Sorry for the lack of updates. My computer was monopolized all day by a 2 year old who feels that he should get to watch "Cars" all day long, but only the same 2 parts, the race and the beginning and the race at the end. Turning on NASCAR recaps on ESPN just wasn't an acceptable alternative so I had to go with it.
Today was another rough day, but better than yesterday. He has a lot more energy but is still having a hard time. The doc came by this morning and watched W and he thinks that in addition to his throat being sore and burning, his throat muscles are spasming when he's swallowing which is causing him to gag and choke, which makes him not want to eat or drink.
He didn't eat or drink all day until he finally agreed to let me order him a chocolate milk shake late this afternoon. The kid has no idea what a milk shake is but he insisted that he wanted one so we ordered it. He was able to take about 4 small sips before he was done. He did try to drink some soy milk and juice and water but he said that everything was too spicy so we backed off. Tonight I ordered him dinner and he wanted chicken soup and another "chocolate shakey milk" so he got it. Yum. I also got him a yogurt to see if that would entice him to eat. Of course when the food got here he didn't want anything to do with it, until he saw me eating off a plate and decided he wanted his chicken soup on a plate. For real, God must be testing me and the lengths I will go to to get this child to eat. Soup on a plate?? But we did it, and he ate about 3 tiny bites, with a noodle on each one, before he was done. Then he moved on to the yogurt and managed to get 4 licks of the spoon in before he started to gag and choke and spit it all up.
After a visit from his Opa and Oma, he decided that he didn't want to go to sleep and was suddenly hungry. That was another test, I'm sure. Did he need sleep more than he needed food? At that point, it was about even. He didn't have a nap all day and was just about to go out of his mind, as was I. So I offered him what we had and he didn't want any of it. Then I decided that rocking him to sleep would be the best bet because he just needed that closeness and comfort but this hospital doesn't have a rocking chair on this floor. So we walked the halls instead, until my arms practically fell off. When we got back in the room, he insisted on eating more chicken soup on a plate and some yogurt. But after I went through the process of tracking down another plate and making the soup a bit warm, he declared he didn't want it anymore. Instead, he wanted his chocolate shakey milk and some yogurt. And to watch the fast race in Lightning McQueen.
I must be worn down and beaten up because I actually allowed him to drink his shakey milk in his bed while watching a movie on my brand new computer that I got 4 days ago. Big fat mistake because no less than 3 minutes later, my keyboard was covered in chocolate shakey milk, and so was his leg. Never mind his leg, I had a computer to save. Thankfully, I was able to clean the mess up and so far, I don't notice any damage to the laptop. But his socks weren't so lucky. Oh well.
He finally fell asleep a few minutes ago but I can tell his throat is really bothering him again and I expect him to wake up in a few minutes once the meds wear off. He's about due for another dose and I'm hoping that will allow him to rest tonight so he has the energy to eat tomorrow.
He's still refusing all beverages and that's mostly where the problem is. That and the fact that he's gagging and choking so much after eating just a few small bites. We should be able to go home tomorrow. We better be able to go home tomorrow. It's been a long 3 days and I would really like to go home. My hair looks like one big dreadlock and I'm in serious need of some tweezers for these eyebrows. And I'd like to see my baby girl for more than the 30 minutes I saw her today.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
seriously hates his life.
We are still in the hospital. He didn't drink or eat at all today so he can't go home yet. He is much more active than he was yesterday but he's far from being as active as he normally is.
He was taken off the IV fluids for about 8 hours but he still didn't drink so he will go back on them as soon as he falls asleep. But that could be awhile because he doesn't seem to be like normal people who fall asleep when they take Tylenol with codeine. No, I wouldn't be that lucky. Instead, he's wide awake, crashing his 7 cars into each other as he lays in bed. I'm actually quite impressed about how fast he's adapted to not having use of his right arm. It is slightly entertaining to watch him peel stickers from their backing and color pictures with just one hand. I'm contemplating keeping the IV splint thing on his arm after we leave here so I can teach him how to be a switch pitcher and switch hitter.
Tomorrow's goal is to get him to drink. We need to go home! We are tired and need some space to spread out. Thanks to everyone for your continuing prayers and "get well soon" thoughts for W!
He was taken off the IV fluids for about 8 hours but he still didn't drink so he will go back on them as soon as he falls asleep. But that could be awhile because he doesn't seem to be like normal people who fall asleep when they take Tylenol with codeine. No, I wouldn't be that lucky. Instead, he's wide awake, crashing his 7 cars into each other as he lays in bed. I'm actually quite impressed about how fast he's adapted to not having use of his right arm. It is slightly entertaining to watch him peel stickers from their backing and color pictures with just one hand. I'm contemplating keeping the IV splint thing on his arm after we leave here so I can teach him how to be a switch pitcher and switch hitter.
Tomorrow's goal is to get him to drink. We need to go home! We are tired and need some space to spread out. Thanks to everyone for your continuing prayers and "get well soon" thoughts for W!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
he hates his life
They haven't taken my wifi from me, thank goodness. It's been a Godsend to be able to download Dora and Super Why when there's absolutely nothing on for W to watch. Our iTunes bill is going to be large this week. You would think that since this is a Children's hospital, they would have more kid's channels to watch, or at least have Sprout, but they don't and for some reason, W really doesn't want to watch HGTV or the Food Network. Go figure.
Anyway, the kid is in agony and hates everything. No is the answer of choice to everything. He won't eat and won't drink. The not eating isn't so much of an issue but the no drinking is a huge problem. I've offered him everything they have here and he doesn't want any of it. He hasn't drank anything since 6am yesterday and it's getting frustrating. He has to drink and keep it down for us to be able to go home.
I know he's tired because I'm beyond tired. They should make prisoners sleep in hospital chairbeds as part of their punishment. I'm sure their beds are much more comfortable than these chair things. So it looks like we are in for another day of cat naps and negotiations to get him to drink. I'm about to pull out the big guns and start the bribery.
Anyway, the kid is in agony and hates everything. No is the answer of choice to everything. He won't eat and won't drink. The not eating isn't so much of an issue but the no drinking is a huge problem. I've offered him everything they have here and he doesn't want any of it. He hasn't drank anything since 6am yesterday and it's getting frustrating. He has to drink and keep it down for us to be able to go home.
I know he's tired because I'm beyond tired. They should make prisoners sleep in hospital chairbeds as part of their punishment. I'm sure their beds are much more comfortable than these chair things. So it looks like we are in for another day of cat naps and negotiations to get him to drink. I'm about to pull out the big guns and start the bribery.
Monday, July 28, 2008
my poor, poor baby
I get a better wifi connection than I do cell phone reception so I figured I'd just update everyone this way. Although, every doctor and nurse that has walked through here didn't know that they have a wifi connection so I'm not sure if I'm doing something illegal or not. If you don't hear from me again, it's because my computer has been confiscated because I've breached some super secret network.
W is out of surgery and everything went fine, until they woke him up. People need to listen to me when I tell them to just let the boy sleep. Don't wake him up, it's not worth the fight. As I was walking into the surgery unit I could hear him screaming, or trying to, and that was through 3 sets of double doors.
After they woke him up they had to give him albuterol because he was having a bit of a hard time breathing, and then they gave him morphine for the pain. Let's talk about what a fun combination that is. Albuterol, or baby meth as I have referred to it for the past 3 years, doesn't exactly react well with him. 20 minutes after I gave it to him for the first time when he was 10 months old, I walked out of the room and came back a few seconds later and found him dancing on the table. How he got there, I don't know, but apparently that stuff makes you fly. Morphine apparently makes him crazy too, but in a different way. It makes him emotional, so he's an emotional and physical mess right about now, when he's awake.
They have the pulse/ oxygen monitor on his big toe, which is seriously pissing him off. He doesn't mind the IV coming out of his arm, he just wants the red light on his big toe to go away and that is the first thing he tells me every time he wakes up. Ok, he doesn't "tell" me to take it off, he screams at me to take it off. He's still not drinking anything and won't take Tylenol by mouth, so he's on IV fluids and I was just told that we could give him Tylenol rectally, if I'd like. Um, yeah. Fat freaking chance that is going to happen. Has the kid not had enough torture for the day?
If he starts drinking tonight and is able to keep things down, then we will be able to go home tomorrow. If he's still doing what he's doing now and dry heaving after just a sip of clear liquid, we might stay a little longer. I'll try to update more later. There's not much to do here but I'm so tired that I'm having a hard time staying awake and I'm half tempted to crawl into the crib with W and take a nap. It's going to be a long night.
W is out of surgery and everything went fine, until they woke him up. People need to listen to me when I tell them to just let the boy sleep. Don't wake him up, it's not worth the fight. As I was walking into the surgery unit I could hear him screaming, or trying to, and that was through 3 sets of double doors.
After they woke him up they had to give him albuterol because he was having a bit of a hard time breathing, and then they gave him morphine for the pain. Let's talk about what a fun combination that is. Albuterol, or baby meth as I have referred to it for the past 3 years, doesn't exactly react well with him. 20 minutes after I gave it to him for the first time when he was 10 months old, I walked out of the room and came back a few seconds later and found him dancing on the table. How he got there, I don't know, but apparently that stuff makes you fly. Morphine apparently makes him crazy too, but in a different way. It makes him emotional, so he's an emotional and physical mess right about now, when he's awake.
They have the pulse/ oxygen monitor on his big toe, which is seriously pissing him off. He doesn't mind the IV coming out of his arm, he just wants the red light on his big toe to go away and that is the first thing he tells me every time he wakes up. Ok, he doesn't "tell" me to take it off, he screams at me to take it off. He's still not drinking anything and won't take Tylenol by mouth, so he's on IV fluids and I was just told that we could give him Tylenol rectally, if I'd like. Um, yeah. Fat freaking chance that is going to happen. Has the kid not had enough torture for the day?
If he starts drinking tonight and is able to keep things down, then we will be able to go home tomorrow. If he's still doing what he's doing now and dry heaving after just a sip of clear liquid, we might stay a little longer. I'll try to update more later. There's not much to do here but I'm so tired that I'm having a hard time staying awake and I'm half tempted to crawl into the crib with W and take a nap. It's going to be a long night.
Friday, July 25, 2008
heck, i've got mad skilz.
For realz. I am wicked talented and everyone should aspire to be like me. Since I'm in going through a narcissistic phase, I feel the need to remind everyone just how awesome I really am. Yeah... right. Truth is, I'm not that talented at all. I'm just a poser. But I am pretty proud of what I've done and slightly impressed with my abilities given that I have zero formal training and I'm using a program that was most likely bootlegged and doesn't have all of the necessary components to make the program run properly.
When M was here we had our good friend J take our family pics. The poor girl... I threw her a camera in the worst possible time of day for lighting and told her to take pictures of 2 cranky kids and their tired parents, and then told her to take as many pictures as fast as she possibly could, but to be sure to get some good ones. We needed to break the record for the fastest time to fill up a 2GB memory card because 1) we only put enough change in the parking meter for an hour and 2) I knew M and the kids weren't going to last long and we had about 45 minutes before they were d.o.n.e. Me, I could have my picture taken allllllll day. Because I am that pretty and because I will be America's Next Top Model one day. Yeah... right.
I was really impressed with the outcome of the pictures, especially because the time of day was less than ideal to be taking pictures and because somehow she managed to get more than 1 of all of us looking at the camera at the same time. But the lighting sucked. I mean, it was really really bad. It wasn't her fault at all. Her timing is flawless and she can always capture moments that are priceless. It was all my fault because I should have rolled my fat butt out of bed an hour earlier to get out the door an hour earlier so we could have had better light.
It is for this reason that God invented photoshop. Some people have ethical issues with photoshop and that is fine. Everyone needs a cause. I for one truly believe photoshop is a gift from heaven. I don't go too crazy with it, mostly because I don't know how, but I can do simple things like fix the lighting or take the bags out from under my eyes or remove the graffiti from the chairs we are sitting on. Be rest assured though, if I knew how to make my arms look more defined or could take 3 pounds off my behind, I'd do it and wouldn't think twice. I have no shame.
Before these pictures were edited, I really didn't have any photo editing skills other than clicking on the "Auto Adjust" and "Levels" slider to lighten or darken a picture but I went all out when I was teaching myself how to edit these. I even read directions and stuff. I know some of them are a tad over edited, but that is the look I was going for. I am breaking out of the mold. Look out. And, yes, I am that pasty white color you see in the pictures in real life.
(J, I'm sorry I've been too lazy to email these to you and that you are seeing these for the first time here... I'm not a very good friend these days.)
Before:___________________________After:
Before:___________________________After:
Before:____________________________After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Not only have I been doing photo editing, but I've also been dabbling in the world of custom invitation making again, which I totally dig.
Here is my latest creation. The painting in the invite is the painting the parents are using as their inspiration to decorate the baby's room. How sweet is that?
I heart photoshop. Photoshop = good. I cannot wait for my legit and fully functional version to get here in a few weeks so I can really do some damage. Oh the possibilities... This could be dangerous.
When M was here we had our good friend J take our family pics. The poor girl... I threw her a camera in the worst possible time of day for lighting and told her to take pictures of 2 cranky kids and their tired parents, and then told her to take as many pictures as fast as she possibly could, but to be sure to get some good ones. We needed to break the record for the fastest time to fill up a 2GB memory card because 1) we only put enough change in the parking meter for an hour and 2) I knew M and the kids weren't going to last long and we had about 45 minutes before they were d.o.n.e. Me, I could have my picture taken allllllll day. Because I am that pretty and because I will be America's Next Top Model one day. Yeah... right.
I was really impressed with the outcome of the pictures, especially because the time of day was less than ideal to be taking pictures and because somehow she managed to get more than 1 of all of us looking at the camera at the same time. But the lighting sucked. I mean, it was really really bad. It wasn't her fault at all. Her timing is flawless and she can always capture moments that are priceless. It was all my fault because I should have rolled my fat butt out of bed an hour earlier to get out the door an hour earlier so we could have had better light.
It is for this reason that God invented photoshop. Some people have ethical issues with photoshop and that is fine. Everyone needs a cause. I for one truly believe photoshop is a gift from heaven. I don't go too crazy with it, mostly because I don't know how, but I can do simple things like fix the lighting or take the bags out from under my eyes or remove the graffiti from the chairs we are sitting on. Be rest assured though, if I knew how to make my arms look more defined or could take 3 pounds off my behind, I'd do it and wouldn't think twice. I have no shame.
Before these pictures were edited, I really didn't have any photo editing skills other than clicking on the "Auto Adjust" and "Levels" slider to lighten or darken a picture but I went all out when I was teaching myself how to edit these. I even read directions and stuff. I know some of them are a tad over edited, but that is the look I was going for. I am breaking out of the mold. Look out. And, yes, I am that pasty white color you see in the pictures in real life.
(J, I'm sorry I've been too lazy to email these to you and that you are seeing these for the first time here... I'm not a very good friend these days.)
Before:___________________________After:
Before:___________________________After:
Before:____________________________After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Not only have I been doing photo editing, but I've also been dabbling in the world of custom invitation making again, which I totally dig.
Here is my latest creation. The painting in the invite is the painting the parents are using as their inspiration to decorate the baby's room. How sweet is that?
I heart photoshop. Photoshop = good. I cannot wait for my legit and fully functional version to get here in a few weeks so I can really do some damage. Oh the possibilities... This could be dangerous.
Monday, July 21, 2008
i got skilz
I've decided to spill the beans about some of the projects I've been working on. Mostly because I'm pretty stoked with how they have turned out and partly because I want everyone to tell me that using every spare second of extra time I've had in the past week to make these has been totally worth it because these are the cutest things they have ever seen. Yes, I am fishing for compliments. Isn't everyone these days?
In the next few months I have a total of 6 baby showers and first birthday parties for girls to buy for. Lets be honest, I'm bored with shopping from the registries and I'm bored of the traditional first birthday gifts so I'm deviating from the norm and going big before I go home. In a moment of genius, I got inspired, bought $50 worth of tulle and started cutting. And 4 hours later, I had made my first tutu.
Now, there's a distinct learning curve on making these, at least for dense people like me. The first time I made one I thought I had to cut each strip individually, not realizing that if I just kept folding the material in half and cutting on the fold (like some instructional sites tell you to do in the first place), I would have the same result in about 2/3 less time. Duh. Once I figured that out, it was much easier to make them and I could do one start to finish in about an hour. Well, an hour, so long as I'm not trying to multitask and/ or make one while I'm watching the kids outside. It takes about 3 times as long to make them when you are sitting in the direction the wind is blowing. Another Duh.
I love how these have turned out and I can feel that this is becoming an addiction. I might be forced to start selling them to support the habit and because I will soon run out of people to make them for. Do you think people would pay more for them if I said that they were "imported from Europe"? It would be the truth because they would be made in Germany...
Here are a few of my favorites. All of the white onesies were embroidered by my good friend, C. You should really check out her store's website. She's got some of the cutest stuff I have ever seen.
Pink and Brown (onesie from Old Navy)
Purples-- the 3 colors can be layered, as shown, or mixed up.
Pinks-- the 3 colors can be layered, as shown, or mixed up.
Sage, Maroon and Light Pink
Bright Pink, Purple, Green and Blue
Light Pink, Gold, Green and Blue (shown extra long in length)
In the next few months I have a total of 6 baby showers and first birthday parties for girls to buy for. Lets be honest, I'm bored with shopping from the registries and I'm bored of the traditional first birthday gifts so I'm deviating from the norm and going big before I go home. In a moment of genius, I got inspired, bought $50 worth of tulle and started cutting. And 4 hours later, I had made my first tutu.
Now, there's a distinct learning curve on making these, at least for dense people like me. The first time I made one I thought I had to cut each strip individually, not realizing that if I just kept folding the material in half and cutting on the fold (like some instructional sites tell you to do in the first place), I would have the same result in about 2/3 less time. Duh. Once I figured that out, it was much easier to make them and I could do one start to finish in about an hour. Well, an hour, so long as I'm not trying to multitask and/ or make one while I'm watching the kids outside. It takes about 3 times as long to make them when you are sitting in the direction the wind is blowing. Another Duh.
I love how these have turned out and I can feel that this is becoming an addiction. I might be forced to start selling them to support the habit and because I will soon run out of people to make them for. Do you think people would pay more for them if I said that they were "imported from Europe"? It would be the truth because they would be made in Germany...
Here are a few of my favorites. All of the white onesies were embroidered by my good friend, C. You should really check out her store's website. She's got some of the cutest stuff I have ever seen.
Pink and Brown (onesie from Old Navy)
Purples-- the 3 colors can be layered, as shown, or mixed up.
Pinks-- the 3 colors can be layered, as shown, or mixed up.
Sage, Maroon and Light Pink
Bright Pink, Purple, Green and Blue
Light Pink, Gold, Green and Blue (shown extra long in length)
Monday, July 14, 2008
still here...
We're still here, I promise. Just super busy and the kids have been sick... again. I've been uber domesticated these days and it's cutting into my online time, not to mention my projects are draining what little brain capacity for thinking I have left right out of me so I am unable to come up with anything worthy of writing about.
I don't want to talk about my projects yet because I'm making things for people who waste their time reading this and I don't want to ruin the surprise just yet. But let's just say I've been up to my ears in tulle, or "itchy stuff" as W calls it.
I've decided I'm NEVER paying for anything made with tulle again. I'll do it myself. That stuff has to be the most genius way to make money. It costs $.97 a yard, and most projects like the projects I am working on take 5-6 yards but are sold for at least $45 each. If I had the patience, I'd go into business.
Case in point: my wedding veil. I had decided that I didn't want a veil for my wedding but changed my mind 2 days before the ceremony. So I went to the fabric store and bought my 8 yards of tulle for $9, a comb clip thing, a string of beads and a spindle of thread and 3 hours later, I had this:
The day after I made it, I had to go to the bridal boutique to pick something up and I saw a very similar veil "on sale" for $250. While my handmade, $9, 3 hour veil may not have been the greatest one ever made, it was pretty freaking close and totally worth the $241 I didn't spend.
You know that saying that people have "champagne taste on a beer budget"? That is totally true for me, except I can make the beer look and taste just like champagne. It's a gift, really and comes in handy in times like these when I have 6 baby showers
and birthday parties to go to in the next month. And for times when people are getting married. I still think my friend J and I should start a company. We can plan weddings quick and on a small budget and have them look amazing. We will call it "Shotgun Weddings" and part of the deluxe package will include my doula services for the couple 6 months after the wedding.
Speaking of weddings, although, not a shotgun wedding, happy 4 years to M and me (a little late but at least I'm making the effort, right?) It's been an indescribable 4 years, that's for sure.
I don't want to talk about my projects yet because I'm making things for people who waste their time reading this and I don't want to ruin the surprise just yet. But let's just say I've been up to my ears in tulle, or "itchy stuff" as W calls it.
I've decided I'm NEVER paying for anything made with tulle again. I'll do it myself. That stuff has to be the most genius way to make money. It costs $.97 a yard, and most projects like the projects I am working on take 5-6 yards but are sold for at least $45 each. If I had the patience, I'd go into business.
Case in point: my wedding veil. I had decided that I didn't want a veil for my wedding but changed my mind 2 days before the ceremony. So I went to the fabric store and bought my 8 yards of tulle for $9, a comb clip thing, a string of beads and a spindle of thread and 3 hours later, I had this:
The day after I made it, I had to go to the bridal boutique to pick something up and I saw a very similar veil "on sale" for $250. While my handmade, $9, 3 hour veil may not have been the greatest one ever made, it was pretty freaking close and totally worth the $241 I didn't spend.
You know that saying that people have "champagne taste on a beer budget"? That is totally true for me, except I can make the beer look and taste just like champagne. It's a gift, really and comes in handy in times like these when I have 6 baby showers
and birthday parties to go to in the next month. And for times when people are getting married. I still think my friend J and I should start a company. We can plan weddings quick and on a small budget and have them look amazing. We will call it "Shotgun Weddings" and part of the deluxe package will include my doula services for the couple 6 months after the wedding.
Speaking of weddings, although, not a shotgun wedding, happy 4 years to M and me (a little late but at least I'm making the effort, right?) It's been an indescribable 4 years, that's for sure.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
happy 4th
I went to pick W up from school yesterday and as I was walking out the door his teacher caught me and told me that she wanted to show me something in the classroom. My immediate thought was a cuss word followed by, "Who, or what, did he pee on?"
He didn't pee on anything, thank goodness. He didn't even do anything naughty. What his teacher showed me was something quite remarkable. The class of 2 and 3 year olds had made flags out of construction paper to celebrate the 4th of July. She had given them all big pieces of red paper, some small strips of white paper, a blue square and some star stickers and told them to have at it.
These are the flags the rest of the class made:
And this is the flag W made:
When she showed me his flag, I thought she had made it. It was nearly perfect and looked so different from everyone else's. I asked her if she helped him and she said no, and that she had just shown them a sample flag for a few seconds so he really didn't have anything to copy.
This kid knows his flags. They are his Daddy's flags, and don't try to tell him otherwise. He sees every American flag when we are out and never misses one. He sees flags that I don't see. They are so important to him that he gets really upset if they aren't blowing in the wind because he thinks they are broken. If he sees a "broken" one, he insists that I stop the car to fix it. I can't tell you how many times I have had to explain to him that the Daddy flags aren't broken and I can't fix them but it is still very upsetting for him.
I explained this to his teacher and she started to tear up because she then understood why he took this task so seriously. She was just impressed with the fact that he could put the white stripes on straight and had put the blue square in the right spot. She said that for his age, he shouldn't be able to do that. But once she understood how important the flags are to W, the nearly perfect flag took on an entirely different meaning.
On the way home I asked W where his Daddy was and he told me Daddy was in Iraq. Then I asked him what Daddy was doing in Iraq and he told me that Daddy was helping the flag. And you know what, he's exactly right. That is exactly what Daddy is doing right now; Daddy is helping the flag. W is 2 years old and he gets it. He understands the importance of the flag and they serious nature of what his dad is doing over there. He gets that Daddy has to be gone to help the flag and make things better and he's ok with it. If he can get it, why can't everyone else?
People all over the States are going to be parting without even thinking about our guys over there who are working so desperately to help the flag. Everyone is going to be drinking their beer and eating their hot dogs without even taking into consideration the way that they got their holiday in the first place. They are going to be cooling off in their swimming pools without even silently thanking the people who are over there sweating their butts off in 115 degree weather with 85 pounds of body armor on who are ensuring the fact that we get this holiday next year and the year after and forever after that. They don't get a holiday. They still have to work while everyone else in America gets to enjoy the freedoms they have that are made possible by the very people that are being taken for granted.
Yes, it burns me. And it should burn everyone else. Take a second to remember what that flag really means and who makes it possible for us to celebrate our freedom in the first place. I know W will.
He didn't pee on anything, thank goodness. He didn't even do anything naughty. What his teacher showed me was something quite remarkable. The class of 2 and 3 year olds had made flags out of construction paper to celebrate the 4th of July. She had given them all big pieces of red paper, some small strips of white paper, a blue square and some star stickers and told them to have at it.
These are the flags the rest of the class made:
And this is the flag W made:
When she showed me his flag, I thought she had made it. It was nearly perfect and looked so different from everyone else's. I asked her if she helped him and she said no, and that she had just shown them a sample flag for a few seconds so he really didn't have anything to copy.
This kid knows his flags. They are his Daddy's flags, and don't try to tell him otherwise. He sees every American flag when we are out and never misses one. He sees flags that I don't see. They are so important to him that he gets really upset if they aren't blowing in the wind because he thinks they are broken. If he sees a "broken" one, he insists that I stop the car to fix it. I can't tell you how many times I have had to explain to him that the Daddy flags aren't broken and I can't fix them but it is still very upsetting for him.
I explained this to his teacher and she started to tear up because she then understood why he took this task so seriously. She was just impressed with the fact that he could put the white stripes on straight and had put the blue square in the right spot. She said that for his age, he shouldn't be able to do that. But once she understood how important the flags are to W, the nearly perfect flag took on an entirely different meaning.
On the way home I asked W where his Daddy was and he told me Daddy was in Iraq. Then I asked him what Daddy was doing in Iraq and he told me that Daddy was helping the flag. And you know what, he's exactly right. That is exactly what Daddy is doing right now; Daddy is helping the flag. W is 2 years old and he gets it. He understands the importance of the flag and they serious nature of what his dad is doing over there. He gets that Daddy has to be gone to help the flag and make things better and he's ok with it. If he can get it, why can't everyone else?
People all over the States are going to be parting without even thinking about our guys over there who are working so desperately to help the flag. Everyone is going to be drinking their beer and eating their hot dogs without even taking into consideration the way that they got their holiday in the first place. They are going to be cooling off in their swimming pools without even silently thanking the people who are over there sweating their butts off in 115 degree weather with 85 pounds of body armor on who are ensuring the fact that we get this holiday next year and the year after and forever after that. They don't get a holiday. They still have to work while everyone else in America gets to enjoy the freedoms they have that are made possible by the very people that are being taken for granted.
Yes, it burns me. And it should burn everyone else. Take a second to remember what that flag really means and who makes it possible for us to celebrate our freedom in the first place. I know W will.
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