A step in the right direction

This morning's meltdown was brought to my home by a combination of high tech and fantasy.

Amanda was determined to take her "phone" to school this morning. Her latest phone is my old Blackberry, less battery and sim card. We explained to her that she wasn't allowed to take a cellphone to school. her answer was, "I... Don't...Care...Take...I...Anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This was the first time I ever heard her use the word, "anyway." I don't think I like it.

We continued to explain to her that she just couldn't do it. These meltdowns have lasted for hours, but today she pulled it back together in about 10 minutes. She said, "OK, I understand."

Now, I don't know if she held it together all day, or if the whole class was punished by a redheaded Tasmanian Devil. I was pressed by time to get to a meeting at work and then to get to a luncheon with a customer to hear the President of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank speak.

The current economic crisis is much easier to comprehend than the combination of my daughter's imagination and spontaneous desires.

I just hope the day went well for her and all involved.

Some hours later............

Well, it would appear that Amanda conquered her inner hulk and had a good day. I told her I was proud of her and she said, "Good choices." It gives me hope.

No comfort from the food of choice

Anyone who knew me in my teenage years would know that I was truly addicted to Chef Boyardee Ravioli. That stuff was like crack to me. I would eat a can every other day or even 5 days out of 7.

It was so bad, that when I got married the groomsmen gave Tina a case of the stuff so she wouldn't have to cook for the first couple weeks of our marriage.

When I started traveling a lot for work, I would eat a can on the weekend while Tina was at work. It was indeed my comfort food.

But, when Amanda was born in March of 1998 she was kept in the hospital for 6 weeks. We spent as many hours as possible at the hospital, but we eventually had to go home. It was about the 4th week when I was at home in the mid afternoon after being relieved by Tina. I came home, to any empty house, a closed nursery door, and a heart that was breaking. I popped a can, heated it up on the stove, put it in a bowl. Something I had done thousand times before, too many times really. The first bite didn't help nor the second. I scraped the rest in the sink and washed it away and haven't had any Chef Boyardee product since. Early April will be twelve years.

Even just a slice is nice

Amanda has been having to keep track of the weather for a school project. She does this at school during the week and then I help her over the weekend. She isn't really interested in dew points, barometric pressure, El Nino, or other such variances. What Amanda really wants to know is today a purple coat day or a pink coat day?

Her purple coat is a down coat and keeps her very warm. Her pink coat is a lighter material and is designed for days in the 50's. When you are 11, that is what matters. But for school we get a little more accurate.

This morning I was dropping her off at school and she checked her backpack. I heard, "Uh oh! No homework." I told her we would bring it up to school when Tina picked her up this afternoon and then I drove on to the gym.

After my workout I arrived home and Tina told me something I have never heard before, "Amanda called." Amanda never talks on the phone, but this is something that she has been working on with her teachers.

I asked what about. Tina does a perfect Amanda impersonation, "Hey Mama! Forgot homework." The school is less than half a mile from our house and Tina drove up the sheet with our observations on it. She said Amanda was beaming proud and so was Tina. It was a slice of normal that we seldom get to see. It was nice.

Some things concern me

So last night I'm getting ready for bed and I look at myself in the mirror and I get concerned with what I see. I immediately go to Tina and ask what I think is a very important and serious question, "Do you think my head is still growing?"

At first I thought I had killed her. She sucked in so much air to laugh at me that she started to choke. When she gained control, she replied in a concerned toned, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I said, "It just looks like my head is bigger than it was a couple of weeks ago."

She gave me the following reply. "You have a big head, but I don't think it is bigger than it was, but that is ok because you have a thick neck and your shoulders and arms are big too. If you had arms like your brother with your head you would look like a freak."

Then I said, "Well, it's just that I remember seeing Hamlet, and the scene where Hamlet holds Yorick's skull in his hand would be played out like this should they use mine.
Hamlet drags a skull on stage in a wagon, "Alas, poor John, I knew him well. And he had a really big head, kind of like Shrek."

This got me another, "what the hell is wrong with you?" and that was the end of that and we watched LOST.

Just to be safe, I went and got a haircut this morning.

She saw enough

Sunday afternoon I was on the couch watching the Winter Olympics. It is only once every four years that I get to watch the Nordic Combined event and I wanted to enjoy it. For those of you who don't know what Nordic Combined is, it is a duel event. In the morning is ski jumping and in the afternoon is cross country skiing. I don't begin to understand the elements of ski jumping judging. There is so much more to it than just how far someone can fly and land in one piece.

Amanda sat beside me and asked what I was doing. I told her that the Olympics were on and they were fun to watch. She stared at the TV in horror and after seeing a German fly through the air, she quickly turned off the TV. I took the remote and turned it back on. She turned it off. I turned it back on and told her to stop it. I swear I am not taking a blogger's license with what she said next, "Can't do that special Olympics. I get killed."

Oh my lord, I had to reassure that won't be an event this this year. And, even if it were we wouldn't let her do it.

Mr. Mom

It's Sunday, and at our house that means pancakes. I work the griddle and flip the pancakes, Amanda pours the mix, the milk, and the oil and then mixes them with prejudice and violence. I also crack the eggs because Amanda is pretty heavy handed and that would make our pancakes a little too crunchy for our liking.

Amanda helps with most tasks around the house, in her own way of course. I do a lot of the ironing for the three of us. I play music on the Ipod and Amanda hands me hangers. Yesterday she discovered Beethoven, but normally I play smooth jazz on Slacker Radio. It doesn't take much to do ironing, especially with the new Shark iron we bought a few weeks ago. So it is a good time to visit as well as get things done. Yesterday I pressed 6 pair of paints and 7 shirts, this morning it was just 3 shirts. That should hold us for the week.

Amanda has also been know to help with the dishes. It is a little unsettling when she does this because we have to make sure all of the knives are put away before she dives into the project.

Yesterday I was cleaning the gutters, and as you can see, weekends are pretty busy around here, and Amanda brought me a big glass of gatorade. How she managed to bend a straw 7 different ways I will never know, but it was a very nice gesture.

Tina and Amanda re off buying baby clothes for Amanda's twins. She is in the mood to be a little mommy these days because of all the new babies that keep showing up, so she and Tina brought Bart and Lisa out of the closet. Yes, I had a major roll in naming the baby dolls.

I have to stop this blog now. The Colts and Jets are playing, and despite the fact that I am a Mr. Mom on the weekend, I do love football.

My wife

I seldom write about my wife on my blog for the simple reason, to describe her is beyond my abilities. But let me tell you just a little something about how fortunate I am.

A friend of ours had twin girls just over two months ago. Throughout the summer and fall of our friend's pregnancy Tina was there for her. She drove her to Little Rock and Shreveport to see specialists. She cleaned her home and helped her organize and prepare for the babies. She worked as much on this family as our own.

Now the babies are here and they are quite cute as most babies are. One is smaller than the other. A is bigger than G, and while most everyone is drawn to the loud round faced A, Tina is smitten with this little baby G.

G was twice the weight that Amanda was at birth and not any longer, but even still she scared a lot of people because she was just so small. Tina wasn't scared in the least. She held this tiny child as naturally as pediatric nurse. When Tina said that the baby was having stomach trouble, people took notice, when Tina said don't worry, people relaxed.

This morning Tina was out the door with our friend to help her get the babies their shots. Tina does this with a smile on her face and love in her heart. She is kindness.