It’s Just a Shovel

*the pictures really have nothing to do with this post, but Jack was so cute shoveling the other day, so I thought I’d throw them in.

The other day, the city school had a snow day.  That’s rare with such a big public school, so it was a treat for the kids in our neighborhood to have the day off. 

Have I mentioned I don’t like my neighborhood?  It’s a little ‘inner city’.  It’s a little too inner city for us.  We’d like to have lots of land away from the city.  Maybe this year will be the year we put our house on the market.  We’ve only said that every year for 4 years now.

Back to the snow day -

When we have snow covered driveways in our area, the neighborhood kids like to shovel everyone’s driveways for some cash.  I don’t mind them asking if they can shovel our driveway, but we don’t want to spend money on something we Rick can do just as easily for free, so we’ve always said, “no thanks.”

Well, this Friday, while the kids were roaming the streets in the middle of the day, trying to find something to do with their free time, they decided to do something illegal.  They stole my shovel!!

I was sitting on my couch, sitting with Jack after he’d just gotten up from a nap, when a tall kid in a brown coat and red hat came slowly up to my doorstep.  I don’t usually answer the door during the day, so I let him ring the bell before I got up.  But he didn’t ring the bell, he ran off with my shovel!

Before you chide me for leaving my shovel out on the front step, I have to say that it’s so common around here to leave out your shovel, that I think the odd-house-out  is the one without a shovel sitting out front.

The moment I saw The Boy in the Brown Coat and Red Hat sprint off my front step, I ran to the door, threw it open and yelled

BRING ME BACK MY SHOVEL!!!!!

He didn’t.

Since I was a middle school teacher, and I think I have ‘a way with the kids,’ I decided to go out and see if I could get my shovel back.  I threw some slippers on Jack’s feet, coats and hats on us, and boots on my feet and got us buckled up in the van. 

There is an adjacent neighborhood behind our house, so I drove out of our development and into the next one over.  I figured that if The Boy in the Brown Coat and Red Hat is dumb enough to steal a shovel off of someone’s front step, then he was dumb enough to be walking around with my shovel asking people if he could shovel their driveway for cash.  

I was right.  It took no time at all to find the three boys with shovels.  I parked my van and walked up to The Boy in the Brown Coat and Red Hat.  I asked him “did you just steal my shovel?” Evidently he can’t hear very well, so I had to repeat my question.

“You in the red hat, did you just steal my shovel?”

“Ummmm, yea.”

“I’d like it back, please.” (I gave my best teacher look and voice)

“Okay.” And he handed me the shovel.  Odd, but I was on a roll and couldn’t stop.

“You’re out here making money by shoveling, go buy yourself a shovel!”

That’ll teach ‘im! 

I drove home, proud of myself for getting my shovel back from the idiot Boy in the Brown Coat and Red Hat who thought stealing it was a good idea.  Then I looked at the shovel.

DOH!!!

It’s not my shovel.  It’s a rusty, old piece of junk that belongs to some other poor soul who had their shovel stolen.  The shovel I lost was a beautiful ergonomic shovel with a good sturdy handle.  This shovel was an old, rusty piece of junk.

After a half an hour of trying to locate The Boy in the Brown Coat and Red Hat and his lackeys again who had evidently gone into hiding – from strange women coming up and stealing their shovels – I called it quits.

I went home, put the shovel out on the front step, and went back in my home softly chanting “it’s just  a shovel, it’s just a shovel, it’s just a shovel.”

 

A Few Missed Moments

***This is my first time ever linking to any blog carnival. This is a learning process for me. To my friends and family who do not know what a blog carnival is, just check out the link and you'll see at the end of that post, a lot of links. Those are other bloggers who are sharing their stories in the same way.

Last week I did NOT turn around and say out loud, “How did you get over there?” to my 7 month old son who just learned how to army crawl. Nope, not me! I was NOT reading through my list of blogs while he was making his longest distance yet with this new army crawl. It seems I may need to schedule a different time to check up on my blogs, and I may need to start baby-proofing a little better.

I did NOT ask my husband, “Did he just cruise around that big toy by himself?” and miss yet another Growth Chart Moment. This time I was not on my computer, but I was texting a friend at the time. I see a trend, do you?

I did NOT almost cry when the internet went out after a lightning bolt struck our house (not really, but it was REALLY close!) and the technician on the phone said it’d be THREE DAYS before someone could come out. I don’t know how to survive without the internet anymore. My husband said “we’ll have to go back to how we used to do things.” I gently reminded him that we didn’t used to share photos and videos of our son online.

My son does NOT scream his head off when we leave him alone with anyone for any amount of time right now. My sister did NOT have to drive him to the park, sit with him, and drive him back to meet me after my dentist appointment all while Jack cried the ENTIRE time.

My husband did NOT take me to the Newport Aquarium in KY for our anniversary last week. We decided it was going to have to be a family anniversary day, since Jack is so little, and we can’t leave him with anyone for any amount of time right now. Jack did NOT cry all the way home. I guess he was sick of being in the car.

And finally, I really did not start a new school year with a new set of students in my newly set up classroom. And because that really didn’t happen, I felt a little sad. It’s been 27 years of gearing up for school to start in August. This year I am staying home with my son. I’m not sure anyone really understands this sadness. I hear a lot of “I wish it were me!” But for me, being a teacher, and being in a classroom with students was where I belonged. I had a place to fit in. I knew my place in the world. Now, as a stay-at-home-mom, I feel like I’m floating in the world without a place to belong. I no longer have a set of friends just down the hall. Though I’m looking forward to the joys of raising my son, I still feel a little sadness about leaving my now ‘past life’ behind.

Again, My son hates to sleep!!

Have I mentioned that my son hates to sleep? It doesn’t matter if he’s in my arms, Hubby’s lap, or his crib. He will SCREAM when he feels himself falling asleep. Here is another installment of “My son hates to sleep!”

Yesterday was a good day. He had two decent, but not great naps. By around 7:00pm he was exhausted and ready for bed. We did the usual routine, sans the books. After the diaper change, he was too worked up to settle down for bedtime books, so we went straight to the nursing. He fell asleep peacefully while nursing, and the transition to the crib was flawless. He was out for the count. On with my evening chores I went.

Within the first hour, he was up. He screamed until I came to ‘rescue’ him from his bedtime misery. I rocked him back to sleep in just a few minutes.

The second hour brought the same scenario. He screamed until I ‘rescued’ him again by rocking him to sleep. Two times I can handle.

The third hour brought the same scenario yet again. I wasn’t as patient in my ‘rescuing’, but it went the same way – rocked back to sleep. All three times it seemed all he wanted was to be in my arms. He didn’t seem to be in pain from teeth, or discomfort from gas. Each time he easily fell back to sleep when he was with me.

The FOURTH time in three hours, I finally decided I’d had enough. I was worried that I was going to be up every hour all through the night, and I definitely didn’t want that. On my way to his room, I closed our bedroom door (so Hubby might possibly get some sleep) and then the nursery door behind me. I knew it was going to be a loud evening.

The next two hours were touch and go. Of course it started out with tears. He screamed because I wasn’t picking him up this time. I patted him, and kept a hand on him, which he eventually pushed away. Have I mentioned that he’s like a horse when he’s annoyed about being in his crib? Yes, he kicks the bed like a horse stomping the ground. After a half hour of crying, he finally took a pacifier. I’m pretty sure he fell completely asleep in 5 minutes, but he felt it, didn’t like it, and woke up with a vengeance.

I let him sit up for a while, since he’d been crying for more than 30 minutes, and I figured he had some gas bubbles in his little belly. While he was sitting up, he first tried to fall asleep – his head slumped over his chest, leaning on the side of the crib. Next he screamed, because he realized he wasn’t getting picked up out of his crib. And then he decided to smile and play. He found out that he could reach the crib rail, look over the edge of the crib, and chew on the rail. He was actually very cute.

*this picture is blury because there was barely any light, and I didn't want to use the flash. The shutter had to stay open for a while to let all the light in, so any movement made it blury.

I sang “Jesus Loves Me” about 200 times, all while he was crying. I sat in the chair where he couldn’t see me for a while, thinking that may work.

In the end, I think he just gave up finally. I was patting or rubbing his belly, he rolled over onto his side (always a good sign) and fell asleep. I crept quietly down the hall to my bedroom, where I turned the monitor on. I was assuming he would wake up in a few seconds and we’d have to start the whole process over again. Finally, my body relaxed, my eyelids drooped (more than they already were), and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was asleep. Hubby was asleep. I was asleep. All was right with the world!

Three hours later, he woke up crying. I nursed him right back to sleep. One fight a night is enough for me!

6 month check-up

Jack’s 6 month check-up was today. He hated it. I assumed he would cry for the shots, but he did much worse than I expected. He cried when the Dr. put the stethoscope up to him. He screamed when she looked in his eyes with a bright light. He bawled when she tried to look in his ears and mouth. He really hated that Dr. today!

But, in the end, he was fine, and asleep about a mile into the trip home. He’s a champ.

Here are the numbers to report on Boozle (yes, that’s his nickname…weird, huh?)
26 ¾” long, 17lbs 6.5 oz, head circumference 17 ½” All around the 50th percentile. He’s doing great.

My Ears are Ringing

Jack has realized a new talent. Screaming.

We went to a Pampered Chef party and visited a friend and her new baby today. During both outings, he 'talked' the whole time. He is exercising his voice, and boy is it fit! I was having trouble hearing conversations going on right beside me.

Tonight when we were nursing, he was VERY vocal. He didn't actualy nurse a lot. He 'talked' to me. The thing is, he can be heard down the hall, plain as day. Which means he's LOUD. My ears were ringing after I put him down to sleep.

Know what this means? Tomorrow morning will be his first day in the nursery in church. He can 'talk' all he want's in there!