vikings season 2, episode 6

jarl borg realizes that ragnar's not as magnanimous as he seems...you know, after killing ragnar's village while he was away and chasing his family into the wilderness. what's not to forgive? read about unforgiven over at flickering myth.

sunshine shots

Just a few snapshots from last week around Katy. Sunshine and 70s.  Doing my best to wear them out before bed!

vikings: season 2, episode 5 recap

find me at flickering myth for this week's recap. lagertha leaves me again and i'm despondent. athelstan is seeing demons with big teeth and bjorn takes a swing with a big axe. read it here: answers in blood.

he's...different.

i have a kid in my life that i'm not going to name. or identify, really. just know that he's 10 and he loves art and he's not my son.

over the past year, he's tried my patience.

he couldn't sit still. never got more than a few words down at a time before buzzing around the room knocking things over. laughing at everything and nothing. ripping paper apart when forced to sit still. making up nonsense jokes just to try to make the kids around him laugh and lose focus.

he was that kid for the majority of the year.

today he was...different.

he stayed at his desk, pencil moving. doing what i was asking. asking questions that were relevant instead of talking just to keep me by his desk a little longer.

there was a prize up for grabs, so he concentrated extra hard and constantly asked for my feedback.

but he was...different.

more than once, i asked if he was okay.

was he sad? was something bothering him? was someone mean to him during lunch? was he sick?

no, no, no and no.

i mentioned to his teacher how much he'd concentrated on his work and how different he seemed and she nodded.

"medication," she said.

that's all she said. she didn't approve of it, she didn't condemn it. she simply stated fact and went back to the chaotic business of being a teacher.

for the entire ride home, my mind's been circling around the change in him and what's caused it and no matter how hard i try, i can't find entry into the puzzle or how i'd react if he were my son.

i can't decide how i feel.

is it better now that he's not a major disruption for the class? was he better when his personality was larger than life?

i don't know.

i don't know.

i am just grateful that i've never had to make a decision like that and i pray for the ones who do--the parents and teachers who must decide who needs to be less "you" and more "us" and how much.

what dosage yields enough "us" with plenty of "you" left?

do they miss the energy? are they grateful that now they can concentrate on the quieter students who weren't so demanding?

i don't know.

and

i pray for them.

goodnight. sleep tight.

Antiques Roadshow is finally on (after a marathon three hours of  Nick Jr. which consisted of  five Peppa Pig
episodes, two Dora the Explorer episodes, and the majority of one Bubble Guppies episode). I have the tea kettle on and I'm sitting here thinking about what it takes to get my kids to bed.

It's changed over time. Dom used to require an endless loop of Baby Einstein. Andrew needed a humidifier about an inch and a half from his face. Makenna needed mausoleum-level silence, and Riley needed me sleeping in the bed next to her.

But lately?

Dom and Andrew require a simple rhyme:

"I love you once.
I love you twice.
I love you more...
than beans and rice!"

But when I tuck Andrew in, I need to put in a few rounds of mistakes. It might sound something like this...

"I love you once.
I love you twice.
I love you more...
than pizza and beer!

("Noooo, mom!")

"Ok...I love you more
than chips and dip!"

("NOOO!")

"Hmmm. I love you more
than EGGS AND TOAST!"

("MOM!")

"Ok, ok, ok. I've got it.
I love you more
than beans and rice!"

("Yes! Goodnight...finally!")

With Dom, he takes the rhyme correctly the first time (and yes, he still wants me to say it), but I have to roll him in his blankets like a Dom-rrito (his word, not mine) and bounce him on the bed as I say it. Our dog gets a little silly at that point and lays on top of the kid.

Makenna is a simple girl now. She needs her Olivia blanket draped just so over the top of her comforter. She needs her curls tucked out of her eyes. And most importantly, she needs to be promised that I will take her to the mall in the morning.

For the record, I haven't been to the mall in months--but she still requires the promise every night. "What do you want to do tomorrow, Makenna?"

"The mall!"

And Riley, well, Riley wants to contribute to the mall vote as well, but more importantly she waits for me to lean down to give her a nighttime smooch. When I'm close enough (and she can contain her giggles) she rips through the silence with a loud PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Peeing on me.

She drifts off to sleep each night after pretending to pee like a boy. On me.

Who's the lucky gal?

Sweet dreams!

review: vikings season 2, episode 4

it's that time again. i'm hanging out a flickering myth talking about how happy i am that bjorn finally makes it back to reunite with ragnar. now if only we can get rid of princess aslaug, my life would be complete. read it here: eye for an eye.

review: vikings season 2 episode 3

over at flickering myth writing about episode 3 of vikings. check it out here: treachery!

for the foxes

Don't feel sorry for me.I am a competent,

satisfied human being.

be sorry for the others
who
fidget
complain

who
constantly
rearrange their
lives
like
furniture.

juggling mates
and
attitudes

their
confusion is
constant

and it will
touch
whoever they
deal with.

beware of them:
one of their
key words is
'love.'

and beware those who
only take
instructions from their
God

for they have
failed completely to live their own
lives.

don't feel sorry for me
because I am alone

for even
at the most terrible
moments
humor
is my
companion.

I am a dog walking
backwards

I am a broken
banjo

I am a telephone wire
strung up in
Toledo, Ohio

I am a man
eating a meal
this night
in the month of
September.

put your sympathy
aside.
they say
water held up
Christ:
to come
through
you better be
nearly as
lucky.

(by charles bukowski)

slow teeth (a riley story)

dominic arrived early and quickly. impatient, that one.

andrew arrived with a roar and let the entire world know he was here. determined, that one.

makenna arrived with a fever and a whole slew of unnecessary tests. dramatic, that one.

but riley?

riley arrived upside down through the emergency exit. unique, that one.

this baby is closing in on 20 months. it's an exciting time in our family because as our last baby gets through all these final milestones, we're saddened of course, but mostly p and i are just like...

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

we've been in the baby having, baby changing, baby feeding, baby non-sleeping business for five years now (yep, that's how old andrew is, friends) and we're tired. tiiiiiiiiiiired.

safe to say i'm excited as we check off each milestone with our babiest of babies. yay! no more umbilical cord. EVER. yay! no more meconium. EVER. yay! no more formula. EVER. yay! no more pacifiers. EVER. yay! no more sleeping in our room an inch and a half from my face. EVER.

her older siblings were in a rush when we weren't. dominic had his own entertainment center and nightime ritual by the time he was a year and a half. andrew was walking at 10 months, makenna at 9 months. Both were ordering online papa john's pizza by their second birthday.

but roo?

roo waits. she was almost 14 months before she figured this whole walking thing was worth a shot.

and her teeth? oh, dear god, her teeth. she's consistently three to four months behind the pediatrician's timetable for teeth sprouting and i've already tossed that stupid brochure in the trash and lit it on fire. LIES!

with each tooth that doesn't arrive on that lying calendar, my selfish mind calculates just how many more months we are to a full head of teeth and a restful night.

right now we're on one tooth in on the terrible canines. the three holdouts make an appearance once in a while like a little tiny white dot on her ravaged gum and then disappear. giving us one night of rest before four nights go all to hell with her aching mouth.

at this rate, she's going to be 25 by the time her  molars start coming in and i'm sure that when i hit 49, i might get to sleep in peace the whole night through.

so, while we may be ready for our babiest of babies to skate through this baby age into preschool age, Riley sure isn't.




this is part of "forty stories." a fun little lent challenge where i show up and write a story (of any nature, i guess) on internet paper. 

review: vikings season 2 episode 2

it's episode 2 of vikings over at flickering myth! read it here: invasion.