Little Men of Mine
Friday, September 15, 2006
Picture Day
I don't think I've ever been so happy as the day when I realized that I'd no longer have to take Charlie to Sears for pictures because he would be having a school picture taken! I'm not sure about the rest of you, but professional pictures have always been the biggest nightmare for us. Something always goes wrong. We'd have an appointment, the baby would be all happy and smiley, and then we'd end up waiting because some walk-in had grabbed our spot five seconds before we checked in (and I'm ALways early!). Then it's all about having to coax those smiles that had been there willingly half an hour earlier. Or someone spits up all over his clothes. Or someone else won't sit nicely. Or a third someone thinks the platform is a mountain and he is the king and therefore must knock everyone else off. Ugh.I have no 2-year picture of Charlie. The only one the girl managed to snap at all featured him standing in front of the table, raging at us and clenching his fists. I was almost tempted to buy it anyway, so I could show it to him later and say, "See? This is what you put me through!" But then I would've had to pay the sitting fee, and I didn't think it was worth it.
I have no 1-year picture of Teddy. He's kind of slow-to-warm, and the photographer was a loud, in your face kind of gal--he did not take well to her attempts to cheer him up and cried and clung to me through the whole session. I also have no 3-year picture of him, but that was due to my own laziness and dread of the whole exercise. Luckily, he'll have a pre-school picture done while he's still 3 and a half-ish, so I figure I'm covered.
Lou turned two in May, and I just got him in today. I'm tired of the hit-or-miss experiences we've had with Sears, so I thought I'd try the Olan Mills Studio at our local Meier. The photographer was nice and sweet, but not very take-charge. She kept deferring to me, as in "What else would you like to try, Mom?" I do like to have some input, but I would've preferred for her to make some professional suggestions as well. We also had a hard time getting him to smile, but there was some pretty good stuff there, so I'm happy. And thrilled that it's over.
Let's see, this time next year, Lou will be in pre-school--I might never have to go to a portrait studio again!
Posted by Jennifer @ 12:17 PM
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Will It Ever Stop Raining?
The answer to that question is "yes, and very soon." Do you know how I am so very certain that this will be so? Because I just spent $90 on brand new, Kidorable raincoats for all three boys (we went with the dinosaur, the frog and the dolphins).None of them has ever had a raincoat. I think that up until now, when it was raining, we just stayed inside. But now that I have two of them in two different schools with different starting and ending times, it seems like it's done nothing but rain on us--and HARD--at least three days per week. By today, I was seriously irritated, and tired of everyone being wet all the time, in and out and in and out of the van. Now if I could just find a raincoat for myself!
Posted by Jennifer @ 11:25 AM
Friday, September 08, 2006
Mourning the Passage of a Special Friend
This has been a hard week for Charlie. Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed in a freak accident while filming an underwater special. What are the odds that he would be stabbed through the heart by a stingray? According to the stats we keep hearing, it's a pretty rare way to go.Charlie has been into the Crocodile Hunter since he was about two and first saw him on a Wiggles video (which he then watched about 14 billion times). This summer when he started writing books, his very first one was "The Crocodile Hunter's Greatest Adventure Ever." He wanted to send it to Irwin. I had actually planned to make a color copy (no way I'd part with the original) and send it off to his hero. I never got around to it, and now it's too late.
When we first heard about the accident, Tom and I agreed not to tell him. I figured he'd find out about it eventually, but maybe after this man's importance to him had waned a little. We were successful in keeping it from him for about two days. Well, someone left the TV on in the front room, and he walked in on a newscast describing the incident. He had tons of questions, and although he never cried in front of me, the whole time he was asking about it, his face was beet red, and the little corners of his mouth were turned way down. It was all I could do not to cry myself!
Then there were his questions. "How will they (the family) get money now?" He couldn't understand how they would be able to get along if their daddy couldn't go to work. "Who will make the show?" "Who will take care of the animals at Australia Zoo?" "Will I still be able to see him on TV?" It was heartbreaking.
I'm deeply saddened by Irwin's passing. People keep saying that he was destined to go some way dramatic with all the risks he constantly took. But this was a freaky, one-in-a-million way to meet his maker. I feel so bad for his wife and two children. As big a show-boat as he might have been, he was very skilled and knowledgeable, and did a lot for conservation and preservation. I didn't feel the same way about the Crocodile Hunter as my five-year-old son did, but his death still feels so wrong, and I can't stop thinking about it.
Posted by Jennifer @ 2:42 PM