Notes on Christmas Gifts

I finally started reading Player One, the latest novel by Douglas Coupland, delivered as the Massey Lecture series last year (woah, feels strange to call 2010 "last year"). I am sucked in and want to skip work or make C take care of himself or something similar so that I can finish it. Thank you to my sister-in-law for gifting it to me at Christmas!!

G and I were discussing his Christmas gifts while I was prepping dinner yesterday. He told me he'd gotten one book:

me: From whom?
G: N__________
me: Who's that?
G: She lives across the street. She's a doctor. She was the first doctor to do wiener surgery.
me: Oh? (not really sure what to say to that one, although I doubt his facts)
G: Yeah. I'm glad it wasn't on me.
me: I'm sure you are.
G: I would cry for nine days if I ever had to have wiener surgery.
me: Nine days, hey?

I gave my nephew this super-cool art paper that already has frames printed around the edges, so you draw/paint/whatever in the middle, and then, voila, preframed art by child geniuses. Tonight, I got this email from his mom:

Beth, Just wanted to let you know Jake really loves his picture frames...today he did pictures of Tinkerbell in Lava (with her insides showing), Tinkerbell in a volcano with lava..and Maggie, with Tinkerbell's lava footprints around her :)

Maggie is their dog. I LAUGHED. OUT. LOUD.
Christmas success!

Comments

MLW said…

LOL almast ROTFL! The joys of 3 year olds!

11:53 PM

MLW said…

oops, almost ROTFL!

11:54 PM

5 Rules for Being a (North) American Adult or No One Wants You to Love Yourself

5 Rules for Being a (North) American Adult
(paraphrased from a lecture by Anne Lamott, whose priest friend shared them with her many years ago)

1. Have it all together. 2. If you don't have it all together, fix whatever is broken in you so that you do have it all together. 3. If you can't fix whatever's broken, pretend that you have. 4. If you can't pretend to be fixed, don't show up - it's a bit embarrassing to the rest of us. 5. If you do decide to show up broken, at least have the decency to be ashamed of yourself.
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We are encultured towards self-loathing and self-avoidance.
Be perfect. Do it all, do it right. If you can't be better, pretend you are. Don't look any deeper. Keep busy. Keep your chin up. Keep up appearances.
It takes so much energy. It takes too much energy.
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What would happen if I just loved myself? is the question I have been asking since my last post.
It's the question I hear when I see photos of lovely fat ladies who refuse…

Fostering FAQ: How Can You Say Goodbye?

It seems I finally have something(s) to say... Here's the first in a short (or maybe long?) series on Fostering FAQs. If you've got a question to add, feel free to comment/email/text/message me and maybe the next post will be in response.

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8:30 am on Day 4 of parenting. I woke up in a panic two hours ago because I remembered that there is a baby and I am responsible for her (at least at 6:30am, when the man beside me will snore through anything). Now, I have put on clothes and eaten breakfast. The dogs are walked, there is a loaf of banana bread in the oven. My tea is steeping. Most importantly, Dream Baby is already down for her first nap.

Despite my morning efficiency, I'm already beginning to see that even with the happiest, most easygoing, and smiliest baby, like we somehow managed to be given, parenting is a grind. On Friday night, I couldn't join friends for $5 pints at a local joint. Instead, I blearily washed the same 8 bottles again, and then made another ba…

Fostering FAQ: How Long Will She Stay/Will You Adopt Her?

Our first foster baby came with about 18 hours notice; it was respite care, which means we had him for a few days while his regular foster family had a break/dealt with a family emergency. He stayed 3 nights, long enough to come to church and have a dozen people cooing over his little sleeping cheeks. With each new visitor to our quiet corner, I explained again that he would be going back to his foster family the next day.

Barely a week later, we got a 9am phone call with a fostering request and by the same afternoon, we were snuggling her. This time, we had her for 4 days before church came around. Again, our community was keen to see the little one we had in tow. Again, the question, "How long will she stay?" And this time, "Are you going to adopt her?"

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Here in Toronto, when a child is placed in foster care, it is always for an indefinite length of time. It depends on the parents' situation, and whether they are able to make a safe home environment for th…

* not with ink

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