Life Resolutions

There are things I have discovered in the past few days that the more I think about, the bigger and more important they get. So to share, without being too maudlin, here goes:

1) I absolutely MUST come to terms with my self-image.

Primarily my body, my large rear end that is supposedly normal for the women in my family and my post-babies body that will never again be like it was when I was 19 and could rollerblade 6-12 miles without being sore the next day (remember those days???).

Important reason why: I have a daughter. I absolutely bristle every time someone says "what a fat baby!" Or "wow, she's a chunk!" So she's 6 months old and wears 12 month old clothes. She's big for her age and has the cutest baby rolls ever and I love every single one of them enough to write poems about them. And I never, ever want her to look in the mirror and see ugly or fat. So I need to lay off myself because I am the one who will shape a lot of how she will perceive herself. If I complain about the pooch on my belly, she will look at hers, etc. And I will not do it to her. So there. I love myself, every roll and stretchmark because without them, I would not have my babies. Now I just have to practice biting my tongue every time I don't fit into those old jeans.....

2) I must NOT sweat the small stuff.

Potty training will not happen overnight. Accidents happen. Spills happen even with spill-proof cups. There will be times when I don't like being a housemommy. Those times will pass. Soon, the potty training nightmare will be a thing of the past and I will miss my sweet little boy who is so proud of himself every time he gets a sticker on his potty sheet. I will remember with a grin the time Daddy had to clean up about half a gallon of milk and Lucky Charms because someone's little elbow caught the edge of the bowl. I will remember the horrible time that Erin is having cutting her first tooth and give her tremors about her future babies. I will remember the incredible gift of being able to stay at home with my munchkins and not have to rely on someone else to do it (or pay the big bucks for them to). I miss the guilt that inevitably comes with it (and the extra $$, but you can't miss what you never had, right?).

3) I will take care of and love and treasure grandparents and great-grandparents.

We had the opportunity this past weekend to go and see Chris's grandfather in the nursing home in Vinita, OK. He has had a condition similar to the symptoms of dementia or early Alzheimers for several years due to an accident and has large memory gaps and trouble remembering recent events. He is mostly harmless and got to go out with us to McDonald's and visit. It was a great time, because this is the first time we have been up there since we moved and indeed have not been able to get his address from any of our family members. We were reluctantly given the directions to his nursing home when we told other family members (who live 15 miles away) that we were going to visit and basically demanded the directions. Regardless of grampa Bill's problems, we learned some neat things from him. Mainly that he played baseball when he was a boy (right or left field), was in the National Guard and enjoyed blowing things up (this is a family trait) and once fried up a bunch of meat for some guests that ate up his yummy fried "chicken" before he told them it was raccoon (definitely a family trait). He has a raging sweet tooth (just like Chris and Ian), is skinny as a rail and is completely bald on top. Chris says that he'll probably look exactly like that when he is old. And I say, not bad! It could be a whole lot worse!


We got some pictures and his address, to send him some treats and pictures of the family and so on. And a whole case of puzzlement as to why Grampa is such a family secret. It's not like he has a bundle of money to leave to people when he dies. All we know is that family is important, especially our grandparents and we want our kids to know it too. Which is one reason why we are moving back to Florida (soon! we hope!).
(As you can see, Ian was a little hyper and desperately needed the outlet of the McDonald's playplace.)