At least I didn't do this

Sean and Pop Pop at sunset
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

All parents (well most parents, read on) have fears that they are inadequate, unfair or at the very least doing permanent damage to their children that will take years of therapy, booze or meditation (or perhaps all three) to get over. But occasionally God drops us a little sign that we aren't, after all, the worst parents in the world. Sometimes it's your child snuggling up to you on the couch to read a book and saying 'I love you mom.' Sometimes it's a compliment someone gives you after they have come in contact with your child, but other times, it's a news story like this one.....or this one...and I guess in the grand scheme of things, when your child goes on to reproduce and your grandchildren light up whenever they see you (see picture -- Sean is PopPop's biggest fan in the world) -- then perhaps you can sit back and say 'ok - I did an ok job on that whole parenting thing'....At least that's what I hope my parents are saying, 'cause they are the best there is!!! And not once did they hide drugs in my clothes! Go figure.

Is It Any Wonder....

that Americans are obese???? Hardee's new breakfast has 60 grams of fat -- suddenly my diet looks good in comparison. And keep reading about the Chicken Salad sandwich. And they aren't alone. Arby's Chicken Salad Sandwich (yummy as it is) has more fat (a whopping 39g) than a medium roast beef sandwich (at a still ungodly 20g). Somehow I think these guys are in league with heart disease, diabetes and cholesterol drug manufacturers. The more we eat of the first, the more we need the second. If only it would kill you on the spot, then we'd finally have some chlorine in the gene pool. But no, lots of the people who think this looks good have already reproduced.

Oxymorons in Advertising

There are lots of them and they drive me crazy (English major that I am) -- but here's a new one: Pillsbury Crescent Rounds -- you're either a CRESCENT or you're a ROUND, you can't be both. Now if we can stop advertisers from verbing language ("fragrances whole rooms" is on a can of air freshener at my parent's house -- fragrance IS NOT A VERB!!!!!!!!) then we'll only have to tackle false and predatory advertising and we'll have the whole industry cleaned up in no time......SIGH. Can we all just watch PBS and Noggin all the time, please.

Harsh Reality

erin and Pat on the Pier
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

So today I'm sitting in The Pit (our campus cafeteria) and I'm watching two students, both male, both clearly freshmen (they look 12). And here's what they have on their plates -- 2 cookies, 1 PB&J sandwich on white bread and chocolate milk. Here's how they eat: first the cookies, then the milk, then the sandwich. And it hit me -- my kids may never grow up. Despite my constant reminders to myself that 'they won't go to college still in pull-ups" or "they won't go to college" still doing whatever annoying thing they are doing in their current phase -- I realize they just might. As I was leaving, I saw another one - he had a bowl of Trix. FOR LUNCH. I rest my case......

"You just never know when.....

Erin on Deck
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

a boy's gonna kiss you. That's a true story. Well, that's not really a story, it's just a saying." That's what came out of Erin's mouth tonight as she was coloring. She was talking about this boy in her class who didn't want her to kiss him. And then she spouted that out. And you know, she's right.

September Thoughts

Erin and Mom!
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

Haven't posted in a while, so I thought I gather my thoughts and put them down.

Parenthood is, indeed, the toughest job in the world. But when you are putting your daughter to bed and she hugs you and says "Mommy, you're the best mommy I could have in the whole world" then somehow, it all seems worth it. That is, until, she pitches a fit because she wants her 'OTHER' pink and silver shoes, not 'THOSE ONES'.....just as you are ready to take her to school in the morning. Erin still loves The Downtown School and her teachers. They are learning this week about 'the lifecycle of frogs' which she is finding very interesting. She has taken to coloring with a vengeance in the last two weeks. We got her a box of 96 Crayolas (is there anything better than a brand new box of Crayolas--with the sharpener??) at Target on clearance for $2 and she is now coloring all the time. She is drawing her own pictures -- mostly doors, houses and people that look like big eggs with arms and legs coming out of them -- I wonder what Freud would say about that? And alas, apparantly geekiness runs in the family. She has mastered the mouse, can print things on her own and is becoming intimately familiar with noggin.com, pbskids.com and disney.com. Tomorrow, she'll be formatting our hard drive and putting Linux on it. At least she hasn't asked for an iPhone, yet.

Sean is still the happiest kid I know. Want proof....listen to him laugh. He is saying 'bah' for ball and 'dah' for down and such a wide variety of 'Uh-ohs' that you marvel that you never really paid much attention to that word before. It can mean so many things. The rest of us are chopped liver when Pop-Pop is around -- that boy LOVES Pop-Pop. And the feeling is mutual, I assure you!

Erin, Patrick and I are going to the WFU Football game this Saturday - it will be her first. Should be an adventure!

We are off for a family trip to the beach in a couple of weeks (Emerald Isle -- YEA!) so I know I'll have pics and stories when we get back. And then it will be October -- holy cow -- how did that happen??

August Reflections

blue_eyed_sean_aug07
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

Where the hell has my summer gone?? WFU students are coming in this Thursday and my life will be chaos for a while after that so I thought I'd post a few things before I get swamped.

Sean's only word is still 'Uh-oh' but he's adding more random sounds every day. He has completely given up baby food - and is becoming quite adept at feeding himself. He has this empirical point that he does all the time - he points at his mobile, the wall, his sister, his cats....I really think he was a Roman Emperor in a past life - I feel like any day he'll point at me and say "peel me a grape....slave" --but until that day, we enjoy his crazy cute smile and especially the fact that he is sleeping straight through the night most nights now. He's pulling up on everything and I'm sure he'll be walking soon, lord help us all.

Erin has become a great swimmer over the summer - it's been amazing to see her develop. She begins her new school next Monday so this week we are doing dry runs of making her lunch (Disney princess Lunchbox) the night before and packing her backpack (Tinkerbell). This morning she was so cute walking into Camp GrandJo with her backpack on and her lunch in her hand - it almost brought tears to my eyes. We meet her new teacher on Wed. so that will be fun. I think she's a little anxious but I know she'll love the school.

Some cuteness: She hurt herself a week or two ago and through her tears as I was getting ready to put a bandaid on her I heard her say "bless my heart...."