Ah, the joys of children

1.  The boy went up to his sister’s door the other day, knocked on it, and in a deep Big Bad Wolf voice said, “It’s me.  Mom.”  The girl was not fooled.  It does make me wonder why he thinks I sound like the Big Bad Wolf…

2.  Last night, the boy crawled in bed with us.  This morning, I am awakened by a smack in the face.  “Ouch!”  I said.

“Sowwy Mom, I thought you were L.”  Rolled over and went back to sleep.  The boy is dreaming about smacking his sister?  Awesome.

Edited to add:

3.  I just walked out into the living room and the girl is reading the phone book.

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Those three little words.

“You’re no fun.”

A couple of weeks ago, my oldest child said this to me, followed closely by, “You never do anything anymore.”,  not realizing at all how that cuts.   Some of you are probably thinking, “Big deal, Nicole.  Kids say stuff like this all the time ”

But it is.  The last three summers I haven’t been any fun.  Surgery/Chemo.  Surgery/infection.  Surgery.  And in this case she wasn’t referring to some parental comment like “Our sofa is not a jungle gym, please sit down.” (Which she has heard on occasion.)  She was sad because she couldn’t go somewhere due to my inability to drive post surgery.

When I was first diagnosed, I worried about how she would cope with all the weirdness of having a mom with cancer.  At first, I thought she’d be afraid.  But she wasn’t.  I thought she might be clingy.  But again, she was her usual gregarious self.  She would talk to anybody and everybody about my cancer.  (I’m sure she gets that from me.)  There is no playground conversation stopper quite like, “Hi there!  Did you know my mom has one boob?”  (And no, I’m not  exaggerating.  She actually said that.)

So then I worry that my children have become intolerant of my medical issues.  The boy still cuts me some slack, but man, the girl is giving me a hard time.   “Do I have to do all your jobs for you?”  Let me tell you how well that one went over.  😛  Thankfully, my mama friends say that their 7 year olds are the same way, which makes me feel better.  I’m hoping to chalk it up to my horse blinder theory in which kids (and some adults, heh) can really only see the world as it relates to themselves with little regard to the bigger picture.  One of our job as parents and educators is to help our children learn the empathy skills that enable them to see the world outside of themselves.

I don’t want you to get the idea that the girl is nasty all the time.  She’s not and is generally very helpful.  I think it’s just those well-timed zings that she doesn’t truly understand that prey upon my fears as a parent. 

Am I no fun?  Has cancer made me a bad mama?

Of course not.

But I think it’s time for empathy training boot camp.  🙂

Yum.

As all my friends on FB are quite aware (since I post about it daily), I purchased an ice cream maker.  I have always wanted one and when it was 1/2 off in the summer clearance, I had to get it.  I think I may have made a batch of ice cream almost every day since it’s purchase (so much for the theory that buying the little one would help with not eating so much ice cream…).

I’ve made vanilla, and mint chocolate chip (without the green food coloring which greatly distressed the older child.), and strawberry.

Tuesday, I was adventurous and made this one.

And today…

Honey Lavendar Ice Cream.

O little ice cream maker, how I love thee...

Next up?  Sorbet, I think.  Grapefruit?  We’ll see.

Makin’ Mittens

And when I typed that, I sang it in my head to the tune of Makin’ Whoopee.  Because that’s how I roll.

So yeah, I’ve been knittin’ mittens.  And now I’m out of people to knit mittens for so I’m back to socks.  Too hot for anything else.  And, as I’ve mentioned before, I lost my Charmed Knits book.  I wish I knew where I left it.  So my mittens have all been the 36 stitch EZ pattern, except mine which I increased to 48 stitches.  One change I made from the fist pair was how I decreased.  On the girl’s mittens, I did symmetrical decreases on either side which created a left and a right.  On mine and the boy’s (he picked his colors, by the way), I did a k2tog every 8 stitches, alternating a row even so that the mittens could go either way.  I did not make a cord to attach my mittens, though I probably should.  Heh.

And look what I caught a picture of while I was photographing the mittens!  Total luck.  🙂

I’m out of clever drain puns.

So I still have a drain.  Bleah.  I wonder how many posts I’ve written about the tribulations of having a drain.  Don’t answer that.

Anyway, I called PS today to remind ask them about my drain and if they wanted to see me.  The general rule is that it has to be collecting less than 30 ml of fluid and I’m at about 35.  So I’m stuck with it for the weekend.  Then I checked the incision site and there is a hole above my incision where a “dissolve-able” thread has decided to escape.  It looks like about an inch of fishing line sticking straight out of my chest.  I suppose I wouldn’t be me if everything went smoothly.  There’s some peeling too which is making me nervous.  (A little  PTSD from last years summer of infections.)  It’s not red though or swelling so I’m doing my best to be optimistic.

So once again, I’m trying to get back to normal life wearing a drain.  And really tattered tee shirts.  I bought a bag of cheap men’s undershirts when I was in radiation.  Little did I know I’d still be wearing them.  The drain pins create holes in your shirts, so not wanting to ruin my “nice” tees (heh) I’m still wearing the holey tee shirts.  I’ve gotten better at dressing them up when I leave the house, but I don’t think I’ll be starting any fashion trends any time soon.

Knitting ADD

Man.  Do I have it bad.  I should be working on super talented BIL’s Weasley Sweater, but I lost the book.   Can’t find it anywhere.  😦  I have no idea where I left it.  So if you’re local and I left the Charmed Knits book at your house, could you let me know?  🙂

Anyway.  So as well as the little hat from the last post, I have also finished a scarf and mittens for the girl.  I know, nothing says 90 degree weather like working on winter accessories.  My husband thought this was funny that I’m working on winter stuff for the kids.  I tried to explain that summer is for knitting little things (big things are hot on your lap), but really I think it’s just another way for me to hide my Knitting ADD.  I’m working on a hat to match the mittens for the girl, but I keep finding myself wandering over to Ravelry looking for other short committment patterns.

What I’d really love to have are some cute sweater vesty things that are all the rage right now.  I can’t make myself buy them because I know I can knit them.  Which means they’ll be way out of style by the time I get them done.  Heh.

Anyway.  Here’s the girl with her new mittens and scarf.  And yes.   I did knit i-cord to attach the mittens together and thread through her jacket.  Very vintage of me, I know.  But sometimes the old way is a good way.

I used Elizabeth Zimmerman’s 36 stitch mitten pattern from Knitting Without Tears and a stitch I don’t know the name of for the scarf.  (You knit on one side and K1, P1 on the other.)  It creates a fluffy texture to the scarf that looks nice on both sides.  The yarn is Encore Worsted that I may or may not have purchased in Canon City.