If  you haven’t read anything that made you cry today, read this story. 

It is about a little girl who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Unbeknownst to her family, she drew hundreds of pictures and wrote notes and hid them all over the house.   Once she died, her family began  finding them. 

Heartbreaking for sure, but I can only imagine that the notes are a source of comfort to her family.

There has been a lot of talk in my extended neighborhood, and among friends and family, about whether or not to vaccinate our kids for the H1N1 virus, the Swine Flu.  I have never had my children vaccinated for the flu.  None of my kids have any underlying health conditions such as asthma so it has never seemed necessary.  And, knock on wood, we have been very lucky in not getting the flu over the years.

I have noticed that there are two distinct camps: the no way, no how and the yes, Yes, YES!  And according to a recent poll this is the same division that exists across America.  47% saying they will get the vaccine, 47% saying they will not.  When I read this I joked that the other 6% were home in bed sick with the flu.

I was on the fence this year.  With the flu, both strains, running epidemic in my area I was considering getting the vaccination for the first time for all of us.  But before I could make a decision we all got the swine flu.  It wasn’t that bad, as far as having the flu goes.  The doctor told me that has been her experience as well.  That a majority of her patients have been less sick with the so-called Swine flu than she has seen with the regular flu. 

Everyone I know personally in my neighborhood has also had the Swine flu.  Some were more sick than others, but we have all had it now.  Most of the kids on my son’s sports teams have gotten it also.  I know that some areas of the country have not been as hard hit.

What have you done?  Do you think the swine flu vaccine is too new and experimental, as some people have said for their reason not to vaccinate?  Or are you vaccinating your family?

My daughter was invited to a classmates 7 yr old birthday party this weekend.  When I got the invitation I was happy to see that it was a home party, not some completely over the top extravaganza.   I went to the party assuming that I would be able to just drop her off.  Isn’t that what you are supposed to do at birthday parties? 

But suddenly I was inside the house among a sea of  mothers who were all staying, and hovering over their children.  All while I stood there contemplating my exit.  After about a half hour I  finally asked  if it would be okay of I left and went to do my grocery shopping.  The house seemed awfully cramped with children and their parents, and in some cases siblings. And frankly, I am more than a little concerned about what is going to happen when my daughter has her birthay party!  Is there a way to write on the invitation “no parents and no siblings” without it being awkward.

I felt bad leaving the party, for oh, ten seconds, then I merrily skipped down the driveway.

Is this the new norm for birthday parties?  Do parents usually  stay?  I am trying to think back to my own childhood but I am pretty sure that when I was 6 and 7 yrs old the only parties I went to were family parties.

I am heading out to buy my children Halloween costumes.  We have many, many costumes so I don’t need that many, but I do need some accessories and my daughter needs a costume.  Wish me luck finding her something that doesn’t make her look like a streetwalker.

This  might make sound really geriatric, but what happened to the basic witch costume or being a set of dice with a friend or a cat.  Or any other homemade costume?

I even had trouble finding a costume for  myself this year.  I wanted to be a witch.  A basic no frills, black dress, pointy hat witch.  I had to repeat the sentence, “No, I don’t want to be a sexy witch,” more times that should be allowed in a normal persons life.  And still the salesperson kept bringing me costumes that would be more aptly called Hooker Witch.

And while the costumes for girls have gotten smaller  and sluttier, the costumes for the boys have become more and more gory.

The violent costumes bother me even more and I am not alone.  In our house I have the rule that dressing up as a serial killer is not allowed.  I am not sure why someone would want their young child dressing up as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre killer or Freddy Kruger. 

Several years ago we had to stop attending a town sponsored Halloween party because it became too frightening.  It was a party geared for young elementary school children, so kids between the ages of 5-11.  The final straw for me when we were on a hayride looking at all the “spooky” decorations someone jumped out of the darkness with a bloody chainsaw, chased after the hayride and grabbed someone off of the hayride.  Traumatized children anyone?

I wonder what happened to children being children.  What is the rush to grow up so fast?

I am out of town this week on a business trip. I don’t travel all the much, a hand full of times per year for business and maybe one or two other times for fun, but my children still do not love it when I am gone from home.

What I do when I am traveling to make it easier on the children.

1) For longer trips I when my children were little, I would make a paper chain. At the end of each day they remove a link off of the chain. This is a great visual reminder of how long I will be away and help the people who are babysitting deal with the never ending question, “When will Mom be home?” This is also a great pre-travel project to do with your preschoolers, too!

2) Have stuffed animal will travel. Have you seen those television commercials for Cingular where the Dad finds the stuffed animal in his briefcase and takes photos of the stuffed animal throught his trip? A friend of mine told me that her children saw that commercial and wanted to do it also. Now when she travels she finds a surprise stuffed animal in her suitcase and she takes photos of it during the trip. Sending the photos digitally makes the kids feel like they know what is going on and helps them to feel closer to you.

3) Write notes to be left for the kids. When I am home, I write a note for my kids everyday and stick it in their lunchboxes. When I go away I write notes in advance, mostly generic so they can go in any one’s lunchbox, and have my caregiver put them in their lunchboxes or backpack every morning.

4) Bring home a present. Sometimes this is something a simple as a pack of M&M’s for each kid. yes, I could buy them at the local mini-mart, but really what else are you going to bring home from New Jersey.

So tell me, do you have anything that you do to make being away from your kids easier? And tips for making it go smoother for your caregiver?

It has been raining a LOT the past few weeks. But my children have not seemed to mind all that much. They have been thrilled to play in the rain, sometimes wearing bathing suits. Jumping in puddles. Splashing in the street. Luckily the weather has cooperated in so far as there has been no thunder and lightening.

I remember a few times as a child when the rain came down hard and I was allowed to play outside in it. My parents were from the generation that believed getting wet and cold would make you sick. So playing outside in inclement weather was not something that happened very often.

What are the things that matter most? I see my children being pressured at school to succeed. I see them being pushed at sports to succeed. I see the hours of their childhoods slipping away. The time left over for playing and running around with no agenda is squeezed in the empty spaces. I think that jumping in puddles is just as important as learning the multiplication tables.

This pumpkin holds the offical world’s record for the largest pumpkin weighing in at 1725 pounds.  That’s a lot of pumpkin pie. 

I love these sort of contests.  I know that there must be some sort of county fair near where we are living where there are pie eating contests, ferris wheels, and the largest vegetables ever to be grown.  I don’t know why I have such a fondness for these gigantic pumpkins, maybe because they persevere and continue to grow long after all of their counterparts have given up.

It could also be because I have not been able to grow anything but weeds in my life.   My attempts at gardening have usually been met with dead withered vegetables, the result of either ignoring them or my overzealous watering.

The newspaper said that the seeds would be dried out and given to anyone who asked.  I hope someone asks and grows a gigantic pumpkin of their very own!

Have you seen this video yet?  It is truly an incedible and uplifting story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arD374MFk4w

My 8 yr old son is studying simple machines in his third grade classroom and I sent the link to his teacher.  The story incorporates all the things to which we hope our children aspire.  A boy who was inspired  by a book  from the library, who then had a dream of doing something that was seemingly impossible, and then turning that dream into reality.   The story of how one person can truly make a difference.

My son was in awe that a simple machine could be life changing. 

Have you heard any other feel good stories lately? Please share!

This week I read at msnbc that people are returning to tradition this holiday season. No one is going for the latest fads, instead returning to the traditional colors and styles of years gone by.   It isn’t too hard to deduce that people are seeking is the security of the past, a reminder of when times were simpler. 

So this year when you go out shopping you will see more of the traditional items that you might have had in your home growing up, our in your grandmother’s home, and less of the cartoon character Christmas decorations or the passing fads.  Personally I am going to be doing a lot of baking this year, saving money and time spent shopping.   I want to cultivate the traditions that we have had for years and maybe make some new ones since we are in our new home in a new state.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, too, in a way that I have not for many years.  I think that is the one silver lining to the downturned economy– the ability to truly be thankful for all that you DO have.  The economy has hit my little family hard.  At first I found myself thinking that it could be worse, not exactly the most upbeat of sentiments.  It has now evolved into thinking about how very lucky, even blessed, that we are.

I  think that most of us like to stick with traditions, but it can be easy to get stuck in the buy-buy-buy rut during the holidays.  This year I will be making and baking gifts  with my kids.  Perhaps dusting off those jam recipes that I haven’t touched in years, baking breads and cakes, making cards.  I can’t help but think that in the long run we will all be better off for it.

I have another child down with the flu.  As soon as one recovers, another one seems to get it.  I suppose this is keeping with the 7-10 day incubation period.  But it is wearing me down.

My 8 yr old spiked a temperature of 104 tonight.  I immediately gave him Advil and an ice pack for his head and slowly but surely the fever came down.  He was even up off the couch an hour or so later looking for some dinner.  Given the way it has progressed with everyone else, I know that the fever will be spiking again and it will be at least another couple days before he can head back to school. 

So if you are wondering where I am,or what I am doing, it involves Lysol, bleach, or excessive amounts of hand washing.  Because when there is nothing that you can really do, you have to find something to do.  Cleaning can be cathartic.

I heard on our local news today that the flu has become so bad in our area that the local ER set up three triage tents outdoors to handle all of the patients.  Not somewhere I want to go.