Be A Good Mom

A Special Thanks to….

the person in charge of the credits in “The Bee Movie.”

Pookie insists on watching the entire list of credits role by before he will leave the theatre.  (this makes sense, after all, he loves words and letters).  As we sat there and watched the credits go by I found ways to amuse myself.  What does a “matte animator” do?  How is it different from a “technical illustrator?”  Who really names their kid “Hammer?”  Is it awkward for Carlos the production assistant to have a boss named Carlos as well?

As I pondered these important thoughts and hoped for the end so that we could finally go home, one particular credit caught my eye and snapped me back to reality, with a stiffled laugh.   “The Bee Movie” had an official “Pizza Consultant.”  I wish I could remember this name, but he was definately listed as the “Pizza Consultant.”  That made me laugh.

Thanks Jerry.

Now we have to worry about cloth items being recalled due to lead?

Its 10:17pm on 11/20.  I have to get to bed…or at least in the general area of my bed, so that I can actually be in it by 11pm.   But, I have no blog post for 11/21.  I always write a bunch of them at a time and then post them throughout the week.  Lately I can barely keep ahead.  But, I have a reputation to uphold, I have posted EVERY day since I went blog live in June, so I have to have one for 11/21.

so, this is it.

I will try harder tomorrow, but today was a long and intense day.   Pookie and I had a fight about poop that lasted almost an hour.  Giggles (the baby) smelled three kinds of stinky and I had to give her a bath, after cleaning up the things that made her so stinky to begin with.   Today was Pookie’s school conference and we stayed longer than we intended.  I decided to wash all the linens today, which is a big investment of time, I think the last of them are still in the dryer right now.  Geetle is dying for the thrill of wearing a bandaid and therefore has been complaining to me nonstop about a papercut (literally) for the past 48 hours.  (she watched cartoons while the nurse put 6 stitches in her forehead last week, but this papercut threatens to cripple her).  Plus all the normal daily stuff (3 sets of teeth to brush, meals, dishwasher, buses, a cubic foot of crumbs under the kitchen table, etc).   All this with the added discomfort of ill-fitting pants and a fresh and tender C-section scar.  So, long day, boring post.  Sorry.

• What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
• Rainman
• The Other Sister
• Forest Gump
• There’s Something About Mary

I have seen all of these movies, but I cannot watch them again. Not now. I have a very hard time watching certain characters. Today, I was watching one of those VH1 “I Love the 1990’s” shows. They started to discuss Johnny Depp and his 1993 movie “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” The purpose of that show is to show comedians making funny comments about the time period, so we can all reminisce and laugh. Several of the comedians made little jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio and his character in the movie.

“what a cute retard” they said.

Not funny. My problem with the movies listed above is not that they all unfairly or innacurately portray people with disabilities. Its just that some things hit too close to home and I cannot watch them right now, at this point in my life. So, Gilbert Grape is on my list. But, after seeing the clips of the movie, I am remembering that it was a “good” movie, right? I think I remember that Johnny Depp’s character was a good son and brother and he took care of his family, treating them well and trying to shelter them from the cruelness of the rest of the world. So, maybe this is one I should watch. How ironic that (if I remember the plot correctly) this movie was about acceptance and finding your happiness regardless of how the rest of the world viewed you, yet the comedians boil it down to Leonardo DiCaprio making “a cute retard.” That’s messed up.

Maybe I see it this way because of Pookie, but I hope that other people would agree with me. I know that a comedian’s job is to make jokes and that they have to be edgy, but I cannot believe that there is anyone left who laughs at “retard” jokes. Tell me I am right. I am right, aren’t I?

Dear Golf Channel and Galavision;

We are prepared to offer you an exciting opportunity. Please see the enclosed picture of my daughter. You will notice that her belly button closely resembles your corporate logo. As a member of our nation’s underemployed population and having a strong entrepreneurial spirit, she is open to offers of compensation in exchange for personal appearances, endorsements and advertising work.

As it turns out, she is equally fond of both your television channels; she cannot choose a favorite. Therefore, she has decided to let the forces of capitalism work their magic. Please submit your sealed bids by December 1st. You will be notified by mail of her decision. Thank you.

BAGM

P.S. We are also entertaining possible business relationships with any number of cinnamon bun and burrito/fajita/rolled sandwich firms. You will want to respond quickly, before these deals are finalized.

Do you like to do puzzles? Do you like to try and figure out riddles? Here is one for you…..

Everyday, Pookie’s bus comes from the North and stops in front of our house. He gets on and walks right to the back of the bus, the last seat. He always sits in the row behind the driver, the East side of the bus. Friday, there was a substitute bus driver, she got confused by the neighborhood streets and came up our street from the South. Pookie and I got on the bus. He walked right to the back row…and sat on the East side of the bus, the side opposite the drivers’ side.

Not a big deal, but not what I would have expected. With any other kid, I would think, “oh well, whatever.” But I know that every single thing Pookie does, he does for a reason…a reason that makes sense in his head. So, while I always assumed that he liked to sit on the drivers side of the bus, I was wrong; that is too simple. No, he likes to sit on the East side of the bus. I wonder why.

I went shopping today. One of the racks was overstuffed. As I pulled out a shirt, several fell on the floor. As I watched them fall, I realized that one of my perks of pregnancy was gone. Now that I have delivered, I have no excuse not to pick up the things that I drop. I can’t just kick those dropped items out of my way and walk away. I will miss that.

The baby is getting weird.  Its amazing the changes they go through in the first month.  She used to down her bottles so fast that we worried about brain freeze.  Now she falls asleep half way through and can barely be woken up to finish.  She used to burp like a trucker, but now lets out these tiny burp-squeaks.   She has been grunting and moaning alot.    She sounds like an old man stretching after a nights sleep.   I think she is finally dealing with the fact that this is no vacation, she is not going back where she came from and needs to get used to life on the outside.  She is still quite a good baby.  She only cries when she is hungry or has gas.  She sleeps well and has the best eye-contact when awake.   When she is hungry she yells.  But even at this young age (3 weeks) she knows to quiet down when we put her bib on.  She really seems to understand that the food is coming.

We are having alot of fun with her lately, because all of these things are just so darn cute.    She wrings her hands while she drinks her bottle.  She smiles in her sleep.  She stretches and grunts, giving us the chance to come up with funny commentary on what she must be thinking.  Its loads of fun.

Pookie goes through ALOT of dirty laundry.   But, its not what you might expect.   When he gets dressed in the morning, he strips completely naked and starts fresh.  When he puts his pajamas on at bedtime, he does the same thing.  That means on a good day he goes thru 2 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of socks, a pair of pajamas, a shirt and a pair of jeans.   That does not include the laundry made by a true “accident”.  He still has the occasional bathroom accidents and like any preschooler occasionally ends up spilling milk or glue or something on himself at some point during the day.   He does not like to be messy and will often want to change, if the spill is bad.

In the interest of promoting independence and life skills, we have not done anything to reduce the amount of laundry he makes.   We are pleased that he dresses himself and wants to change out of messy clothes.   Sometimes we try to get him to leave his daytime underwear on for bed, but he looks at us quizzically.  He will do it, but it is obvious that he is just humoring us.   I guess the day will come when we will work on this, but for now, it seems OK.   We would rather that he be too clean than too dirty.  And right now, it would make no sense to him any other way.  Geetle just recently began to understand when and why I tell her to change her underwear.  We had repeated conversations about”wearing underwear for one day and one night” before she got it.

So, for now, we will stick to what we have with Pookie.     It seems easier to unteach him later than teach him now, as far as this topic goes.