Smrt Lernins

The stockings have been dumped, the presents unwrapped, the ham and fried turkey eaten, the wine drunk, and the Christmas cds put away for another year. Wii-related gifts came in piles, Captain Science’s iPod Touch was a huge hit, Babypie loves her new Waldorf doll (made by yours truly), and the Tank has more new dinosaurs than any little boy’s heart could ever desire. Tomorrow, we shop the post-Christmas sales, but after that, I begin the process of planning the next semester’s schedule.

I hope all my readers had a delightful Christmas (or any other winter holiday you celebrate) this year.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…

Tonight, the Tank told Papa (my dad) that he loved him “eighty ninety.” He told Nana he loved her “ten-ny.” I asked how much he loved me. He looked me up and down and said…

“One.”

One? ONE?!?! I made a sad face. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, “Ok…five.”

Merry freaking Christmas, y’all.

Babypie doesn’t like her medicine. She really, really doesn’t like her medicine. She hates it so much, that now she hates all medicines, even the ones she used to take without fuss, because the delivery method (oral syringe) is the same. Today, she hated taking medicine so much, that she gagged and gagged, which made her cough, which made her vomit her medicine all over both of us and the kitchen floor. Breastmilk and medicine puke isn’t horrible, thankfully, but it’s not exactly what I’d call festive, either.

Can you believe I’m actually missing homeschooling? Without some semblance of a routine, my days feel alternately too long and boring or too short and harried. I’m really looking forward to revamping our schedule, post-Christmas. Piano twice a week, Latin, maybe some new language arts programs! It’ll be like a second Christmas for me!

Spent the better part of the afternoon in the pediatric urgent care, after night two of both the Tank and Babypie shrieking all night long. The final tally was three infected ears between them (two for the Tank, one for Babypie) and a chest x-ray on the Tank to rule out pneumonia (clear, thankfully). Nothing says Christmas cheer like an infected ear. I’m on day two of almost no sleep. Things are getting giddy up in this joint.

Growing up, my mother (Nana) used to always sing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” to us when we’d whine or complain. I’ve continued that tradition with my own children. They, in turn, sing it to each other.

A few days ago, the Tank was whining about wanting something or another (the red cup, maybe) and Captain Science broke out in song with “you can’t always get what you want!” I sang, “but if you try sometimes, you just might find…you get what you need.”

Without missing a beat, the Tank sang, to the same tune, “But you won’t like it…’cause it’ll have a spider on it.”

That’s so true. So very true.

The Tank: “We’re watching Batman.”
Smrt Mama: “I’m sorry. You’re watching what?”
The Tank: “Batman. You know, Batman.”
Smrt Mama: “Batman? What Batman?”
The Tank: “You know, Mama. Batman. The blue Batman.”
Captain Science (hollering up from the playroom): “We’re watching Sleeping Beauty!”
The Tank: “Yeah. Sleeping Beauty Batman.”