mothers

Apr. 21st, 2009 07:58 am
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Last year when my coworker died, leaving a 15 year old son (and a daughter in college whom I didn't know), what broke me down was that Henry's mommy had died.

A couple of my grad school professors have been caring for their 12 year old nephew for a few years now (they also have two kids of their own). I didn't know the backstory of why until today, when I learned that his father had died, and his mother had become seriously mentally ill. And this weekend she was apparently murdered by her also mentally ill boyfriend. (N. Californians, this is the case in Sausalito.)

For my kids, I am pretty sure mr. flea's death would be as devastating as mine. But for me, because of my family history, whenever a mother dies, my insides go "not his MOMMY." So, spare a thought for Max and his mommy, and bless Eric and Diane for their ability to make him theirs.

joy & pain

Feb. 18th, 2008 07:42 pm
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The bad part of the equation is the little sickie boy is rather pitiful. I came home to find him in good spirits though red-eyed and runny-nosed. I nursed him, and he took both sides before stopping, coughing, and redepositing everything all over me. You haven't had a fun day until you've wiped baby vomit off your bare breast, I always say.

(He did manage to make this part fun - we play a game called "naked baby alert" which originated with Casper and the obligatory after-bath running about unclad. We call "naked baby alert" and make a "whoop whoop" alarm system noise. This also now extends to "naked daddy alert" and "naked mommy alert." Dillo now notes when anyone is naked, and starts making the "whoop whoop" noise. When he's the one naked, he also boogies down. So I was stripping off the vomity clothes from both of us in the bathroom, and he cheerfully started going "whoop whoop." When he got naked, it was all butt-wiggles.)

But he deteriorated from there and was feverish, runny-eyed and without appetite by dinner. I got him to sleep at 6:20, then again at 7:00 and i hope he stays that way for a few hours at least.

Casper and mr. flea went off the the Mother of All Malls after dinner, he to ogle the MacBook Air, she to acquire two new books from The Spiderwick Chronicles. Sometimes I can see an 8 or 10 year old in my 4 year old. She LOVES these books. Loves the monsters and trolls and fairies and mild spookiness.

The joy part of the evening came when I wrote a short review of a new database at work, Dissertations and Theses Full-Text from Proquest. I can now download and peruse at will the offerings of my former colleagues in grad school. So far I'm just reading the acknowledgements and getting sentimental. I'm also so proud of everyone!
flea: (Default)
To rid myself of the earworm...

1. To the tune of "Frosty The Snowman"
Composed by a guy named Paul who was a grad student at Michigan in 1995.

Pauly-Wissowa,
Were a jolly pair of Krauts.
With a blah blah blah
And a blah blah blah
And some Altertumswissenschaft!

This went on for a long time. I don't remember any more.

2. To the tune of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive"
Composed by John Lobur of Michigan, in Athens, 1998-99.

Alcibiades
Well you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
...
Ah, ah, ah, ah, Changin' Sides, Changin' Sides

It's a shame I can't remember any more, since this one was brilliant.

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