by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . December 18, 2010 . 3:39PM
When AJ went to Illinois for Thanksgiving, he and his cousin Lola went to see the movie “Tangled.” While they were at the mall, they saw these mood rings that they just had to have. Now, I can understand Lola needing new jewelry. What 10-year-old-girl doesn’t believe she needs new jewelry? I wondered, however, why AJ was so insistent that he needed a mood ring?
The entirety of the Thanksgiving trip, AJ wore that mood ring around and carried his “mood chart” to inform us of his mood. “It’s red. I’m angry.” “Do you feel angry?” “No, but the ring is red. I must be angry.”
Well, ok then.
What you need to understand about this situation is that AJ is a sensitive, sentimental little guy, but he loses and breaks stuff on a regular basis. He doesn’t hold onto items and, chances are, if he gets something it will be gone within a week. This brings us to last weekend.
AJ had been feeling crummy and feverish so I said that he could sleep in my room so I could keep an eye on him. As his little eyes drifted off to sleep I looked at those little hands and noticed something blue on his index finger.
Yes, he certainly is lovable and he has managed to keep that ring on him or on his sink every single day. He finally has a sentimental object that means something to him. His mood ring reminds him of his time with his family in Illinois and Lola. Anyone that knows us knows that family is first and, for AJ, time there is everything. When he was sick, he wanted that ring on for comfort.
I don’t know when he’ll grow out of it, but hopefully he’ll have other comfort objects by then. For me, I’m just grateful to see that his comfort comes from his family. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . December 3, 2010 . 11:36PM
Thanksgiving was ample opportunity for me to see my family in action. Holidays tend to brief out the best and worst in people, even the littlest ones. Perhaps the proper commentary on this is that the littlest ones recognize that, in the hub of activity among the adults, the opportunity for mischief is unbridled and they can get away with…well, anything. This past Thanksgiving was no exception and the littlest of my extended family were out in full force keeping the adults on their toes.
When people say it takes it a community to raise a child, they aren’t kidding. The main reason for this cliche being that children have the energy of ten adults at any given time and they can wear an adult down in the time it takes for one of them to throw an energizing temper tantrum. In a medium-sized home on a holiday, the nooks and crannies to hide in and do whatever your little heart desires are endless. Carson, my cousin’s son who is a new toddler, took this to full advantage.
It helps that when Carson smiles the adults in our family will give him whatever he wants.
During the day, each table in the house had a bowl of peanuts and candy corn resting upon it for guests to snack upon while waiting for a meal or recovering after a meal. There were plenty of these and they were refilled throughout the day. Carson discovered the bowls immediately upon entering the house and would sneak a tiny handful whenever no one was looking. At one point, my cousin Ashley noticed that something was wrong with Carson’s belly button.
It was orange.
He’d stuck a candy corn in there until he got hungry later.
He would climb chairs and adults would sneak him candy corn.
He would crawl under tables with a bowl of candy corn.
Nothing in life had ever tasted as good to him as candy corn.
Carson rarely even babbles. How did I know that he loved candy corn?
At the end of the evening, I watched him slyly walk over to the coffee table. His little eyes were shining and drawn to that bowl of orange. He pinched his fingers together and grasped a single candy corn and raised it to the sky in victory. A look of pure bliss crossed his face as he placed that candy corn in his mouth, closed his eyes and smiled as he chewed.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a human being in such a state.
It was beautiful.
Yes, Carson loves candy corn.
We checked his belly button before he left.
We wanted to make sure there were no rogue candy pieces there.
Yes, there was a candy corn thief at my Thanksgiving celebration. And I am thankful for him.
Comments Off
by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 26, 2010 . 7:19PM
In a year where, at times, I would rather have given up than given thanks, Thanksgiving rolls around and I am once again reminded that there are holidays to come that will be filled with joy and happiness if I allow them to be as such. There are circumstances beyond my control and people and situations that cannot be changed that cause me unhappiness, but there will always be days during the year where people will come together for the better and it is a reminder that few things in life are permanent.
Thanksgiving is always a loud affair. There is no real way that it can be less when you pack around 50 people into a small house. It can’t be a quiet, completely civilized affair when there are at least 10 children in that bunch. We started the lunch at my aunt’s house where she had set up the Wii for the kids and found a surprise: my cousin had me a Mii of great-grandma. So, the superstar of the day was Great-Grandma Z as all the great grandchildren wanted the chance to use her Mii to hula hoop, play tennis and cross country ski.
There was a moment of prayer and the kids jumped into line for what looked like way too much food for the amount of people that were in the house. Casseroles and noodles and turkey and ham and rolls and every carb you could ever want lined counters, the stove and multiple tables. As the little ones picked through the foods they would eat, the adults sat at the tables and talked. The rain turned to sleet but no one was concerned. There was plenty of food and no one needed to be anywhere immediately. The scents of holiday food enveloped us in comfort and we ate plate after plate of food.
And did it again.
And then again.
And had some dessert.
And then ate more food because you can’t waste food.
And ate some more and there was still MORE food.
About that time, the wind howled and the sleet turned into fat flakes of snow that hugged the cars and the sky turned dark. AJ, who rarely sees snow of any real accumulation in TN, yelled that there was snow and he was going sledding! The adults started to get groggy and talk of naps and Black Friday shopping.
As the snow continued, there was a thief on the lose…a candy corn thief…
To be continued…
Comments Off
by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . April 21, 2010 . 8:01PM
When things go wrong as they do, the saying goes that blood is thicker than water. I’m a firm believer in the idea that we make families of the people that we choose to allow in our hearts and keep them there. However, I’m really close to my mom and sister, who are my whole immediate family pre-marriage, and I couldn’t wait to go to Illinois to see them last weekend.
As expected, seeing my family had a calming, cathartic effect on me. It has taken many years for home trips not to stress me out, but my relationships there are finally where I feel like they need to be and I could have stayed much longer this go around. Sometimes you just want your mommy and your sissy. I think the whole trip can be summed up in these three pictures.
Sweet
Comforting
Loving
by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . March 29, 2010 . 10:50AM
A month or so ago, I received a book in the mail to review. Since I wasn’t Pregnant, or planning on becoming pregnant, I wondered how much I would have to add to this book to give it a review of any sort. However, I’m a trooper and when I opened the book, the time flew. I have to say that I was surprised by how into this book I really was. As someone who, when she was pregnant, read what felt like every freaking parenting book out there, I was impressed by this little tome of information.
Let’s start with the obvious: this isn’t a large book. It’s not a step-by-step “how to be dad” book. It’s not going to give you the blow-by-blow details of parenthood that “What to Expect” would give you, nor will it scare you half to death like that book will. What it will do is give you a laid back view of fatherhood written by a man who has been a single dad for a long time.
At times, the book has a crunchy, granola-like feel, but overall, the information felt sound. Some of the most important advice in the book is simple: You are not your parents and you aren’t anyone else. Do your best.
The book hits on important topics such as how to hold a baby all the way through how to talk to your kids about important things. There are aspects of parenthood such as the “how to”s and the things you never consider when you are starting as a parent such as the inevitable poop in the bathtub. Yep. Been there, done that.
Overall, I’d say this is a good book for a new dad or for a new stepdad. It is a book to give to a dad who needs to not be overwhelmed with what is happening or about to happen. If you are a dad who is anal or who likes a lot of lists or being told what to do, this book isn’t for you. But if you just need a primer and a little encouragment, I highly recommend, “Pregnant: A Field Guide to Fathering” by Gary Kleiman.
Comments Off
Home
When AJ went to Illinois for Thanksgiving, he and his cousin Lola went to see the movie “Tangled.” While they were at the mall, they saw these mood rings that they just had to have. Now, I can understand Lola needing new jewelry. What 10-year-old-girl doesn’t believe she needs new jewelry? I wondered, however, why AJ was so insistent that he needed a mood ring?
Life is like a game. We all have challenges, thoughts, opinions and beliefs. Often, it feels like something out there, life, karma, catty people, or blue shells (for the Kart lovers), seeks to bring us down. Luckily, we always get up. This is where I wear my heart on my sleeve and my foot in my mouth.
