COMMUNIONS AND REUNIONS

That's what's up in my life...

Communions -- well, that is a very funny, or very awkward or very sad story, depending entirely on one's perspective, I suppose. A few weeks back, one may recall, I was keeping my friends two sons for a few days while they were finishing a wonderful WW II tour of Europe. All went well, virtually no stress and lots of good behavior and fun times for all of us -- adults and kids of all ages.

Then it was Sunday morning and we all got up to go to church. I was so focused on making sure the 6 year old (my friend's son...and my son's friend) did NOT take communion, although my own kids do. At our church (Episcopalian) all baptized people are able to take communion. This is something still slightly awkward to me as a former Catholic, but I kind of dig that my kids get to do that, too. At any rate, mt friend's family is Mormon.

So what, you say? The baptize their young as well and all. Yes, indeed, they do. However, not until they are 8. So, the 10 year old took communion (or sacrament as they refer to it), because he is covered by both churches doctrines. The 6 year old, however, has not yet been baptized, so he had to wait, although in their church everyone takes communion and it is not tied to baptism at all (as far as my extremely limited understanding is).

So, we all file up and the 6 yo folds his arms across his chest to receive a generic blessing from Father John. All is well and good. The 10 year old is all full of himself being the big kid for the weekend and all (he is a middle child in his own home, but the oldest by many years at my house) and takes communion without me noticing.

Mormons, you may or may not know, do not drink alcohol. At all. Episcopalians have no such restriction and, in fact, serve wine at communion each and every week.

Said 10 yo turns freakishly pale and asks me to get him to the bathroom. He gets there as inconspicuously as possible (not much at all, truth be told) and spits the blessed beverage into the sink.

My heart sank as I realized what the problem was and how I had so thoughtlessly overlooked this situation.

Poor kid was freaked out -- he was afraid he'd get in trouble...with his parents for drinking wine, with me for spitting it out, with God for breaking an important tenet of his religion.

Luckily for me, his mom has a terrific sense of humor and was all good with it. She understands that life happens and that it was an honest mistake. For me and my part, I still feel really guilty for letting such a stressful thing happen to such a wonderful child. He is over his mental breakdown about the event and now says that he will never, ever forget the weekend he spent at our house.

Indeed he will not forget.

As for reunions, I am blowing this pop stand, folks... My brood and I are heading for a car adventure for the summer and we leave in about 40 hours, give or take. I am driving approximately 20 driving hours to visit my mom and various other friends and relatives for the summer. I am taking only my children and no husband. It seemed like such an easy, good idea when the planning began about a year ago.

Now, I have a 7, 5, 3 and 1 1/2 year old, none of whom have been listening to me all that well lately and all of whom have been complaining about the time they have spent in the car recently. sigh... wish me luck.... I will be back in late July or early August, at which time (since we just didn't have enough going on this summer) we will be moving into a new house. A bigger house. A really, really big house! Nearly double our current house of 1998 square feet, which we are busting at the seams in.

We saw it, made an offer on it (it was a STEAL!), will close in 10 days while I am gone (thank you, power of attorney!) and will be all moved in by the time the kids and I return, if all goes well. I swear I did not plan for my husband to have to do thsi all alone, but it is probably for the best anyway. I am way too controlling about stuff like this, so it is good for me to have no choice but to let go and let him handle it. It is also good for him to have to handle something like this all alone.

So good things all around, I suppose.

Happy camping this summer, folks.

JennyG and Twinmom, I will have my cell ohone with me and will find myself bored and/or bordering on insane at many times driving across country with my kiddos in tow this summer...feel free to call if you are feeling the need to chat incessantly with someone virtually losing their mind!

Currently Listening Taking The Long Way By Dixie Chicks see related

Time truly does have the ability to fly, I am convinced of it. I check in on Xanga nearly everyday, some days I am even able to check in more than once, depending on how everything falls into place. Yet I rarely find/make the time to update and that is the whole point. At least it WAS the whole point -- a sort of record for my kiddos of some sort or another. A way of tracking their growing and my responses to it -- the good, bad and the ugly -- for later.

But then life happens. School gets out. I have to don the cruise director hat once again and plan activities that I happily leave to preschool and elementary teachers for 9 or so months a year. I get tired so easily when they whine and complain, which in all honesty is far less than many of their peers, but damn! Kids just whine and I have no patience for it.

One of the most surprising things for me, as a mom, has been realizing (and therefor admitting I was way wrong on this pre-kids) how innately different boys and girls tend to be. Of course, there are exceptions everywhere, but I am talking in really broad generalizations. I was always of the school of thought that any differences were most likely due to nuture and societal influences/prejudices/biases, etc and not just the natural tendencies that come with ones own biology.

Yes, I was an only child, so I had no siblings around to proivde me with a live sampling or anything. This was just my take.

Then I had a son. and a daughter. and another daughter. and another son.

And the lightbulb went off that I had been way wrong about this for a long time.

***************

yes, I did survive, we had a great time and there was only one mishap---of my OWN doing. I'll explain next time I have a few minutes to update. But, the weekend long sleepover with the extra kids was a ton of fun for everyone.

a little riddle for ye....

What do you get when you have four kids 7 and under, two parents who've barely seen each other in weeks due to circumstances beyond either's control, and you add two more kids (ages 6 and 11) for 3 days and two nights?

a totally completely insane mom with a strong drink permanently attached to her hand.

that shall be me for the next two and 1/2 days.

wish me luck.

or something.

The test was negative. I feel positively ecstatic.

Why did I go off the pill, Tina? I hated how it made me feel. I forgot more often than made me comfortable -- seemed like a false sense of security when, if I *know* I am not taking it at all we would be a thousand times more likely to use other methods, which has been the case. Plus, we had an understanding a few years back when Abby was born that we would adopt once more and then when all was finalized with that adoption (which was last June), one of us would do something permanent to prevent pregnancy. In those discussions, it was more or less decided it would be him since it is

A) so much cheaper --$35 co-pay vs. an out-patient hospitalization and surgery fees for me

B)so much less invasive for him

C) so much less recovery for him

D) Everything else has been done to my body....besides the obvious 5 pregnancies, 2 full-term, live births, but the other -- infertility tests, prodding, injections, drugs, exams, ultrasounds, yadda yadda yadda....

I thought we were closer to having the snipping done than it seems we are. sigh....

I love each of my 4 kiddos tons. I simply do not want any more. He doesn't either, so I'm a little unclear what the delay is, but there is a delay nonetheless.

Currently Watching The Wizard of Oz see related

RACES, RUNS AND TESTS

Easter weekend was, well, it just was. The kids had a ball, which is what it's all for, right? The Easter Bunny remembered to bring lots and lots of confetti eggs, so our yard and our hair is still glittering with traces of shiny confetti. What a fun holiday tradition -- one of the many, many new traditions we have adopted  from our Mexican friends and neighbors here.

Jacob and I ran in a road race Saturday and while I can't exactly say  it was fun, I can say I am glad I did it. That crazy oldest kid of mine, not quite 7 (just give him a few more weeks), won 2nd Place in his age division. He ran 2 miles in under 18 minutes and won 2nd Place for 8 Years and Under. 18 minutes. I kid not. I was left way behind in his dust, did not quite do the full 2 miles (by accident) and did not quite run the whole way (because I couldn't). I have registered us for the 5K in December and he is moaning and groaning about that already now that he has learned that 5K means an extra mile from this past weekend. I told him to stop whining about it or I was going to take his medal from him and claim it as my own.

I spent the weekend sick to my stomach, without ever actually getting sick. I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud to anyone, but it felt frighteningly like morning sickness, said the woman who recently went of the pill after having 4 kids in 5 years and has no desire or intention of growing her family beyond it's current breaking point. A good friend smacked me in the head metaphorically by asking if it felt like pragnancy and telling me I needed to get my ass to a drug store for a test ASAP. Of course, she was right. So I did.

Still feeling sick and just a wee bit too scared to actually pee on the stick. I will surely die or need serious psychiatric attention if I am in fact pregnant.