Thoughts on a Thursday

Guess what?  We're not sick!  For the second flu season that isn't over yet.  I've totally jinxed us and two of the three will have raging fevers by tonight.  Or not.  I think we owe the great immune system to unsanitary practices like wiping off the pacifiers on a shirt or something like that.  Time will tell!  Daughter #1 had a fever for about six hours.  I don't think that merits complaint.

I wonder how disappointed someone in the Philippines is.  They popped on the blog because they were doing a Google search for a "birthday message to a company chairman".  tee-hee.

Kids love alone-time with parents.  Lately, they've actually been squabbling over who gets to come with me on a walk after supper in the cold and dark.  Weird I know.  The other night the Chairman had to work late and they all wanted to go.  I couldn't choose as that wouldn't be fair.  So they all came and then I promised each to have their own fifteen minutes completely alone with me when we got home.  Daughter #1 wanted to talk about her day.  Her peers.  Who sat by who at lunch.  You know, the tween stuff.  Son #1 wanted to show me a few funny video clips he'd seen on-line.  Then he wanted a nice back scratch while he talked about the latest game (typical guy).  Daughter #2 wanted me to share in mind-numbing detail more about when she was a baby.  How she acted.  What she looked like.  How we felt.  They are unique and that's what makes it so fun.

If you haven't had your head in the sand, you'd know their is a political battle raging here in Badgerland.  The rhetoric is sharp.  The emotions are high.  And I'm not saying one word about which side is better.  Because I love my friends and acquaintances.  Some are on one side.  Some another.  And to have something political put a wedge in what is most important is just not worth it.

It's all in how you deliver the message I say.  The other night I told the Chairman I had something to confess.  He immediately got worked up and said with exasperation, "you got in an accident!".  Um.  No.  "You got a ticket????" (his voice sounding irritated).  Nope.  "What is it???"  I got a parking ticket for the first time in my life.  "How much?"  Ten dollars if I pay within five days.  Oh, that's a relief.  It's all in how you deliver the  message I say...

The parking ticket took place outside of the orthodontist office.  Son #1 was bleeding as we walked out to the ticketed van as Dr.  Toothstraighter pulled a loose tooth.  We get home.  He said to me, I think the next one is loose too.  I didn't believe him.  But it was.  So we went into the bathroom to use floss to yank it out.  The floss breaks.  Blood is gushing.  He's mad at me as he thinks I shouldn't have broke the floss.  He takes matters in his own hands.  He yanks with new floss.  The floss breaks.  Now he's not so mad because he's having blood to deal with.  Third times a charm.  And right when this is happening, daughter #2 is hysterical.  She has a comb all wrapped up on the front part of her hair and it is really, really stuck.  The phone rings.  The Chairman asks, 'how was your day?'.  I've got a daughter crying.  A son with blood everywhere.  Very nice dear, and you?

So we had a long drive last night to our g.m.  It was to be just the kids and I in the van.  I enjoy those rides.  It is dark.  And quiet.  And the conversations are interesting.  So I said absentmindedly before we left, "we'll have to talk about serious things in the van tonight on our way up to G.".  Daughter #2 says without skipping a beat, "You mean what we do when dad's in jail?"  What????

Yep.  Just another day in paradise.  And dreaming of daffodils...