have a month to figure it out.

 

* My apologies to the Cure for mangling their song.  But today is, in fact, Monday.

** Double apologies to Auntie Heather. You've aged well, sugarplum.

Anxious

Oh, it's been a long week. Fun, in some ways, but long.

Carl, my Little Obese One, celebrated Yom Kippur by running around the house naked for a while yesterday morning.  I took the opportunity to count his ribs, admire his chiseled abs, and marvel at his bumpy little spine.  The fat must all be between his ears and wrapped around his internal organs.  Or maybe it's that cute little butt?

I am really torn about his blood work order (see last post).  It's not that I see any serious harm in checking him out, and if he has a cholesterol or other problem I'd rather know about it now. But there are five tests on the list (metabolic panel, lipid panel, CBC, Hba1c, insulin level), so that's at least five vials of blood, likely more, and it just seems like a lot of pain for a kid who I think is fine the way he is.  Plus, he hates blood draws and he's already had more of them done than Ruby ever did; I don't want him to have a medical treatment phobia.  So, I'm dithering about it, asking 575 moms in my neighborhood which lab location is best for kids, and I'm probably going to call the doctor and ask if this is really critical to do it now, or if we can wait a while and see how he grows.

Rod has a lot going on at work this week and it's not going all that well.  He's been getting up early and working on stuff at home until late in the evenings.  Mr. "Sleep is a Top Priority for Me" isn't sleeping well, either.  I just want to fix it all for him.  But have you ever tried managing someone else's career, when you don't understand all that well what they do anyway?  Yeah, I'm that successful.  So my primary utilityis listening, sympathy, spously comfort, and cooking dinner.  Occasionally, I take on an extra chore, or at least refrain from foisting mine off on Rod, and of course, I try to assume the entire Household Worry Burden.

It probably doesn't help the mood at the office that Rod's company's stock is getting decimated along with everyone else's.  It's not that it's our only holding, but we have a good chunk, plus some options that aren't going to be useful for anything now.  I did run the Quicken update today and our net worth total was "only" down about 25%, but then I realized there are several accounts, including a 401K, that aren't updated automatically, so probably the Holpines are worth only 50-60% of what we were a few weeks ago.  I think I'll just pretend it's play money for a while.  Because I know so much about it all, I am betting for a rebound after the election, assuming no terrorist attacks, assassinations, or coronary incidents involving aging candidates.

Ruby loved her piano lesson and very proudly played for us the three "songs" she learned last night.  It was interesting to me to see how one starts, as I never had beginner piano lessons; I kind of taught myself the basics and then took lessons off and on in middle and high school. From what I see, it seems that instead of reading music, it's more about learning the names of the keys/notes and the numbers of your fingers, plus music that goes up or down and fast or slow.  She has a theory workbook with written exercises to do in addition to music to play.  I hope she keeps going.

We spent a lot of yesterday at the park, and then working on Ruby's princess costume.  She was very enthusiastic about helping with the costume, and I was sorry that the fabric we're using isn't very beginner friendly.  It's a satin that's really hard to pin, for one thing.  She helped with the cutting without messing anything up.   I must say, you haven't really sewed until you've been at the machine, trying to set up the thread, with one kid on each knee.  Carl was sorting buttons and Ruby was trying to watch what I was doing.  I am now in that mid-project slump where it's not turning out as lovely as you'd planned and you don't see how you're ever going to finish.  And there's a penguin suit to come, too.