Head in the Clouds
It was a rare morning commute, when all three of us, Azul, my husband and I were traveling together. Usually we say our good-byes in the garage and go our separate ways, regrouping in the evening. Like most commutes, Azul and I were as chatty as ever, I’m sure ruining my husband’s normally quiet drive. It had lightly snowed overnight and was a mostly cloudy morning. While driving we had a perfect view of the Sandia mountains east of the city.
“Look at how pretty the clouds look over the mountains!” I pointed out to Azul. He, recognizing their beauty said, “They look like waves crashing over the mountains!” I continued, “Yeah, or whipped cream!” We looked at each other, he was licking his lips and rubbing his hands together, saying “Whipped cream sky pie! Yum, yum!” I agreed with an enthusiastic, “Mmmmm!”
Azul continued, “If we were walking on the mountains we would be in the clouds.” Out of nowhere, we heard another voice in the truck join in the conversation. “We wouldn’t be able to see much,” Alan added. Azul, of course, was the first to respond, shaking his head with his hands in the air. “Are you kidding me,” he said. “We wouldn’t be able to see anything!” Then, we were all clouded by laughter!
Me, Myself and I
Azul has always spoken very well and has a very good vocabulary for a five year-old. I hear this is common among only children, and since I am just around my only child, I don’t know if this is true or not. But, for some reason, and I am going to blame this on school, every bad habit he has developed comes from school, he has started using “me” instead of “I.” Now, “I want ice cream for dessert,” has turned into, “me want ice cream for dessert.” And “I want to go to the park” is now “me want to go to the park.” It is driving me crazy, so I have resorted to repeating his sentences back to him correctly. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer and said, “You sound like a caveman. Why are you saying me? You know it is I.” Staying a step ahead, he then started yelling, “Help I! Help I!” Me couldn’t stop laughing!
Lego Mom
Pregnancy does a crazy thing to a person. All of your thoughts, ideas, and worries turn into irrational fears. And my irrational fears, or “crazies,” at times have been a little misguided. One of my fears when I found out I was going to be a mom was eventually having that position turn into being a Soccer Mom! The stereotypical image of wearing gym clothes in public, with my hair cut in an asymmetrical bob, driving an SUV and screaming at my child every Saturday, while he was running across a grassy field and I ate chips, sounded like a nightmare to me. Of course like all fears, I exaggerated this to the umpteenth degree, and not to mention the hormones flowing through my newly pregnant body like a dam had broken, it scared me!
Now, in order to compensate for my “crazies,” I focused on it, repeated it, and constantly made fun of myself about it. I guess it’s kind of like following the instructions on a Shampoo bottle: rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat; and that’s what I did, believing the more I repeated it, I would be able to cleanse myself from my thoughts (I will say I have always done this — even before I was a parent. True or not, this just seems like the best way for me to deal with things). So for years I said that my only fear of being a parent was someday I would have to be a Soccer Mom. Rinse, repeat.
Well, five years later I got soap in my eyes!
In the mail we received one of those super glossy, extra-large post card advertisements for the local indoor soccer field. They were soliciting for their “little kickers” group which is the beginning class for soccer. Not even thinking about it, I asked Azul, “You want to join a kid’s soccer team and play soccer?” Azul looked at me like I was crazy, rolled his eyes and said, “Ugh! I thought you wanted to be a Lego Mom not a Soccer Mom!” Rinse, rinse, rinse!
All I could think was, Well, I guess I have said that a time or two before. I replied, “Good call my love, I forgot. Thank you for keeping me on track!” Azul is a card-carrying member of the local Lego Club, but sometimes I still think, My hair wouldn’t look so bad in a bob!
Carmelina Hart 