In preparation for Easter, I bought plastic eggs, purple papered grass, and, of course, a basket. Because that’s what Easter is about, right?
For our family, since we’re not religious, that is what it is about. More
Toddler
Hunting for Easter Eggs
We celebrated Easter today. Not in a religious way. We didn’t go to church (although my husband said he thought about it.) But we did get dressed up and go Easter egg hunting in our yard.
This was Polina’s first Easter egg hunt. I deliberately avoided public Easter egg hunts because Polina is new to this “sport” and I didn’t want her to be in competition with other kids. Sure enough, when we embarked on the Easter egg hunt (with both cameras rolling, mine and Pete’s) Polina took her sweet old time. She picked up an egg and opened it. Then she picked up another egg and opened it. I could see this would take a while.
“Polina, why don’t I hold the basket while you pick up the eggs?” I offered.
She let me hold the basket while she put in one or two eggs, but then she understood the concept. She took the basket away from me and ran looking for the colored plastic eggs.
“More. More,” she said after she picked up each one.
It’s interesting what we teach our children. Here she was innocently picking up each egg and actually curious about what was inside of it. In a few short minutes, we taught her how to find satisfaction in the facade. She became busy finding the eggs first while her initial curiosity about its contents became secondary.
I may be reading too much into it, and that’s okay, because that’s the type of person I am. Sometimes I overanalyze. But then I see kids push each other down in a competitive spirit and I think we as a society need to do more analyzing about what we’re doing, and it starts with parenting.
Next year, I’m going to let her take her sweet old time, no matter how long it takes.
Here are a few pictures from the expedition
.
For the Love of Nature
Yesterday was another beautiful day and we took advantage of it. When I saw the clear sky, I wanted to go outside ASAP. We went to the same park as last week. There were fewer people and significantly more families with children than people with dogs. Last week, it was the reverse. Hmm, go figure.
After about an hour, we stopped at an overlook and I found a dry spot, which happened to be on some wood chips, and lay on the ground. It felt so good to lie on the earth. I felt fatigue leaving my body and go into the earth. I also felt something rising out of me. Polina took her shoes and socks off, which she hadn’t done in a long time because it had been cold. I suggested to my husband that he lie down since he was yawning up a storm and doesn’t sleep well.
“No,” he said.
“It feels really good. Trust me, you’ll feel better.”
He gave me a skeptical look and said, “No, I don’t want to get wood chips on my clothes.”
“I’ll brush them off.”
“No.”
“You tell me you don’t sleep well. Trust me, you’ll feel so much better,” I persisted.
He finally offered to lie on the rock he was sitting on. A minute later, he was asleep. On a rock. I reluctantly woke him after about an hour because I had to leave for an appointment.
On our way out we touched the budding camelias. They were covered by a fuzzy shell. We felt at peace noticing these things and communing with nature. It lifted my spirits. I felt emotionally and spiritually cleansed and ready for the coming week.
I traveled around Europe in my twenties and lived abroad for four years. I saw world class architecture, museums, and ate delicious food. But my spirit soars when I am in nature. My choice of vacation is camping. $20 bucks a night to reserve a plot with million dollar views. It’s the most intense happiness I’ve ever felt, and I’m so thankful for these experiences.
An (Un)Romantic Valentine
Valentine’s Day was pretty uneventful this year, as stark contrast from prior years. When my husband and I were dating, we would make it into a special day or evening. He would bring home flowers, a card, chocolates…. We would brave the traffic on the streets and the crowds in the restaurants, have a nice meal and end the evening with a nice movie. More
Nursing while Nauseous
I have been so sick today. I threw up my dinner early this morning and didn’t recover for 10 hours. My husband had to go to work and I cancelled my play date this morning. Polina sensed something was wrong.
“No owie,” she said when I was in the bathroom heaving.
To my surprise, she still wanted to nurse… a lot. I’m nauseous and my 2.5 year old is nursing.
“I’m sick. Please,” I tell Polina.
Polina protested when I refused, so… okay.
Later she went to the kitchen and got herself a box of cereal, a bowl, and a fork. She ate next to me. Then she decided to dump all the cereal on the floor. I picked it all up and put it back in the bag, but she did it again. I was too tired to engage in this battle. Then Polina decided to go through her clothes drawer and throw all the contents on the floor, on top of the cereal. Then she rolled on me while I was trying to rest.
I pulled out my flip phone. “Im so sick,” I texted my husband.
Polina fell on my stomach with her butt. Ow.
“Im so sick. Not resting,” I texted again.
“Pls help”
It sucks to be sick. I felt hot. Then I was cold. My husband said he would try to come home after he completes one project.
Polina started going through her books, flipping through the pages, one by one. She reminded me of my mother, who went through books like water. Polina likes going through books even when no one is reading to her.
After that, I had a reprieve. After about 3 hours of self-entertainment, Polina indicated she was tired. She`nursed again and fell asleep beside me.
Meanwhile, I was nauseous as ever. I hate vomiting. I tried not to for about 3 hours by keeping it down. I continued to feel bad. No wonder. It was a choice between vomiting and getting it over with or feeling “better” by not vomiting but continuing to feel sick. Finally, I had to give in. I went to the bathroom and threw up a final time. There, it was over, but in the process, I woke up Polina. I texted my husband that P and I were going to sleep, went back to bed and slept for three hours with Polina beside me.
I woke up at 5:30 pm and felt A LOT better, though still woozy as I hadn’t eaten anything all day. The worst was over. A week ago I was really sick with the cold for 24 hours and felt awful. I haven’t been so sick within a week of each other in a long time.
I can’t feel my legs as I am lying on the couch typing this. The vomit is still in the sink in the master bathroom, not going down. I’m too weak to deal with it right now. I’ll clean it tomorrow. Thank goodness we have two bathrooms.
Tip- next time, heave in the toilet.