Attachments

Somebody help me.... there is currently a small child attached to my hip.

Miss Allison came into our room at 5 am-ish and has become my appendage. Needless to say, this has made typing and drinking coffee perilous at best.

Is there any reason for this behavior? What purpose does it serve her? Should I have gotten her a security blanket when she was younger? She still sucks her fingers and twirls her hair whenever she's tired or nervous. (The dentist said that she could 'cure' that when she turns 5 - I don't even want to know what that means.)

Someone once said that she's so needy because I didn't 'bond' with her when she was first born. (not that I could have helped that from the ICU). The child has been with me 24/7 since she was 6 days old. Can that much damage be done in the first few days that she needs to constantly be within a few inches of me?

Then there's the school of thought that I need to appreciate it now because sooner rather than later she'll be mortified by my very presence. I guess only time will tell. But for right now if she feels more comfortable leaning on me... then so be it.

Well doesn't that figure... one minute after writing that line - she decides that she's going to be a 'Power Ranger' - Danny & Al are performing their best fight moves.

There is a little boy on our street, Jack, who is enamoured with Power Rangers - Jungle Fury as well. Instead of Jack and Danny greeting each other with a 'hello' - they run to each other and whack each other in the head doing some elaborate spin kicks and pseudo-karate moves. So far we've only had one bloody nose so I think we're doing okay - But again... is this 'normal'? There are so many behaviors that just seem so foreign to me. I wonder if my kids are demented and perhaps more than a little 'off' -

I received a wonderful piece of advice from my very first best friend, Gina. She's a year older than me, but is blessed with two talented teenagers so she's on the opposite end of the parenting spectrum from me. I was there for the birth of her daughter - (if that's not a great means of birth control, I don't know what is....) and she had her son on my birthday (the day of her baby shower) so I got to be the stand-in and open all of the gifts - it was like a bonus birthday party! :-) She sent me an email the other day and said...

You alluded to the fact that you weren't looking forward to the "teen" years - I found the worst age so far was the "tween" years, those in between Elementary and High School...but amazingly if you stick with them the years to follow aren't that bad at all! Those "tween" years are more painful age because they are pressing for their independence from you (the parents), fighting the raging hormones, and then there's dealing with peer pressures which leads to all kinds of complicated judgement calls they don't want you to help them with...but they really do want you to be there. Be there for them, listen, and become their voice of reason, EVEN WHEN you don't want to or think you shouldn't...technically, we are only here to "guide" them on a path to living their own life. But you know all of this - your Mom was really good at that so I'm sure you learned enough from her to do just fine.

And the kids being kids - that's the best thing of all...such individuals they are!!! For the most part, it's a fun ride

Wonderful advice from a woman who knows.

I'm so thankful for all of my wonderful friends that I've kept in touch with over the years - sometimes more often than not. You have all filled a part of my heart and remain with me always - even when we don't speak for a while.

Y'all know who you are - and a HUGE thank you goes out to you. But for now, enjoy the sunrise and the cool Power Ranger moves of the kiddos.