Origin

My oldest daughter, 9 year old Savannah, asked me today where babies come from. Now this question has come up off and on over time, but I've always been able to give it brief answers that passify the children until such a date as I see fit to divulge all the details. But this time, Savannah was a little too old and just a little bit too knowledgeable for me to blow it off with a response like "from Mom's and Dad's" or "from Mommy's tummy" or the best one yet, "from God." I have thought about what I would say when I got to this point, but on this occasion I happened to be driving from gymnastics to Walmart, I had to try not to wreck the car while answering her questions. I was trying to wade into the answer by seeing what she already knew, so I asked, "What do you mean?" I was extremely relieved when she answered with this...

"Well... in some countries like China you can only have one baby. If you have more than one, do you have to kill it? Some people can't have babies, right? So if you have extra's, can you just give them to someone else? You never gave away any extras or got any from somewhere else did you, Mom?"

As you can imagine, I was elated that the question was more geographic than anatomic. My relief was short lived, however. I told her that of course I had not given away any of mine and had not gotten any from anywhere else. I was lucky to be able to have my own children and was not having any more. The conversation went down hill from there. It went something like this...

Savannah: God said you're done, right Mom?
Mom: Yes, honey. Plus I can't have any more.
S: Cause you had that surgery like dogs have, right?
M: Something like that.
S: So do they take away the place where the baby lives or that little tube it gets out from? Cause I saw a picture of that in a book once and it looks gross. I don't get it.
M: They take away your uterus, honey. The place where the baby lives. But none of my babies came that way - they were all cut out of my belly. Just like Nana's babies and Aunt Bridget's babies.
S: So how do the babies get there if girls aren't married? Like that girl at your school? How did she get pregnant?
M: By doing things with boys that she wasn't supposed to do if she wasn't married. That's why God says not to do that stuff if you're not married. It's hard to take care of a baby without a husband.
S: Oh. I'm glad you're my mom.
M: Me too, honey.

A word to the wise - plan ahead for this one. I'm POSITIVE this discussion is not over!

Altitudes

All the kids were at my sister's last week for their spring break. All except for Landon, the two year old. The week went SOOOOO nice. (See my sister's blog for how BAD her weekend was with my kids). Since the older ones were gone, I got to spend a lot more one-on-one time with Landon. We played on the swing set, sat in the yard and played ball, watched "Little Einstein's", and went out to eat with Clark. Having only one child that will eat off of your plate is much cheaper than having 4 who insist they need a kids meal of their own that they will eventually not eat. It will linger in the little black take-away tray in the refrigerator until everything smells like old chicken and french fries, and then a week later get discovered and thrown away. It's easier to just throw away my $15 the first time.

One of the days that Landon and I were at home without Daddy, we played out in the front yard and sat in the grass looking at things around us. Landon pointed out trees, a school bus, trackers (tractors), and "boats". Over and over again, he would say "I see boats." Well I in my elderly state as compared to Landon, did not see any boats floating down my street. I looked and looked and he just kept repeating himself. He finally pointed to the "boats" he saw - which were actually birds walking in the grass. He was quite enthralled by the birds and when I realized what he was talking about and corrected him, he said "Yeah, boats. Boats walking?" I said, "What? Yes, the birds are walking." He again said "Boats walking?" I decided he was waiting for me to elaborate and explained that "Yes, the birds are walking - they are probably looking for bugs or something in the grass." Landon looked at the birds, looked back at me, then again stared at the birds. You could see the wheels turning in his little head thinking birds just should not be on the ground. After a long pause, he ran over towards the birds and threw his arms in the air and said to the birds, "Gee-up-in-da-sky!" I laughed and laughed, realizing that Landon just felt that birds should not be on the ground, they should be flying. Who knew?

Area and Experience

For those of you who have never been to Macon, Georgia, Cherry Blossom time here is the pinkest week all year. It can also be sometimes strange. I'll give you some examples...

However, it can also be one of the most beautiful times of the year.



































We had the Cherry Blossom parade, which will be my last event with my Dance and Flag Teams. It was unseasonably freezing this day, by the way. Here's a picture.




























Now at the practice the day before, I was so sad that it was our last event. I even told the band director that I would probably cry at the parade. Low and behold, the girls gave me a run for my money and by the time we left the parade, I was so mad at them that I was way past being sorry I was leaving. After they pulled stunts like running to Walmart right when it was time to get on the bus, not having their long sleeves, whining about not having enough time to "battle" the other bands, hiding in the Music Hall of Fame, and then blaming all of their problems on their "mean coach", I was completely over it when it was time to go home. And here I thought I would miss them...

But.... a day later, I already missed them. I have become so attached to these girls. They are like my children away from home. They come to me for EVERYTHING. Boy problems, math tutoring, problems at home, passes to class, selling stuff.... My room is the locker room for these girls, and the hang out before school and between classes. I am blessed to have had them in my life. I truly love them and will miss them.