Jumping Pillow

For the past five months, every Wednesday we have packed up and headed to our CSA farm. We pick up our weekly box of freshly picked veggies, climb onto the tractor to go into the fields to help harvest whatever is ripe, and spend some time playing on the massive playground.  No matter how hectic our schedules have become, we all look forward to our weekly trips to "our farm."

Over the summer we have enjoyed nearly every feature of the sprawling farm. From fishing to climbing, I have done almost everything with the boys. The only thing that I haven't done with the boys is play and bounce on the giant jumping pillow.

Going inside a bounce house is within my comfort zone. In fact, Timmy and I bounce almost every day. I have found that it is a great way for him to expel some energy while I reap the benefits of a full body workout. Nothing tires him out for a nap more than going jumping with me.

The jumping pillow, although still centered around the same activity, is completely different than a bounce house. Instead of a step to enter, the sides are sloped. Whereas the bounce house is flat, the pillow is essentially a giant bubble. The curves have always intimidated me and have served to keep me grounded.

Unfortunately for Timmy, he has always been a forced observer rather than participant on the jumping pillow. Yesterday, I cold tell that he really wanted to jump with his brother. Wanting him to have fun, I decided that it was time for me to try. I scooped him out of his stroller and carefully walked with him onto the top of the pillow.

Although it wasn't the easiest climb, I made it to the top! My little Hamlet was beyond happy to be bouncing with his big brother. I'm sure that his squeals and giggles could be heard across the farm. We bounced, played and laughed until we were sweaty and tired.

I am so happy that I was able to conquer the jumping pillow. Like so many things, my own fears turned out to be the true obstacle.  Climbing to the top of the pillow wasn't the easiest thing, but the view from the top (my two happy boys playing together) was well worth the effort!

Dent Repair

Even though it has been more than 24 hours, I continue to feel shaken by the encounter with the deer. I keep replaying the incident, trying to figure out if I did something wrong. Of course I know that it would have been impossible to miss the darting deer, but that reality is doing little to soothe my frazzled nerves. Instead of focusing on the accident, I am trying to count our blessings. I was upset when I saw the imprint of the deer bum on the hood of my SUV, but it could have been far worse.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. Bill showed up at my front door, carrying two pieces of wood and a hammer.  He instructed me to pop the hood on the SUV, which I did without question. I learned a long time ago to not question Mr. Bill when he is set on a project. I didn't know what he was planning, but I knew enough to realize that I wasn't going to stop him. 

After inspecting the crumpled hood from a variety of angles, he put his lit cigarette on top of our trash can before putting a 2x4 slightly above the biggest indentation. After he was content with its location, he began to hit it with the hammer.  After a few good whacks he removed the wood and put the cigarette back in his mouth.  He moved around the car and repeated the process three more times. 

When he was done, all of the major dents were removed from the hood. I can still see a slight bubble from the incident, but all other remnants were literally beaten away. I'm delighted that the only evidence of our run in with the deer are a few rogue hairs caught in the grill and some bad memories.

Park Fun

Yesterday, instead of going directly home after picking up Robby from school, I took a bit of a detour. I wanted to make the most of the quintessential fall day by spending some time at the park. I knew that the boys would have fun running, climbing and playing while I enjoyed the bonus of tiring them out. I decided to propel myself to hero status by swinging by McDonald's to pick up a french fry picnic treat.

Robby ran out of the car and was busy climbing before I even unbuckled my seat belt. Timmy, although he didn't know why, was mimicking the excitement of his brother.  He was kicking and squealing so loudly that I struggled to get his shoes on little wiggly feet.  He took off running after his brother as soon as I picked him up from his car seat.

The brothers played for almost 90 minutes, sometimes together but usually with Timmy running after Robby.  I was again amazed by how different the two are from each other.  Robby was so proud to have finally conquered the playground rock wall, which he claimed to be his "oppressive nemesis." Timmy, seeing his brother celebrating at the top platform, decided that he wanted to give it a try. Before I knew it he was 3/4 of the way to the top and I was pulling him down. Whereas Robby always calculates the risks of getting hurt, his little toddler brother has no fear! (Rest assured I was spotting him and he was safe throughout the climb.)

After a wonderful afternoon of playing with my kiddos, we packed up and headed home. Both were sweaty, filthy and smiling from ear to ear, which I consider badges for a fun day. Although we were less than five miles from our house, Timmy quickly fell asleep in the car as we drove home.

He was woken when I slammed on the brake before hitting the large deer that ran in front of my car. I managed to swerve enough to keep the imposing buck from smashing through the windshield, but not enough to avoid it altogether. The front right panel took the brunt of the impact, leaving a significant (and probably expensive) dent.

Thankfully nobody (with the exception of the careless deer) was hurt, but the accident certainly took the wind out of my sails. I was shaken up and frightened by the experience. Deer are beautiful to watch in our woods, but aren't nearly as majestic when the dart in front of your car.

 

Monday

This past weekend was spent doing nothing of consequence. The highlight Saturday was my purchasing a new pair of lounge pants, which I proceeded to change into as soon as I arrived home. Refusing to leave the house for the rest of the day, we spent the afternoon playing games, watching movies and baking cookies.

On Sunday our family vegetation weekend continued, although we did venture outside. The weather was absolutely perfect with bright blue skies and a cool breeze. Robby and I (with Hamlet in tow) went for a long bike ride through the neighborhood.  I love being able to play outside without breaking into a sweat because of the oppressive heat. With the exception of returning to school, autumn may be my favorite season. 

All good things must come to an end, and that includes our weekend of relaxation. Monday is upon us, and I have loads of work waiting for me. I could have made a dent on the pile over the weekend, but I needed to unplug and relax more.

Back to reality. Happy Monday!

Cover Girl!

A few weeks ago I received an email from the editor of inMotion, asking me to provide a photo for a cover story about parenting.  Since he was specifically looking for a photo of us in a classroom, we jumped into the car and headed to Robby's school.  Scott snapped a few quick photos and decided that we probably had something that was "good enough" before heading to IHOP for breakfast.

I never envisioned that one of our quickly staged photos would be selected for the cover photo. Had I known I was going to be on the cover, I would have put on make-up and a bra.

I am desperately trying to suspend all self-criticism concerning my image, but I find it difficult to look at the cover with completely objective eyes. I am accustomed to putting myself through brutal critiques, beating myself down until I can't find a single positive attribute. I realize that this is not a favorable trait and I am actively working on becoming less critical. 

So rather than pick myself apart, I am going to celebrate this amazing honor.  I am absolutely tickled to be featured on the cover of this issue of inMotion magazine. Who would have thought that I would be a Cover Girl!

The Advocate

Yesterday morning, after dropping off Robby at school, Timmy and I headed into DC. Taking a toddler with me to congressional meetings was obviously not ideal, but my lacking a babysitter made his accompanying me a necessity. I tried to rationalize my sidekick by reminding myself that I was representing only my own concerns and that my need to keep up with a mischievous toddler was my personal reality. Unwilling to reschedule or cancel my meetings, I dressed him in his cutest patriotic outfit, grabbed a new bag of goldfish crackers, and decided to make the best of a less-than-perfect situation.

My little Timmy took his lobbying adventure in stride. He was charming and endearing, smiling and giggling almost on cue. Only once did he take off sprinting down the long corridor, squealing at the commotion he was causing. I tried to let him out of his stroller between appointments and he happily played with his blocks and munched on goldfish when I was in a meeting. He was covered with crumbs by the time I put him back into his car seat to go home, but he was also smiling from ear-to-ear.

My meetings went well. I can't say that I changed the world, but I definitely feel that I was heard. I spoke from my heart and from my own experience, relaying my future if my prosthetic care were dictated by the medicare proposals. The staffers were engaged throughout my meetings and asked questions that indicated that they were actually listening to my concerns. Hopefully our visit helped to move the needle on this issue, but at the least I know that I did my part.

It is imperative that everybody take the responsibility to advocate on this issue. Please don't wait for somebody else to fight this battle. If we are silent, we will lose and prosthetic care will return to the disco-era. United Healthcare, a private insurer, already indicated that they are incorporating aspects of these horrific proposals into their policies.

I don't consider myself an advocate, but I am willing to try because I feel so passionately about access to quality prosthetic care.  I think that too many people are afraid to make the calls to their elected officials because they are intimidated by the labels. I never envisioned that I would be going to Capital Hill to fight for prosthetic access, and I was definitely pushed outside of my comfort zone by going. However, I learned that it wasn't nearly as intimidating as I envisioned. In fact, it was so easy that a toddler could do it!

Who could say no to this little face?

Jumping to Exhaustion

Yesterday I took Timmy to the bounce house before picking up Robby from school. I was determined to tire my little Hamlet out, hoping that he would sleep soundly through the night. He had a blast, squealing and laughing the entire time. Before I knew it, we had played and bounced for almost an hour and it was time to pick up Robby.

Actually, I was the one doing the majority of the bouncing. Timmy thoroughly enjoyed being the "popcorn" while I bounced around him.  (Being the "popcorn" consists of laying down on the bouncer while somebody bounces and moves you around.) It turns out that being the "popcorn" isn't nearly as exhausting as being the one doing the bouncing.  By the time we left the bounce house I was a red faced, sweaty mess.

My tucker out Timmy plan didn't work as expected. I was exhausted while he was thoroughly revved up. He ran around the house all evening, squealing and pushing the limits. Of course I had a hard time keeping up with him because I had bounced for an hour.

I finally just gave up and let him play with a roll of toilet paper. I figured that sacrificing a roll was worth the quiet time I was afforded. In a moment of sheer parental brilliance, I bribed Robby with a milkshake to pick up the scraps after his little brother went to bed.

I was hoping that the moon bounce excitement would catch up with my little guy, allowing him to sleep beyond 4 AM. Yet again, I was wrong and he was jumping around his crib ready to play at 3:50 this morning.  Bouncing may not have impacted his sleep schedule, but it certainly wreaked havoc on mine. I fell asleep sitting in my rocking chair at 8:30 last night.