The Good Enough Witch

Had a Little Bug....

First off, a thousand and a half pardons for extending my sabbatical for an extra month and a half! I see from my stats that many of you have been faithfully checking in and most probably wondering, "Where the heck-fire did that girl go?"

Well the answer is I got sick....I mean REALLY, RIDICIOUSLY sick. We're talking eight weeks in bed on my bum with such a bad fever and sweats that it completely zapped me. My wonder husband Dave took over all the house/childcare duties in addition to holding down a full time job.

All I'd really wanted was a little break, a little rest....I'm filing this one under "Be Careful What You Wish For You Just May Get It."

Saw at least four different medical specialist all of whom could diagnose me no further than, "Oh, you have a fever of unknown origin." Oh geez-louise that's helpful isn't it? Personally I think it's Latin for, "We have no bloody idea what's wrong with you."

I asked the doctors how often they encountered this "fever of unknown origin" they shook their heads vigoriously and replied, "Oh it's RARE...extremely rare."

So I guess it's nice to be that special....

Meanwhile my five year old son Alex is getting pretty rip snorting upset that Mommy's been sick and unavilable for such a long time. At one point he was telling me he "hated me"...which I knew wasn't true and that he was just upset about me being sick. I finally got out of him that he thought I was "being sick ON PURPOSE." Yowza. Well, we had a mommy-son chat and cleared that up.

Fast forward a few weeks later and Alex gets sick! OH-NO! (He just had a virus and is right as rain after four days). But, the first night he was sick he told me how there were pincher bugs inside his skeleton and they couldn't/wouldn't come out and they just kept biting him and biting him and biting him until he was dead. WHAT THE!?!?!? I mean I know he's got a terrific imagination, but what was that about?

Two thirty that same morning, he wakes up and I'm trying to get him back down. We're chatting a little and suddenly it hits me like a ton of bricks and I say, "Alex do you think there are little pincher bugs in your body because you're sick...and you've heard people say that "someone's got a little bug" when they're sick?"

He said, "Yeah."

So I explained that was just a figure of speech and that bugs didn't really get inside you when you were ill, it was the germs that made you sick, then you went to the doctor and got all better.

But what about the "and they bite me and bite me until I'm dead" part methinks? So I probe a bit further.

"Alex do you think because mommy's been sick for so long that I'm going to die?"

And he said, "Yes."

OH MY GOSH! How scary for him! So of course I reassured him that I wasn't anywhere close to dying and that everything was going to be OK.

How's that for a story? Yowza Pete!

I've missed you all so much...thank you for all the comments you've sent during my absence. And expect that I'll be posting one to two times each week going forward! And P.S. I've been seeing an acupuncturist for two weeks now and it's really helping...going for that "whole body" approach to medicine. More on that later kids...

Cyberhugs to you all,

Mommy & Alex Day

My adorable son Alex...age 4 1/2 has been wanting some special "Mommy time." So today we decided to have a "stay at home day." Me and my boy just hanging out.

I know Wii Star Wars will be heavily involved...we've only been up an hour and it's already on. (This kid already knows all the moves and "secrets" of playing this game...it's astounding to me.) The weather is hotter than blazes here (it's been in the 90s) so my genius plan is to involve air conditioning as much as possible in our plans.

I see about 300 games of "Dora's Candyland," with a few million hands of "Go Fish," rounded out with a little "Sponge Bob Connect Four." Thank goodness for board games. (Actually my favorite from childhood is "Sorry" and Alex likes it too...played with slightly modified rules of course.)

Or perhaps "Monsters vs. Aliens" at the cinema? Or indoor jumpy houses? Or both? Only time will tell.

Off to play -

Spring Break...Haiku

Who came up with this?

Week off in the midst of school?

Not a Mom I'm sure.

Schedules disrupted,

Playdates to be planned each day

What to do with kids?

Zoo? Aquarium?

Perhaps a ceramics class?

Someone help me plan.

He and I, we'll play

Legos, Star Wars, Candy Land

A hundred times each.

Lots of new laughter

And memories to be made

Spring break can be fun.

Looking forward to spending the week with my boy -

The Moutain Adventure by Alex

This short story was dictated by my son Alex to his teacher Miss Christie. Alex is 4 1/2 and this Mommy is soooooo PROUD! The story has all the necessary elements: beginning, middle, end and a conflict/resolution. I'm marveling at what he knows without needing to learn it!

There were three friends: Flash the Firetruck, Cupcake the Towtruck and Huhzah the Little Blue Car. One day they went sky diving. They drove to the airport and got on an airplane. Huhzah was afraid. Cupcake and Flash were not afraid. They told Huhzah he will get really high and then float down and land on a trampoline so he can'tget hurt. Huhzah felt better and got on the plane.

The plane took off and flew over Alex's Grandpas' house where his Nana lives. Nana waved out the window when the airplane flew over. The plane flew to the mountains. When the plane was above the moutains the three cars put on the parachutes and jumped out of the plane. When they jumped out the parachutes opened and they floated down. Huhzah got tangled up and landed in a tree. Cupcake and Flash landed on the trampoline. They could not find Huhzah!

Cupcak and Flash drove up the mountain to find Huhzah. They looked and looked but they had to keep driving up the mountain. When they were almost to the top they heard Huhzah say, "Hellooooooooooo! I'm up in a tree." Flash used his ladder to get Huhzah down.

They drove down the moutain and back to the garage where they all took a rest.

THE END

Mommy Quote of the Week

Sometimes I can't believe the things that come flying out of my mouth when I'm talking to my four and a half year old son Alex.

For Christmas, Santa brought him Wii Lego Star Wars. And this little family of three played it a lot!

During the first few days, we had to help Alex learn how to use the dual handed remote controls to move the different characters. 

During one early game, (I believe I was Queen Amadala and Alex was a young Obi-Wan Kenobi) there were several items glowing green in the scene. Because I'd read the hand book I knew these items could be moved only by a Jedi. I said to Alex, "Push the two buttons on the back! Push the two buttons on the back!" Frustrated, I finally grabbed the remote from his hand and said:

"Here Honey, let Mommy show you how to use The Force."

Never thought I'd say that -

A Treasured Mommy Moment

One night last week, Alex told me a very elaborate story as we snuggled in the back seat of the car. The intricate story in and of itself was a major accomplishment as we're working hard on developing his expressive language skills. I really didn't need anything more to make me happy.

The story he told happened "when he was a tiny boy" (he's four) and he lived in a haunted house in San Jose, CA (that's where we live). Inside the house were five ghosts, fifteen goblins, and twenty bad guys. (Oh my!) The bad guys were hitting him in one eye.

I asked him, "Did anyone come to help you and make the bad guys stop?"

He looked straight into my eyes and with the most pristine sincerity said, "You. You're a super hero. You saved my life."

PASS THE TISSUES!!!

And if that crystallized moment doesn't make up for all the times when I feel like a terrible mother whose child is careening down the road straight into the therapist's couch...

I guess I'm doing something right -

 

Santa's Cell Phone Number...

Getting ready for school this morning was such a challenge, I actually said to Alex, "Mommy has Santa's cell phone number. If you don't get into the car this minute I will call him and tell him not to bring you a scooter on Christmas morning."

Alex looked at me in shocked horror. I said, "That's one." He didn't move.

I picked up the phone, stared him straight in the eye, "That's two."

Zip! Into the car he went. No more tears. No more whining.

What am I gonna do when Christmas is over?

Cynthia - The Good Enough Witch

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