"She broke a plate," I hear from the kitchen--not like I needed the announcement. The score from above is only the most recent number. I am well aware of the sound of plate breaking at this point in time. The plate breaking is a symptom of the strange way that Charity eats.
I say "strange" not fussy because sometimes the problem is that she does not have enough mouth in which to fit more banana. Other times the problem is that she refuses to eat anything but crackers. And she says "hungry" five seconds after she eats. In a bizarre moment of memorological astuteness, I actually remember the first time she said the word, "hungry." We were walking into the apartment, and she said "eat! eat! eat!" And I, trying to be the good teacher mommy, said, "When you want to eat, you're hungry."
"Hungry," she replied, almost leaving out the /g/ and stretching the /i:/. I thought it was the cutest word she'd said since "Mommy."
Now I wish she would STOP saying it! It's "hungry" and "snack" and "cheese" and "milk" every five seconds! And of course I can't give her these things because she's getting more than she should for her meals already! My personal theory is that she's just learning to like eating, something that makes me a bit nervous. I like to eat, too, which is a problem.
But as long as I keep her distracted, she seems to be fine with three regular meals a day and a couple of snack times. One of the methods by which I can keep her even more and more distracted is going to the park--the "Dunes Friendship Land" park. There are some definite pros and cons to this. I feel a list coming on.
Pros:
- Charity loves walking around in the park. The little kids side is fenced in, so I can just let her go. She ignores the equipment, but really likes running around.
- Nice benches, good shade, and for the most part nice people IN the actual playground area.
- Most of the equipment we like to use is in working order--the big people swings (I can't put Charity in a baby swing without getting a size 7 shoe imprint on my torso.), the slides, the tire swing.
- The park is within easy driving distance and do-able walking distance
- STUPID TEENAGERS!! (Not the nice kind that might be reading this!) These kids look and talk like they crawled out of that "World's Strictist Parents" show on MTV. Actually, the "World's Strictist Parents" kids are much cooler.
- Broken equipment! It stinks. The place has really gotten rundown since when it was first built. I REMEMEBER when it was first built. That's probably why (because I'm old, not because I remember it.)
- There is not a fence around the WHOLE park. So when Charity is ready to go into the big kids section, we are constantly fighting over the fact that she has to hold hands. I always win. I may or may not avoid the shoe print and the in-the-middle-of-the-park tantrum.
Another great way to get Charity's mind off of food is to assist her in playing with her Dora the Explora' (I love saying it like that!) toy castle, purchased from grumpy people at a garage sale this Saturday for the very high cost of $7. The castle is very cool. It's purple and there are secret passageways that she and Aaron understand and that confuse me. It came with grandma, who has wings (Can anyone tell me why grandma can fly?), Dora, a monkey, and a unicorn.
Watching Charity play with this castle is pretty darn amazing. She acts just like a little kid, NOT a baby! She makes the grandma go in one room and puts Dora in her chair. She works the secret passageways and makes neighing sounds for the unicorn. (Do unicorns neigh? It would make sense.) I will have to grab a video soon, now that I have a WORKING camera!
I feel like Charity's grown up in just a few days. She went from being a baby to being a little kid who hears me say naptime and whines "no" while trying to get me to read another story. She plays with big kid toys and walks up and down the stairs with me. She strings two words together to make little sentences. And she doesn't let me get ANYTHING done! :)
But for not getting anything done, I'm doing pretty well. Other than a few kids in my class who don't know that you're not supposed to cheat and make fun of other students, I have a lot going on. It's super busy, but also cool. I love seing my ideas being put into actions. I love being able to do homework in classes that actually infuence what I'm doing for the Skills Assessment and Development Center and in my classes.
And on the writing front, I'm now doing music reviews. Check this one out: http://rocknrollghost.com/2010/04/09/midas-fall-eleven-return-and-revert-monotreme.
I also rehauled our web site at SADC: http://webs.calumet.purdue.edu/skills/
And to top it all off, today we ate dinner AT THE KITCHEN TABLE for the first time since moving into this apartment a year ago! We had fruit salad (Charity wouldn't stop saying "yummy yummy"), hamburgers (I started letting her have meat), baked beans, and veggies. For dessert, I made a delicious chocolate cake with strawberries on top. I have a picture, but I'm not taking the time to upload it.
In self-reflection mode, after teaching my high school Sunday School class today, I think I taught myself something. Jesus had no place to lay his head. This is a big thing for me and my beliefs about capitalism and the way I think I (not you, necessarily) should live. Jesus also told us that we shouldn't worry about our needs because God will take care of them. However, he DIDN'T say that God will only take care of them if we WORK OURSELVES to DEATH! So more trusting should be done on my part. :)
I'm teaching my ESL students commas tomorrow. These are the most kick-butt sites I know to learn commas. Enjoy!
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/604/1/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/1/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/692/1/
No comments:
Post a Comment