Alison Hodgson

Expert on the etiquette of perilous times.

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Sorry about that dreary little post below.  We’re still recovering from this last trip and January in Michigan.  There ought to be medals or tax breaks, something.

The day is going better.  School is done.  Paul came home for lunch and I have been working in Eden’s room which is a little hell hole. I have been trying to deal with it for weeks as it is a constant drain of energy and self esteem.  It’s almost completed.  I encouraged the messy little lassie to help me, giving her small tasks to complete.
She lolled on the bed and whined, “I can’t.  I’m too tired.  I’m just a little girl, Mom!”
Once she understood that the alternative to helping was to take a nap, she began to work. Everything in me wants to abandon ship but I am committed to getting everything cleared out. We have sorted through her big basket of books and she has a large pile for Goodwill and a smaller pile for her baby cousin.  I showed her a Mercer Mayer book called, “My Family” and she said,
“Oh I want to keep that one.  It’s…” she thought for a moment, “presuss to me.”

https://alisonhodgson.com/2008/02/544/

The Usual Suspects

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#1 Babysitter  
  

The extremely proud (and gorgeous) sister

Her Loving Protector

#2 Babysitter (self proclaimed) who can’t understand why she isn’t #1

Um, this would be why.  “What the heckity?” P2 asks.  What the heckity indeed.

P2

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My sister’s baby is due tomorrow and I will be surprised if Torey goes much past that. She’s ready. We’ll see if the baby is too.

When she and her family lived with us we got in the habit of referring to the kids obliquely as “H1, H2, H3 and P1” It worked for some time since Christopher (H1) is hearing impaired and Eden (H3) and Ren (P1) were oblivious, but it was only a matter of time before Lydia (H2) cracked the code. We weren’t really trying to keep it a secret; mainly we used it to draw attention to something hilarious that one or both of the Legumes was doing without attracting their attention.

P2 was referred to before she was even conceived. We’ll never get away with calling her that as an aside, because the girl has been having that yelled at her by the Legumes since she had ears to hear. Soon she will be here and have her own name, but I know the nickname will, if not stick, surface from time to time, and I wonder what memories it will stir for her.

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For whatever reason, Eden has always had a bit of trouble with her pants; they won’t stay up. Because of this we are always seeing glimpses of her little bum, specifically her crack. I think it was Torey who coined the phrase, “coin slot” to describe Eden’s plumber bum and soon it became everyone’s habit to yell that when catching a glimpse or when grabbing the child to pull up her pants. Fortunately I found several pairs of jeans that fit and, for the most part, her days of bum flashing are over.

I wish I could say the same for the rest of the family.

This morning Paul and I walked Jack. It wasn’t as terrible as the other day, but it was still treacherous. We needed to walk very slowly and still we lost our footing, the other catching the one about to go down. Since it was Saturday the road was very quiet. And, though it was a pain to be so cautious, it still felt great to be outside. It is pleasant to start our day together, walking in the woods, beside our handsome and cheerful dog. It’s beautiful.

There is a point along the trail that is unfiinished where a boardwalk is being constructed. It’s quite a long stretch where we have to walk quite close to the road right before a curve. Too often cars comes barrelling around the bend and we have to rush into the rough trail or run ahead to where it is completed. It was a frustration and annoyance when we were walking through mud, but now that it’s covered with ice it’s a danger. To make matters worse, on the return we are walking with traffic, so we try to move as quickly as possible, while straining to hear cars coming behind us. Walking side by side, at that point, is impossible.

All along this morning Paul kept getting ahead of me. We tried to walk together wherever we could, but I kept falling back. I’m still hurting from my fall the other day and I’m sure I’m moving more slowly. When we reached the part of the trail that is unfinished Paul was probably twenty feet ahead of me. Trying to walk as fast as I felt safe, I was busy watching my step and listening for anything behind when an SUV approached. And Paul fell.

As the SUV sped past I gasped and he landed sitting, his sweatpants tugged down, exposing his bum.

“Are you OK?” I shouted.

“I’m fine.” He said, getting up quickly and beginning to walk.

He was still a good ways ahead of me and moving fast. He didn’t even bother to brush the snow off his pants.

“You feeling kinda silly falling down and flashing your crack at half the village?” I said.

“Did I?”

“Oh yeah. And that was no coin slot, my friend. I could have run a credit card down that line!”

And then we both burst out laughing. Another car passed and I don’t know what we must have looked like; a man walking his dog, with a woman in a giant parka walking a respectful ten paces behind, both of us almost crying we were laughing so hard. I love that.

I love him.

https://alisonhodgson.com/2007/12/590/