What A Difference A Day Makes

On Monday, our back yard resembled a waterfall after a drenching rain that with the freezing ground did not drench but rather cascade between the trees to descend ultimately down our driveway. There was really nothing to do but enjoy the view while it lasted.

Today, however, required the whole family's participation.

Yes, this is the same view.

What started out as a school day quickly turned into a snow day as the snow continued to fall quicker than anticipated. A "swell" they call it and I suppose for the many school children it was. For the parents, maybe not so much. 

Ariana and I spent the morning coloring, watching PBS Kids, playing on the computer and doing worksheets that I printed out from one of the many educational websites available. I figured we should do some sort of school work and since she actually likes filling in the blanks with letters and numbers, it seemed like the logical thing to do. As the weather started to clear, I debated going out to shovel. With baba away, it is my job and since I am too chicken to start the snow blower, I figured the exercise would do me good.... eventually. Still inside, we moved into the family room for some Wii time.

Whoever invented this should have a holiday named after them. The Wii is a brilliant devise that brings families together, improves reflexes, balance and coordination for kids and in most cases, just makes you laugh. If you have ever tried the Penguin game in WiiFit, you know what I mean. The funniest one I have found so far is a game where you must move your hips right, left, back or front so you hit the numbers so they add up to ten. Not only do you get a hip workout, but you improve your mind as well, since you have to quickly add up the numbers before you move. That may sound easy, but as someone who is directionally dyslexic, I am telling you it is not. Ariana likes the bicycle obstacle course and I enjoy watching her stamp up and down on the pad.

She had started on the "Snowball Fight" game when I realized "hey, we could do this outside".

At that moment, I looked and saw the neighbors on the driveway, so Ariana and I quickly got dressed and we went out - me to shovel and Ariana to play. Tess came as well and ran immediately to the big dog that belongs to the lady next door. 

The other neighbor. 

The unfriendly one. 

The one who has yelled at me twice already about Tess going onto her lawn.

Luckily, she was on her cell phone and so she only watched as Tess ran around on her lawn and Ariana followed her, sliding down her hill on her little butt. She didn't say a word to me about either of them. Perhaps she was too preoccupied with her conversation to get irritated. 

While I waited for another lecture on why I should prevent my dog from peeing on her lawn, I was busy shoveling. 

And shoveling. 

And shoveling. 

I did have help for a short time as Ariana decided that what I was doing looked like fun. Her shoveling lasted longer than I thought, but it didn't last that long as she preferred to make snow angels. Finally full of snow, she was ready to come inside and I had my fill of aerobic exercise, so in we went for some well deserved hot chocolate.

As the sun went down, we noticed little white flakes, gentle at first, falling from the sky. Heavier and heavier it came, prompting me to think I better get ready for more shoveling.

And more angels.

A Little Bit Bad

The other day, in an act I like to think of as a celebration of life, I bought Ariana a bag of Cheetos.

Earlier in the day, I had been discussing the very large topic of being a mother with a friend of mine, someone I consider an excellent mother who is currently plagued by the self-doubt that we all experience from time to time.  Many times this self-doubt involves food choices. Not satisfied with the common sense “healthy food in - junk food out “ mantra, we now torture ourselves with just how healthy our healthy food is. Whole wheat used to be good enough. Now, it must be whole grain, preferably organically grown whole grain. Low fat used to be good enough – now, only hormone, antibiotic free roaming cows milk will do. Or better yet, soymilk.  And God forbid you give your child something unhealthy, you risk the evil stares from parents whose mission in life is to educate you about what poisons you are feeding them or worse, you risk being told, “you know you are killing your child with that” (this was actually said to a friend of mine, I am not making this up).

Going to the store these days requires a lot of patience and a good pair of reading glasses to see the sometimes miniscule print in which the ingredients are listed.

As an experiment, I spent ten minutes comparing the leading organic Mac and cheese to good old Kraft – just to see the difference.  Between the chart and the really small print below the chart, which required me to hold the box at arm’s length under a strong light just to read, I was more than just slightly confused. The chart lists the stats for one cup “as prepared” and then a tiny little asterisk states “amount in mix when prepared”, with slightly different ones. What is the difference? No wonder parents are confused these days. The organic brand with all of its organic ingredients had less Calcium and Iron than the Kraft. It did have more protein, but also more fat if you add the butter, which is listed as a suggestion for “richer flavor”. It would also have more calories.  They were about equal on salt and carbohydrates. So, do you go for more vitamins or go the organic route? Therein lies the dilemma.

Recent events bring it all home for me. We have choices that are almost mind-boggling. Let’s look at milk. Generally thought of as a healthy food. Full of calcium and vitamin D – great for growing bones. Now comes the hard part. Full fat or low fat? If you are going low fat, do you buy 1 or 2%? Perhaps go for fat free? What about vitamin enriched? Organic or just hormone free? Regular old milk flavored or vanilla or chocolate or strawberry?

People in Haiti would settle for any milk at all. And so would most of the people in the world.

So why? Why do we torture ourselves? The quest to be perfect and worse put that expectation on our children is pointless, as life just doesn’t work that way. If you eat in a restaurant, go to dinner at a friend’s house or have your child play at another’s house, you have little control over the quality of what is served.  Sure, you can bring your own food, but do that and then take a look at your child’s face  - I don’t think it is a smiling one. 

So after swimming class, Ariana wanted a snack from the machine, this being a very fun thing for a 5 year old. So, we scanned the selections and while I suggested the popcorn or pretzels, her eyes were fixing on the little orange bag with the tiger on it. I thought of all the unhealthiness in that little bag – the mystery ingredients that contained the artificial colors and flavors I should shun. But, I also thought that standing there, I had the luxury of choice and every once in awhile it’s ok to make the choice to stop thinking and just listen to my child. So, as Ariana slipped the quarters one by one into the slot, I got ready to lift her up so she could push the magic numbers, and then we both watched as the little bag of delicious poison dropped into the slot.

She rode home in her booster seat, crunching away and when we got home, she proudly showed me her little orange fingers. With a big smile on her face. I have to tell you, that smile was worth a little badness.

Christmas in Connecticut

Well, I tried.

Having gathered all the pictures taken over the holidays and artfully arranged them for your viewing enjoyment, at this moment you were supposed to be looking at the first holiday season in our new home. The scene on Main Street during the event that starts off the season, filled with lights, horse drawn carriages, ice sculpture and Santa; the snow that has blanketed our lawn since late November; Baba gallantly clearing the snow with the snow blower; pictures of Ariana lighting the Hanukkah candles; Baba chopping down the Christmas tree; Ariana decorating the tree; our Christmas dinner with the Humphreys and my beautiful (if I do say so myself) Christmas pudding; Pictures of our trip to New Hampshire to see cousins Suzan and Woody - complete with the most beautiful blizzard I have ever seen; the fun time we had at Melissa and Kevin's Kwanzaa party; our New Year's Eve party with fireworks and funny hats; the snowman.

But, you will just have to use your imagination.

Because.

I cannot figure out how to get the pictures into the blog.

Because.

I got a new computer.

Because.

My old one kept shutting down for no reason.

Because.

It was a piece of crap.

So.

Baba generously buys me one as a combo Birthday/Christmas gift. And for some reason, my ability to learn yet one more machine has left me. With a move from one country to another and a new house, there are lots and lots of new instruction manuals piled up and waiting to be read. New phone, new car, new vacuum cleaner, new lawn mower (ok, that's Baba's job) and last but not least, the new computer.

I sit.

I read.

I get bored much to quickly to actually absorb any of the many instructions there are.

I try to find my way around and get the most basic stuff. But anything more than searching the web and sending email allude me. I have faced my loss in technological intelligence and signed up for one-to-one lessons they give in the Apple store. The first lesson was spent trying to figure out how to sync my computer to my phone without having my address book appear more than once. Simple solution? My instructor had to go and ask for help about 4 times and guess what? I still have my address book syncing twice. And he gets paid to help people.

So, you will have to trust me that we had a lovely holiday, Ariana continues to be adorable and our house is slowly shaping up. And, one of these days, I'll have pictures to prove it!!!