Spring Sucks!
Tis the time of year to get back outside and start cleaning and prepping the yard for the summer! I love working in the yard and right now is perfect, it’s not too hot yet, but warm enough to enjoy the sun. I decided to start in the front yard and use my blower/sucker to remove all the old leaves from under the bushes and trees. I do like my blower/sucker because it also mulches. It’s a smaller machine which is perfect for me to handle and it has a big strap I can put over my shoulder so I can carry it easily. In order to use the mulch option you must have it in suck mode. So, there I am, in full suck mode in my front yard.
We live in a dry climate and we haven’t received much moisture this year, so as you can expect there is a lot of dust that gets kicked up. So, I’m out in the front, sucker on high and it is loud! I didn’t realize how many leaves were actually out there and I filled my first bag fairly quickly. I dumped the bag’s mulched contents in my compost pile and went back at it for round two.
After removing the top layer with my first trip, this second time around seems much dustier! And it’s so loud, you really can’t pay attention or focus on anything but directing the nozzle into the compacted ground. Also, this second bag isn’t filling up as fast as the first, which is weird. Then I looked up for a second and there is dust everywhere! What is going on? I thought. Then I looked down and I am covered in dust! I paused for a moment and was overwhelmed with the feeling of being a total jackass. You know, when all of a sudden everything comes together and you know exactly what’s wrong.
I turned the sucker back on pointed the nozzle to the ground, watched some leaves get sucked up and then shoot straight out the back of the bag in tiny little pieces! I forgot to zip the bag back up after I dumped my first load! Although, the damage was already done, and I had been out there for almost an hour, of course I looked around to see if anyone had seen me. I’ll never know, but one thing I do know now is spring sucks!
Like Comparing Melons to Oranges
I spend a lot of time with my five year-old son and as a result, I feel we are kind of in sync with each other. It’s something that happens in all relationships, the more time you spend with someone the more you know exactly what they are talking about. Something magical happens, when you can finish each other’s sentences and an extended preface to a conversation is no longer needed.
Today, out of nowhere, Azul said to me, “If you give a pig a melon it will last 1 day, if you give a pig an orange it will last 100 days!” The what, the what?! I didn’t even know where to begin to be able to respond to that. But, I did wonder if I sound like that to him sometimes when I’m talking. Magic huh?
Mommy’s The Worst
Azul has picked a new habit. Well, I’m not sure it’s a habit yet, but it is definitely a new behavior, and I’m not sure if my indifference to it is turning it into a habit. But what do I do?
So, when my five year-old gets mad or doesn’t get his way, he begins to march around, his brow furrowed, knees high in the air, bent arms swinging at his side, and feet firmly placed on the ground when they meet the floor (really, he would make any drill sergeant proud), proclaiming, “Mommy’s the worst! Mommy’s the worst!”
Now if this stems from some deep-seated need to protest authority, I’m okay with that. Or if he is a natural cheerleader, cheering for the good or the bad, just wanting to express himself, I’m okay with that too. And to be fair, I have also gotten the, “Mommy’s the best” — not quite as often, but it’s happened.
When the demonstration begins, it is a funny thing to witness and I haven’t taken it personally, but this is where the indifference comes in — should I do something or not react at all? If I get hurt over it (and really, parents should never show weakness to their children’s insults), I know he will continue to do it, or if I laugh at it (as I have at times in the past), he will continue to do it, or if I do nothing and just give him the “What you talking about Willis” look (yup, done that too), he will continue to do it. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I guess this is really what parenting is all about.
Carmelina Hart 