Harry Potter and my blessed child

After I wrote this blog, I wondered if it was newsworthy and sent the text to our local newspaper. A reporter loved it and called to interview Kait about her magical night. Unfortunately our hero was never found. Here is the article:
Random Act of Kindness News Story

I'm not sure if I even have a point to half of my parenting choices but sometimes the kids have interesting outcomes.

Kait begged me to pre-order her a "Harry Potter And the Cursed Child" book at various bookstores over the last few weeks but I steadfastly refused. I had two retrospectively foolish reasons. One, pre-ordering steals the excitement and anxiety of whether you will get one. Two, books don't sell out. This is the digital age, half of us have kindles and most buy books second hand or go to the library. Case in point, Kait has an entire set of hardback Potter books I bought at a thrift store for $1 each.
Kait became hooked on the idea of going to a midnight release party and researched all of the local bookstores for the very best, very most exciting party. After hearing B&N anticipated hundreds of people, she settled on 2nd & Charles.
Let me pause to say that nobody in my family has ever participated in a midnight release of anything. So we picked up her bestie with Kait in full regalia. Her enthusiasm was boundless. When we walked in I knew we were golden. Maybe 50 people milled around playing trivia and drinking butter beer. I figured they had hundreds of extra books. Kait won their costume contest handily with her saucy complex replies to every question she was asked about Potter and won a poster.

Finally, 12:00 neared and we stood in line doing the countdown to midnight like a bunch of loons. As we approached the counter I saw about half of the people being turned away. Dread. It turned out they were only giving people pre-ordered books. I got annoyed and asked the woman why nobody had told me that in the last three hours. She looked guiltily around and said "we only found out 2 minutes ago." We walked out and little Kait held back tears. I called B&N and they told me I had about 20 minutes. I decided to make a night of it, then I made a wrong turn. Ugh! Exactly 20 minutes later, by hook or crook we arrived at Barnes & Noble. The doors were locked. Our shoulders drooped. I felt so guilty for refusing to pre-order. A group of young millenials were standing around laughing and holding their bags with their Potter books and one girl yelled out for us to bang on the doors. We tried to no avail, so then she suggested we move closer to the registers and bang there, so we did. Finally, a manager unlocked the door shaking his head no. I begged him pretty please to sell her a book with my most soulful puppy dog look and the chatty girl in the background threw out reasons for hem to say yes. He weakened and said he would check the cafe and see if they still had a till open. He came back sorrowfully shaking his head and I admitted defeat, promising to bring Kait back the next day. She somberly headed for the truck and that same noisy girl yelled out a suggestion to try Boulder Bookstore. I had a feeling it was too late so I said "I think I'm giving up." I reached out to pull my door shut and a young man in business slacks and a white shirt was handing me the book. "Here you go ma'am have a great night." I stuttered which rarely happens and said "can I pay you?" His eyes wavered and then he looked in my back seat and said "no." Kait hadn't even processed it. I waved the book in her face and said "go hug that man! Go hug him right now!" As tears ran down my cheeks, Kait ran to the guy and hugged him. The group of young people erupted in oohs and ahs. She ran back to me and grabbed the poster and bounded out of the truck like a spring and ran back to him. This moment brought the house down with cheers and clapping. I can't really say how cool it was for him to see more value in making a little girls night and acting on it than hanging out with friends and taking home his new book. Thanks guy in the gray pants and white shirt. You were a very unexpected and exciting part of Kaits life.
Here she is the next morning all snuggled up with her book.

Harry Potter and my blessed child

After I wrote this blog, I wondered if it was newsworthy and sent the text to our local newspaper. A reporter loved it and called to interview Kait about her magical night. Unfortunately our hero was never found. Here is the article:
Random Act of Kindness News Story

I'm not sure if I even have a point to half of my parenting choices but sometimes the kids have interesting outcomes.

Kait begged me to pre-order her a "Harry Potter And the Cursed Child" book at various bookstores over the last few weeks but I steadfastly refused. I had two retrospectively foolish reasons. One, pre-ordering steals the excitement and anxiety of whether you will get one. Two, books don't sell out. This is the digital age, half of us have kindles and most buy books second hand or go to the library. Case in point, Kait has an entire set of hardback Potter books I bought at a thrift store for $1 each.
Kait became hooked on the idea of going to a midnight release party and researched all of the local bookstores for the very best, very most exciting party. After hearing B&N anticipated hundreds of people, she settled on 2nd & Charles.
Let me pause to say that nobody in my family has ever participated in a midnight release of anything. So we picked up her bestie with Kait in full regalia. Her enthusiasm was boundless. When we walked in I knew we were golden. Maybe 50 people milled around playing trivia and drinking butter beer. I figured they had hundreds of extra books. Kait won their costume contest handily with her saucy complex replies to every question she was asked about Potter and won a poster. Finally, 12:00 neared and we stood in line doing the countdown to midnight like a bunch of loons. As we approached the counter I saw about half of the people being turned away. Dread. It turned out they were only giving people pre-ordered books. I got annoyed and asked the woman why nobody had told me that in the last three hours. She looked guiltily around and said "we only found out 2 minutes ago." We walked out and little Kait held back tears. I called Barnes & Noble and they told me I had about 20 minutes. I decided to make a Run for it, then I made a wrong turn. Ugh! Exactly 20 minutes later, by hook or crook we arrived at Barnes & Noble. The doors were locked. Our shoulders drooped. I felt so guilty for refusing to pre-order.
A group of young millenials were standing around laughing and holding their bags with their Potter books and one girl yelled out for us to bang on the doors. We tried to no avail, so then she suggested we move closer to the registers and bang there, so we did. Finally, a manager unlocked the door shaking his head no. I begged him pretty please to sell her a book with my most soulful puppy dog look and the chatty girl in the background threw out reasons for hem to say yes. He weakened and said he would check the cafe and see if they still had a till open. He came back sorrowfully shaking his head and I admitted defeat, promising to bring Kait back the next day. She somberly headed for the truck and that same noisy girl yelled out a suggestion to try Boulder Bookstore. I had a feeling it was too late so I said "I think I'm giving up."
I reached out to pull my door shut and a young man in business slacks and a white shirt was handing me the book. "Here you go ma'am have a great night." I stuttered which rarely happens and said "can I pay you?" He looked in my back seat and said "no." Kait who was drowning in sorrow hadn't even paid attention to our conversation. I waved the book in her face and said "go hug that man! Go hug him right now!" As tears ran down my cheeks, Kait ran to the guy and hugged him. The group of young people erupted in oohs and ahs. She ran back to me and grabbed the poster and bounded out of the truck like a spring and ran back to him. This moment brought the house down with cheers and clapping. I can't really say how cool it was for him to see more value in making a little girls night and acting on it than hanging out with friends and taking home his new book. Thanks guy in the gray pants and white shirt. You were a very unexpected and exciting part of Kaits life. 

Time to get the kids back on track!

Hey everyone! There's about a month until school starts and Adapted Mind gave my kids a free month of math. We love it because they took a grade equivalency test before starting and it tailors their work to skills they need work on. I'm very happy knowing my kids are working on their math this summer in an effective and targeted manner. Check it out! 

http://www.adaptedmind.com/link.php

God-Sib

I'm not huge on reading about birth these days but an article caught my eye and all of the old familiar lingo was comfortable and easy to read and I slipped into it like a comfy sweater. Then I came across this delicious morsel and I smiled. It was a cat who got the cream smile because I lived this and it's one of my favorite memories. I'm not as close to everyone who was there for me anymore but life happens and they have moved on which I don't resent or fight. I choose to celebrate what was and accept what is. In that moment of that season my "God Sibs" surrounded me and it was beautiful. I captured the paragraph and sent it to the one who I'm still close to and I felt her smile as she read it.

"In English, at least, we know that gossip, used as a noun, was first applied to the women who attended their neighbors’ childbirths. Although the word took on negative connotations, it originally comes from god-sib, that is, god-sibling: the woman who you’d name as your closest friend, and the godmother of your child. In early America, once a woman’s postpartum recovery period was over, she’d host a party for the god-sibs who had helped her during labor. They spoke of gathering around the “groaning table,” in reference to a table creaking under the weight of the food piled atop it and to the groaning of a woman in labor."

My God-Sibs cheered my baby right out taking pictures and laughing like heaven. Then, days later the ones who couldn't make it to the birth in time gathered around me and celebrated and drank champagne and ate coffee cake and passed my little munch around squeezing and crooning and swaying like a bunch of clucking hens at our brunch. Just saying "We did that old school!" made me incredibly happy. 

I'm probably the most nostalgic human alive. 

Source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2016/july/lets-be-honest-labor-is-kind-of-trauma.html

Bee, Wasp, Yellow Jacket sting remedy

Hi All, I just want to post this really quick because the yellow jackets are off the hook lately. My mom figured out how to stop the whole effect of a bee sting. This is for normal people, not people allergic to stings. 

About two weeks ago my sister and my friend got stung multiple times and their misery was on and on for days. They both kept sending me disgusting pictures of their disfigured hand and leg. I was like you guys! This is gross but I guess if it helps you somehow I will look at these awful pictures. I tried comfrey and some old dry plantain growing at the park on my friend but she said it was just soothing, didn't actually help. My sister said the same and went to my moms house. They sat around discussing what she "should have done". Mom said she wondered if hydrogen peroxide would work since she had successfully treated brown recluse bites with it. 

Well, as fate would have it, the next day Mom got a good double sting on the inside of her arm. So she tried it! 

I was so thrilled to hear this that I started texting all of my friends. And then dun dun dun dun!!! Hazel got stung. I rushed my shrieking sobbing child inside and plunged her hand into a brimming cup of peroxide. She stopped crying and asked for a Popsicle. I was amazed. We sat there for a long time soaking her hand just in case. Finally I lifted her hand out and the only mark was a tiny white dot. 

I was ecstatic! Then I doubted myself. I had just seen on the news that 90% of stings in Colorado are yellow jackets but still... Was that really a yellow jacket? Fortunately Hazel's protective father had killed the little bugger so I went out in the yard and hunted the carcas down. I compared it to Internet images of yellow jackets and concluded it was indisputably a yellow jacket. 

And now you know. We need little bottles of hydrogen peroxide in our purses, our cars and definitely in our camping supply containers. I just read on some other blog it stops poison ivy.