SPIDERS

Spotty chop is suddenly very afraid of spiders. It started off that he was scared of Spider Man. Not sure where that comes from as we don’t watch spider man or talk about him. We do have one of those blow up punching bad thingies but Spotty rides it like a bull.

Now he is afraid of the actual 8 legged creature. If I leave the room a short time later he will come running to find me crying the spiders will get me. Before he falls asleep he tells me the spiders are coming. I keep reassuring him that the spiders will not come to get him and that I won’t let them get him. But I have no idea where this is coming from. It did start after camping, there were plenty of spiders camping, and in the tent, but I never noticed him freaking out over them, and boy toy and I don’t freak out over spiders, we kind of nudge them along to get out of our way.

Maybe we should stop forcing him to watch Steven Kings IT?

Pot Smoking and Children

Babble has an interesting column on pot smoking and dealing with your children.

The writer talks about her shitty day and how her toddler frayed her last nerve. So she heads to the mall and before putting the kid in the stroller takes a hit or two. I liked the article. For me personally I could not smoke pot and deal with my boy. I would be too afraid that the one time I took a hit too many Spotty will crack his head open/loose consciousness, break a bone or two and I will not be able to function the way I should. Now that’s me. I am not saying that anyone that has ever toked a few and then dealt with their child should be shot. I am of the belief that smoking pot and drinking are pretty much the same in terms of effects it has on folks. Well, on most folks. Alcohol makes some of us violent, mean and ugly. Which is why some of us no longer drink. I have never seen pot make anyone violent, mean and ugly. Stupid, hungry and sleepy, but not so much on the violent side. This is not to say that I condone heavy drug abuse around children. I worked for several years in a group home for emotionally disturbed boys and I saw first hand what heavy drug use in the home can do to a child. But that is not what the article is about. In fact the author was trying to remind folks that you need to remember you child is a child and try getting down on his level and see the world the way they see it. The comments as you would expect were hot and heavy. With the folks who have never done drugs ready to call in the police and publicly flog the mother. Folks that may have been around the block once or twice seems a bit more level headed in their comments and reasons behind them. I did take exception to one comment made that “you knew it would be hard and what you were getting into when you became a parent” and I have to say BULLSHIT. People tell you it’s hard, that kids can be trying, or that they will drive you crazy, but until you have gone through the process and actually had your child and then spent some time with them. You have no friggen idea what it’s going to be like. You may have had thoughts, wishes on how it might be, but I don’t think anything can prepare you for the reality that is parenthood.

Quiet weekend

This weekend was pretty low key. I had to get my hair colored so my dad watched Spotty Chop for me. My mom was working. Spotty LOVES his Papa. They go to the dump together; they play in the tires, watch the machines and unload the trash. Then it’s off to the shirt store so my dad can have his shirts cleaned and pressed. The last stop before heading back to the house is the beer store where they get wine for Nannie and beer for Papa. The girls at the liquor store have a lolly for him; actually I think the shirt store folks have a lolly for him too. Once they get home it’s time to garden, play with the trucks and perhaps a trip to the park. It is so cool to see my dad with Spotty. I mean you expect your parents to love your kid, that’s what grandparents are for. My mom is so smitten that she has turned into the type of grandparent that she has always made fun of, brings out pictures and tells anyone that will listen of his latest adventures. She knows it too and makes fun of herself. But my dad, I think he has surprised himself with how much fun he has with Spotty. My mom thinks it’s because he could never really spend time with us as we grew up. He worked two jobs and went to school nights and was in the army reserve. I don’t remember my dad not being there though. When I think of my childhood all I can remember is how much fun we all had.

I hope Spotty can say the same when he is grown. Boy toy and I have issues (doesn’t everybody?) and I just pray that we don’t somehow taint him with our own crap. God knows he is loved. He is the best thing that ever happened to us. We will just need to keep working at it.
Spotty never wakes boy toy up he always wakes me, so Sunday morning when I woke up at 7:00am, I decided to crawl into Spotty’s bed…OK, actually, boy toy and Spotty were taking up the whole bed and I just wanted to stretch out, in a toddler bed that has a crib mattress, which is kind of sad if you think about it. Spotty whispered “WAKE UP DADA” as they were nose to nose. Boy toy pretended to be annoyed that he actually had to wake up early, but he kept grinning every time Spotty to his hand and said “come on dada”. Spotty kept us hopping with puzzles, trucks and trains in addition to all the help doing dishes, laundry and building. Boy toy spent the day building shelves for our DVD’s and tapes. We bought a new TV and need to get rid of the entertainment center we have. Spotty was a big help. We also took over a 3 hour nap, which was great for me as I haven’t slept for more than 2 hours at a time for weeks. Of course boy toy woke us up by dive bombing us with pillows. Spotty was giggling up a storm. It’s got to be a guy thing.

Book Review - The Hob’s Bargain

This is a bit of a departure for me, it’s a stand alone story, not a series, but it’s by an author I enjoy and as I am re-reading a long series, this is a nice break in between the stories I have read multiple times.

Aren is happy, she just got married to a good man, and her life finally seems to be on the right path only problem is that she has foretelling; visions of the future, she has had to hide it her whole life as the town is afraid of anyone with power. They can be used by and turned into bloodmages.

Tragedy strikes and the town has to search for help. Unfortunately it seems as if they are not the only ones in trouble. But they pull together and try to protect themselves the best they can. Of course since Aren is different and “smells of magic” some of villagers begin to think that this could be all of her fault. Luckily for the villagers Aren is the only one who can secure the help they all need, from a mysterious and magical creature the Hob. Now I am not talking about some cute little elf or fairy here. Hob is a mischievous killing machine. Who happens to be the last of his kind.

This wasn’t the best book I have ever read. But I would read it again. The characters are strong. Not everyone is as they seem and sometimes you can find friends in unlikely places.

Pick up a book Gosh Darn It!

I was reading last weeks TIME and they have a section called “Numbers”. There was a quote under Literacy that I thought was interesting.
“25% - Percentage of U.S. adults who did not read any books in the past year, according to an Associated Press Ipsos poll. The average person said he or she read four. “

That number baffles me. Since my posting of the Wizards First Rule I have finished 3 other books and am on another. So in about a month’s time I have read more than the average American does in a year. Now I know I am perhaps an anomaly as I would rather read than pretty much anything (excluding playing with Spotty…unless we are watching Dora for the 20000000 time, then I slip in a chapter or 10). And I know that statistics are a Frelling science in itself and a class that sucks when you are suffering a major concussion and have trouble differentiating between 2XxY and 2(XxY). Honestly I think I just hate numbers – Mama’s convince your girl children that math is not for boys, it’s for smart people. But DAMN people, 4 books, I bet we are not even talking about the 900-1000 page behemoths that I prefer.

Then again I haven’t done any research, but I would have to assume that the better off you are financially the more time you have to read books? I can understand if you are worried about how you are going to feed or house your child you may not have time to read about THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA.

As for my book reviews? Honestly I would rather be reading than blogging, but I have read some good ones so expect to hear about Stone of Tears; The Hob’s Bargain and This Alien Shore. And then as I am currently reading Blood of the Fold, I will probably be done with that one too by the time I actually write up some of these reviews. Stay tuned