My friend Suzanne Kamata, who edited the excellent new book Call Me Okaasan [read it now!] tagged me to say 5 Things I Love About Being a Mom. You can see her responses here. I heartily agree with all her responses.
1. My Kids make me laugh. We have so many funny moments each day, I never have time to write them all day. One day I asked Alesia if she was hungry and said no – she almost always says yes. Michael immediately piped up and said “Wait 15 minutes!”
2. My kids learn so rapidly, and I love to teach them, particularly about things like history, and literature and art. I love to watch movies with them and talk to them about what we can learn from each film.
3. My kids help me to keep my perspective on life. I used to obsess over stupid stuff like wearing perfectly coordinated outfits, and fashionable shoes. I actually wrote down every outfit I wore, every day, so I didn’t repeat it too soon. Now I am happy to wear just black pants and not worry about the color of my shirt, or if my shoes coordinate.
4. My kids amaze me by how well they have adapted to America, and our family. They already know American songs, slang words, fashion, etc. We were watching a movie the other night about people landing on an island and having to adapt to life there, and Alesia said “That was what it was like for me. If I can do it, they can do it.”
5. I love seeing my children grow and be healthy, mentally as well as physically. When Michael first came home he was afraid of everything. He wouldn’t get in the pool unless I got in with him, and was always in reach. Now he swims like a fish and rides his bike and walks all over the neighborhood. At first, I had to stay with him until he fell asleep at night, with the overhead light on. Now he sleeps in the dark, and we say prayers, I kiss him goodnight, and he’s fine.
I filled out and mailed in the application for Michael to go to the Adventure Amputee Camp again this year. He had such a wonderful time last year. It really did amazing things for his self-confidence, to be able to be around a group of kids who all had limb differences, so for once he didn’t feel odd or embarrassed. If you click here you will see some scenes of camp life. [The group photo of folks in yellow has Mike in it, but he’s hard to spot – bottom row, kind of middle.] Mike got to go white water rafting, horseback riding, do a ropes course, and play tennis, all for the first time. He won the camp tennis tournament and came home bubbling over with excitement about the sport, and within a short time I was able to get him a coach and a place on the neighborhood tennis team. Now tennis is a passion of his. Most of the time, in his tennis matches, his missing hand is hardly noticeable. He can serve with his special prosthetic and his serve is better than some kids who have two hands. So many blessings flowed from that camp experience. I hope and pray he can go again this year, although space is very limited.
PRODUCT RANT
I am seriously debating about getting a new refrigerator. The old one is falling apart. It’s over 15 years old. We like to keep appliances until they are antiques, but it’s in really sad shape. The bottom shelf is broken and you have to be sporting huge rippling muscles to get the vegetable drawer open. The icemaker requires a pickaxe if you want ice, half the time. The last time I contemplated cleaning it out I had to stifle the urge to get a chainsaw and just put it out of our misery. It’s only good at holding up photos, right now.
If you are in the Atlanta area or have an opinion about where to obtain new appliances at a discount, please drop me a comment. If you just have an opinion as to what brand of fridge is the best, let me know that, too.
BABY MAMA
Last night we wanted a movie called Baby Mama, which stars Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live in years, so I have never seen Poehler and Fey. I thought Poehler was much better, much more funny than Fey. It was a cute movie with some funny lines. The basic plot is that a yuppie career woman can’t have a baby and decides to pay a surrogate to have a baby for her. Poehler plays the trashy surrogate. One thing that really bothered me was that when Fey’s character found out she couldn’t get pregnant, she dismissed the idea of adoption saying “That can take up to 5 years!” Uh, hello?! I don’t know where that came from. It was never explained. Realistically, adoption usually takes a year or two, whether you go foreign or domestic, but 5 years is just inaccurate. If you’re willing to take a child of any race, you can sometimes do a domestic adoption in 6 months. I just hate to see adoption treated so negatively. Then again, I know it’s a comedy and not supposed to be realistic…
One of the main characters was played by an actor named Dax Shepard. I had never heard of the guy. However, my cousin Michael and his wife just had a baby and named him Dax. (Baby Dax is sooooo cute! We had such fun looking at photos of him and buying him cute outfits last weekend.) Michael's Mom is my first cousin. It blows my mind that I have first cousins becoming grandparents!
Steve Martin plays Fey’s new age crazy boss, with a long grey ponytail and a “Whole Foods is nirvana” attitude. He stole all his scenes. He’s always been one of my favorite actors. [He also looks strangely like George Washington in some scenes...]
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