Posted in Family Matters

Posted in Family Matters

So it seems that The Pistol, 6, seems to be one of those people who just happens to be susceptible to boils. He had one in an unmentionable location several years ago while still in diapers. Then a couple of months ago, a very large one rose up above his left knee. Volcano-like, the surrounding skin was swollen, angry red, and painful, rising high to meet the core. It was a painful progression and when it burst, a gaping hole nearly as big around as a pencil where the core had been ... seemingly as deep as the Grand Canyon. Now weeks later, after the scab has healed, there is still serious discoloration for about an inch all the way around, where the skin was infected, which is only slowly fading.

So imagine my distress when, while this disaster was still healing, I looked closer one day at his eye and asked him if he had banged into something, because there was swelling and redness radiating out from a point in the middle of his eyebrow. He had not hit it, but when I convinced him to let me touch it, it was immediately obvious that it was something much bigger than a pimple forming under the skin. I do know that boils (or anything) around the eye can be very serious; I read about orbital cellulitis which was rather frightening.

It was too late for anything but the emergency room at this point, and that seemed a bit drastic for a beginning boil. However, near the end of the first boil ordeal, I had discovered two homeopathic remedies for boils, which were no use for that one since it was so near to bursting already. So I decided to start with the homeopathics, alternating belladonna with arsenicum, every one every 30 minutes. And the next morning, peering closely at his eyebrow, there seemed to be less redness and swelling on the lid. I kept giving the belladonna and arsenicum, and kept it smeared with Black ointment, which I also discovered too late for any good with the previous boil. The swelling kept going down. I watched it very closely and at any sign of it getting bigger or worse even slightly, we would have headed to the doctor.

However, and blessedly, it reduced and reduced until it was barely pimple-sized. Then I turned my mind to wondering why he would get two boils so quick together and I think I came up with a somewhat plausible explanation. Until recently, he would crawl into the shower with me or his dad several times a week, but sometime back he began disdaining that. Too much clean, I suppose. The lack of showers, plus lots of outdoor play in what has turned out to be the worst allergy season ever on record, which I think may have lowered his immune system, it most likely the culprit.

So baths or showers every other day at a minimum, and so far, thank the good Lord, no further boils have reared their ugly heads.

Posted in Family Matters

We figure the total the burglar made off with is somewhere around $1500-$1700 worth of goods. As we have a $1000 deductible on our homeowner's insurance, we figured we we just take the loss. Then Lenny called.

Lenny is our wonderful handyman, who, when I called him at 5:45 on a Thursday evening, when he was surely headed home in heavy traffic from a long day of physical labor, and told him what had happened with our back door, didn't even hesitate or wait for me to ask, but said, "I'll be right over." He secured the door to the door jamb with five enormous screws, which no crowbar could dislodge. The next day, he sent over a door specialist to have a look at our door.

It's not a typical back door. For one thing, it has an enormous, not-quite floor to doortop single sheet of glass (double-paned and hard to break, thank goodness). For another, the doorjamb is double-wide, and the door shares the frame with a twin that looks like another door, but is in fact just a window, as it does not open.

Unfortunately, it ALL has to be replaced, door jamb, door, and decorative door-like window.

Unfortunately, it won't be cheap.

Unfortunately, the cost of replacing the door is almost two and a half times as much as the cost of the goods we lost!

Now that we are looking at nearly $4000 to fix the door (demo, new parts, paint, cart off debris), we are calling Chubb. Fortunately they have (so far) lived up to their excellent reputation and not giving us any hassle about the claim. So far. We'll see once everything has been submitted.

Posted in Family Matters

They do say all things come to she who waits. Including, as it turns out, the chance to foil a daring daylight robbery. So, my chance came last week and while I did foil it, the glow of accomplishment was somewhat dimmed by the fact that (A) I didn't realize until about 20 minutes after we were home that someone had, in fact, been involved in said daring robbery, and scurried out the back when he heard me turn the key in the lock; and (B) in fact, he wasn't completely foiled, having made away with upwards of $1500 worth of electric guitar, case, and most of our jewelry. All mine, of course, except for hubby's wedding ring which was in my jewelry case. Along with my OWN wedding ring. We exchanged anniversary rings on our 20th wedding anniversary a couple of years ago, and we both wear those daily now.

Other than actually locking the doors when we left, I guess our house was pretty much an open invitation to a random robbery. And I do think it was random; anyone casing the house would have known I was normally home on that day at that time. But all the window blinds facing the fenced back yard were wide open, allowing anyone to see almost every part of the house and certainly enough to ascertain it was empty. The north side of our long, narrow yard rises up to meet the block fence; and while I certainly couldn't scramble over it, I can see that it would present no problem to a reasonably agile young male. Across the fence, the neighbors have a huge, heavy growth of oleanders, under which the utility company obligingly keeps a trimmed pathway next to my fence for an access to various wires, providing ample cover for anyone to stand completely unseen and scope the backyard and as much as he could see into the house.

So after watching a while, he jumped the fence and paced the length of the house, checking that it was empty and seeing what was out and accessible. My husband's brand new electric guitar - his gift from his mother for finishing his disseration before Christmas last year - was what he spotted. He crowbarred the back door in my bedroom right open, busting the lock and splintering the doorjamb. He picked up my son's guitar case, removed his cheap student guitar, and replaced it with the electric guitar. Then into the master closet where he was a little over halfway through my jewelry chest when he heard me unlocking the door and scarpered. He obligingly pulled the door shut behind him so I wouldn't immediately notice someone had been inside.

The first thing I said on walking into the living room was, "Hey, you didn't put your guitar away this morning!" When my son replied he had, I told him to put it away again, since someone else must have taken it out. I didn't pay attention when he told me he couldn't find his case; he never notices anything, does he?

Then I plopped down in my comfy big chair, less than 3 feet away from the broken back door. And I never noticed the broken lock and splintered jamb. When the phone rang I went to answer, and there was my little silver box, where I put my anniversary band and everyday earrings at night. Open and empty. What pops into my head except ... The Three-Year-Old. She obligingly told me that yes, she HAD gotten into my jewelry, and obediently led me through the house, looking all over for where she could have put it. She took me into the playroom, scuffed around on the floor for a minute, then sweetly pointed up to the top of the closet. I swatted her bottom, then. :-(

While storming back to my bathroom, I saw that the amplifier to the electric guitar was pulled out into the middle of the room and while looking for the 5yo to scold this time, I saw that the electric guitar was, in fact, not on its stand. (I guess he figured the amplifier was too heavy to take over the wall with him.) I actually, actually made a circuit of the house twice, looking for where they had laid it, while it slowly crept into my robber-resistant mentality that a 3yo and 5yo could not, in fact, have dragged an electric guitar anywhere in our mostly tile-floor house without my hearing it. That’s when my spidey-senses, which had been set to 'tingle' about since I saw the amplifier pulled out of place, started roaring up and down my spine. Having traversed the entire house twice, and even been in the garage, I knew no one was going to leap out at me so I didn’t start a mad trample for the front door. Instead, I checked the back yard door in the kitchen – locked and okay; then walked rather slowly back to my bedroom, past the squashy green chair where I had retired oh-so-briefly 10 minutes earlier, to brush back the branch of spindly ficus that obscured the lock on the door and the splinters surrounding it.

At this point, dear reader, the story is pretty well told. Except for the fact that, NATURALLY, my husband was out of town, and not answering his cell phone. Our usual code is: I will call his phone and if he doesn’t answer, I assume he is in a meeting and will call me back when he can; on the other hand if I call back immediately a time or two, he assumes it is urgent and hies himself out of said meeting to answer my summons. He didn’t answer, didn’t answer again, and didn’t answer a third time. At this point, I brilliantly hung up and … CALLED MY SISTER. After breathlessly informing her that we had had a break-in, she queried, “Did you call the police?” Umm, no. “Why haven’t you called the police?” Because Sweetiekins didn’t answer, and I called YOU! “Hang up and call the police!” So I hung up. In mid-sentence, she informed me later, as she was still talking but when she instructed me to hang up, I just hung up! Hey, she’s my big sister, and a teacher besides! What other option did I have?

The police didn’t show up for more than two hours, during which time I was finally able to get hold of hubby. He had, in fact, left his phone in the hotel room while at a banquet. I knew that Doug was at the conference with him, and I know Doug’s wife, so I called her and asked for his cell phone number, explained briefly, and called and left a message for Doug to GET MY HUSBAND ON THE PHONE!!! Which he did, since he was at the same banquet WITH his phone. Thanks, Doug!

My sister, her husband, and her two kids spent the night with me, after the broken door was screwed shut to its frame. And believe it or not, I did manage to get a few hours of sleep that night, after checking on the kids a half-dozen times.

The police were unable to lift any fingerprints anywhere, including from the shiny surface of my son’s guitar, so sadly bereft of its case. Can you believe it, the burglar didn’t even have the courtesy to leave his books behind? Had to go find a new set of books before his weekly music lesson.

Posted in Family Matters

After picking my dad up at the airport, the 3yo and the 5yo were pestering him with their ages: "Dandy, I'm 5 years old!" "Dandy, I free!"

After a pause for some adult conversation, the 5yo said, "Dandy, how old are YOU?"

He replied, "I'm older than five."

"WHOA my GOSH!" was the astonished reply. A few minutes later he repeated, "How OLD are you, Dandy?"

Dad answered, "I'm afraid to tell you! You might have a heart attack!"

Posted in Family Matters

Last night a fellow homeschooler called and said she had access to some free tickets to the Nutcracker being performed at the city symphony orchestra, and did I want any? No one was interested except my eldest daughter (11yo), so tonight she and I are getting all dolled up (herself under much duress) and heading out for some good mother-daughter time. Actually, since there were more tickets, she invited two homeschool friends who are afterward spending the night, so this is a really good day for her! And I'm getting to wear a new outfit I bought a month ago and was saving for something special. What fun!

Posted in Family Matters

Running late, we just got our Christmas tree up this weekend and so it was our family's traditional time for stockings! We told the story of who St. Nicholas was, as we usually do, and then sent them to the nativity scene for their first stocking search clue, written on an index card:

Stocking three, stocking four, stockings one and two;
We're playing a hide-and-seek game with you!
Look high, look low, look left, look right:
Look somewhere you ALL like to sleep at night!

They all like to sleep in the king-size bed in our master bedroom, so this was an easy clue! There they found this card on the pillows:

Your stockings are not tucked up snug in bed.
You all must be wondering, scratching your heads.
They weren't in the manger under starlight;
Try another place inside where the stars shine bright.

It took only a few moments for them to decide the inside stars must be on the newly decorated Christmas tree. It took a few more moments to discover the next index card, tucked away midway up the tree:

You're looking for stockings you haven't yet found.
Keep it up! Surely they're somewhere around!
If you had a magic lamp to rub-a-dub-dub,
It might give this advice: go and check in your tub.

In the bathtub, they found a stack of neatly folded new pajamas, with another clue card on top:

Now you've got clothes to warm you at night,
But still your stockings are nowhere in sight.
Have a close look at the family TV -
Perhaps there is something new there to see!

Inside the doors of the TV cabinet was a new VeggieTales DVD. Inside the DVD was the final clue card:

You still haven't found your stockings quite yet,
But this final clue contains a sure bet!
"We're lying quite low, so full are we filled!
We're hiding with toys that are your favorite to build!"

This clue of course led to their Lego table, where the stockings were hidden in the drawer underneath. Much merriment ensued, and we got it all on tape!

Posted in Family Matters

If you choose to tell your children the truth about Santa Claus, be prepared for nasty fallout! Several years ago, when our oldest daughter was about 4, and very verbal, we went out to eat a couple of weeks before Christmas. Our very peppy waiter crouched down at her eye level and excitedly asked her, "So sweetie, what is Santa bringing YOU for Christmas?!?"

With a perfectly deadpan expression, our little angel turned to him and said, "Santa is DEAD."

The poor man, he looked as though she had hit him over the head with a frying pan. He gabbled something or other and looked at us as though we were devils incarnate.

Of course, she didn't mean it quite the way it came out. Early on in our marriage, my husband laid down a law: No Santa! He felt strongly that this was, in essence, lying to our children. I wanted to honor his wishes but at the same time be sensitive to my children's spirit and the very real appeal of Santa, so after much consideration I decided the best answer was, simply, the truth! I discovered later that other people have chosen this same path. Each year, early in December, we tell our children who St. Nicholas really was (and we usually give them their stockings at the same time). Nicholas was a real man born in what is now Turkey. He was a bishop in the Christian church and was martyred on December 6, AD 383, a day remembered as St. Nicholas' Day. His generosity and loving spirit were so cherished that his story grew into the charming legend of Santa Claus. (The name is taken from the Dutch, who call him Sanct Herr Klaus; Klaus is a nickname for Nicholas, Sanct is Saint, and Herr means Mister.)

However, explaining the true story of Santa Claus probably would not have changed our waiter's mind that we were incontrovertably Very Bad Parents. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Family Matters

I love the Barnes & Noble-published series "100 Things You Should Know About ..." and then the topic name such as Pirates, Explorers, World History, etc. Good car and bathroom reading, nicely presented in tasty tidbits. I had a new one in the car and asked my 10yo to read 10 items aloud to her brother (who is just beginning to learn to read) and me. She was complying, grumpily, until I suddenly said to my son, "Pick a number between 1 and 100!" and just like that [SNAP] it was a game. He picked a number, I picked a number, she picked a number ... and then she decided it was the little ones' turn. Now, the baby just turned two, so when she was asked several times to "pick a number" she began looking around saying, "Numboh? Numboh?" Then she looked out the window, placed her hands on her cheeks and called out, "Numboh! Wheyoh?" [translated: Number! Where are you?] We finally got her to say "two," her age. But we had already read two, so we doubled the digit for 22 instead. Then it was the 4yo's turn. He wouldn't say anything except the first letter of his name, so we counted up the alphabet until we came to 'K,' and used it for his number.

 

Did you know that Barbarossa means "red beard"?

Posted in Family Matters

How is it that, after years on Cigna, I finally find a doctor I like, who doesn't think I'm a complete nut case, who is fine with me using her as a diagnostician and supports me in researching gentler remedies, who has never lectured me even once for our alternative views on vaccinations ... how is it that, now, after having this great doctor for myself and my kids for just a little while, our company switches to a different HMO? Don't they know how many different doctors I had to slog through, over many years, to find the one decent on on Cigna? I don't have the heart to do it all over again ... it's just not in me ... [sigh] ... (NO, she is not on the new health plan; first thing I checked!)