Sunday, August 15, 2010

I just gave my toddler a giant marshmallow to eat so I can write this post about nothing...

I don't remember what we did Friday. Oh yes, I dropped my MIL off at the train for her trip back home to Tallahassee. Mamie (not really quite her name) cried for 20 minutes straight, I felt sorry for her because she knows she won't see her paternal grandma for maybe another year or two.


Then we took a trip to Wegman's, our favorite supermarket. When I say "we" I will usually mean my mother (Grammy), Mamie and myself...and if we absolutely have to, baby Henry. In this case Henry was included in our trip to "Weggie's" for lunch (sushi) which followed with a short trip to the park before heading home to meet the short bus.


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This park is good for pleasing me in the sense that we're usually alone, if not, almost alone. It's on the water with a spectacular view which makes it often windy in the summer. The bad part about the park is it's on the water. No physical barrier between the jungle-gym and the beach. Except the 100 yard head start Henry has before I can catch him, which seems to be good enough notice for me to start chasing him before he reaches the other side of the river. And the sand. The sand is dirty. Not like the sand on the other side of the inlet where the ocean is. Just disgusting dark brown, clumpy sand with miscellaneous man-made debris.  





Friday was uneventful, but not Saturday. We took the kids to Clark's to get shoes for the new school year. Turns out, my 8 year-old twins' feet are smaller than their 5 year-old sister's. She's a US12, Milo's an 11 while Lige is just a 9.5. I am assuming that must be because he doesn't walk...? Lige's feet are the best, they're always kissable and soft- never rough from walking on the ground, or smelly like my other kids' feet. There're certainly advantages to having a child with moderately-severe cerebral palsy. Another is, he can't always escape so fast when I'm kissing and squeezing him.


Oh, about the shoe shopping, it didn't go well at all. Henry hadn't had his nap and he was crazed. He was getting the twins all worked up and there was no chance of us *not* being that family. I had my mom and our nurse with us, as well as the 4 kids. You'd think with the twins strapped in their wheelchairs and Mamie being her typically well-behaved self, that the 3 of us adults could keep a handle on Henry. Not so. Somehow he left the store without any of us seeing.  
A woman, who'd been watching us this entire time, with empathy and kindness, even trying to crack some exhausted-parent-jokes, had witnessed Henry split. The next thing I saw was her announcing he'd left as she ran out the door and caught him running towards the parking lot. O.m.g. I was embarrassed, all eyes were on me, but more so annoyed that my two adult helpers were not being reliable as I was trying to fit and choose shoes for my four kids.  
Of course, it really is ultimately my responsibility, and certainly not the twins' nurse's job...but my mom...well, she's older now and gets distracted easily. I don't know. It's basically just frustrating to go out with all these guys at one time.  I admit it, I don't have a comfortable grip at this stage.


Oh cool, Henry didn't even eat the marshmallow...they're Mamie's thing. I don't do marshmallows either, Henry.


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Love Ms. Crabass

















7 comments:

  1. Oh, shoe shopping is the worst. No matter what shoe I want for what kid, they never have their size and I always leave feeling disappointed. And exhausted. I now will only take one or two at a time now. Henry sounds EXACTLY like my Cooper. One time at a play area in a mall (that was GATED mind you) I noticed a woman I didn't know was carrying Cooper back INTO the play area. Oops. Um, thank you kind stranger? And another time a neighbor a few houses down brought him back and none of us realized he was gone. There were adults everywhere. He's so stealthy. God help us.

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  2. We have a similar problem as Christy in that we'll find a terrific shoe and it not be in Mackenzie's size. It happens quite often with regular clothes and even diapers.

    Henry sounds like he'd be fun to harrass. :o) I like getting upity kids even more hyper. And then leaving them with their parents... because I love making enemies.

    I googled Wegmans (we don't have it here) and it looks similar to our Southern Season. Do they do a lot of specialty/gormet foods?

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  3. That Henry looks like he has a hint of naughtiness in his eyes. I like that. Kerry, you have 4 kids, I don't know too many people who would have a handle on going out with them all, but then add to it the physical challenges. You deserve some type of award. I have a friend who has 4 kids under the age of 9 and the older two are SUPER BAD. They bite her and swear at her. Terrible children.
    xooxoxoxo

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  4. Omg, Christy, Cooper's just like HEnry! The absolute worst kid moment was again with Henry at another playground in a county park with a lot of woods, he took off down one of the paths and a park ranger led him back over to us. Oh man, I was horrified! He was just one. It happened in a split second. I won't stay at that park now unless there are very few other children.
    Yes, Niff, it's got a gourmet side w/a huge prepared foods and food bar with Thai, Indian, Chinese and Greek as well as some misc salads, fruit and veg bar and a "wing bar", a whole foods area and a regular supermarket side.

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  5. Great post. No rest for a mommy of 4!

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  6. Emily is almost 7, and she wears a size 7 shoe. Teeeeeeny tiny feet with the tiniest toes ever! They are seriously baby sized toes. And I love them. :)

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