Category Archives: Motherhood

My Brain Hurts Sometimes

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Today Claire asked, “What is a symbol?”

I tried to answer. A symbol is a small picture that represents a thing that has a certain meaning. The letter T for the “t” sound, for example. Words are symbols. A red light is a symbol, telling people to make their car stop at it, while a yellow light means to slow down and a green one to go. A logo — like the eagle on the side of the mail truck — is a symbol for the company that is called the U.S. Postal Service. A picture of a heart means love. Candy canes are symbols for Christmas.

Then she asked, “What is the symbol for the universe?”

Wow! I told her there are many symbols — religious ones, scientific ones, artistic ones — but that the universe was sooooooo big that no one symbol can completely show what the universe is or means.

That seemed to satisfy her for that moment. More stuff for that growing brain to think about!

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A Day of Doing

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What a busy day we’ve had. First we began with an alphabet craft project, the letter L, for leaves and ladder.

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Then we went and got haircuts. After that, we went to the grocery store with $5 of Claire’s money (from her aunt) to purchase food for the food bank. First Claire chose three bags of rice:

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She tried to move the basket down the aisle, but it’s big and she had to choo-choo it:

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Next she chose two bags of beans:

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After the grocery store, we went to the mall to buy gifts for the Family Giving Tree. Claire wanted to choose two little girls her age. One wanted “anything princess” and the other wanted a child’s DVD.

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We went to Target, where Claire demonstrated her penguin walk:

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Then her eye was caught by a big pink box of temptation. I reminded her of our purpose for being in the store and said that pretty soon Santa would come, and other gifts would come from family members, and so to be patient. She selected Finding Nemo and a Beauty and the Beast Deluxe Bag (small dolls and dresses with a horse and carriage).

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We purchased the items and brought them back to the tree, where they will be picked up tomorrow. All that shopping made us hungry, so Claire asked to go to Popeye’s for rice and beans and french fries. We used to eat there a lot when we lived close by; since we were near, we went. We had a leisurely lunch.

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Then we went home, where I raked the leaves in the front yard. It was Claire’s first encounter with a pile of leaves, and she loved it! See the sheer joy:

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And leaves in her pigtails:

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This is all I had hoped for Claire’s childhood — the same joys I was privileged to encounter in my own:

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She has now crashed for a late afternoon nap, and I’m savoring a quiet moment myself.

For Today

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Outside my window… I see rain falling and a gray sky.

I am thinking… about the health of our cat, Stella. Tomorrow we’ll take her to the vet.

I am thankful for… a good night’s sleep.

From the kitchen… I have fresh homemade bread.

I am wearing… the usual — jeans, turtleneck, knit vest, with a pair of colorful new earrings to add dash.

I am creating… glittery wood ornaments as gifts for friends.

I am going… to wrap gifts this evening.

I am reading… chapters 11, 12, 13, and 14 again in Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life.

I am hoping… we all stay well the next few weeks!

I am hearing… the sounds of leaf-raking, an airplane descending to the airport, and boys skateboarding.

Around the house… lots of wrapping to do, the never-ending sweeping, and preparing to make a gingerbread house with Claire.

One of my favorite things… is getting personal email.

A few plans for the rest of the week: getting on the bike at 7:30 each day, and finding some time to just sit before bed.

Here is picture I am sharing..

the gramma tree

The Gramma Tree

Post idea borrowed from Surfside Serenity.

I Might Rather Talk About How Babies Are Made

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Husband and I are best described as agnostic. I grew up Catholic but am no longer practicing, and I do not agree with/believe/follow the creed. However, we are trying to ensure Claire grows up with an awareness of what this season is about beyond Santa (though Santa is special too, and about love). We read her books, such as Room for a Little One and This is the Stable. They are sweet books conveying the story of a special baby’s birth in humble circumstances. We also listen to a lot of carols, traditional and modern.

So we were listening to a song by Sean Colvin about Mary’s journey to Bethlehem. These days, Claire wants to know what every song is about. She asked about the song. I said it’s about a girl named Mary who journeyed a long way and had a baby in a Bethlehem stable and named him Jesus. Then she asked, “Who’s Jesus?”

Ummm… I said, “Jesus was a person who grew up to teach people to love each other, to be kind and compassionate and to forgive each other.”

That’s sufficient for a three-year-old, right? Then she asked, “What is Jesus’ Daddy’s name?”

Gulp! “Many people think a being named God is Jesus’ Daddy. But Joseph the carpenter was Mary’s husband and raised Jesus as his own son.” I’m the embodiment of finesse, I tell you!

Curiosity sufficiently sated for the moment, she moved on to another topic. She keeps me on my toes!

Anticipation

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this house! Claire is especially excited.

Our tree (before the star topper was decorated):

tree plus new tree skirt chosen by claire

I made the star 25 years ago when I was broke, using tin foil and cardboard. Claire added glue and glitter!

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Santa’s little elf can’t wait for Christmas. Every gift I wrap that she gets her hands on goes under the tree.

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I glued the little wood spoons that come with sherbet cups. Then Claire painted both sides, and put glue on, and then put the sequins and star on (both sides).

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And our stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

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Our advent calendar (which now has two ornaments stuck to it).

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And yesterday, Claire said, “Santa Claus makes special love so I feel happy in my heart and my heart feels love for everyone, and when they feel my big love I give them hugs and kisses.” Of course, she also wants a zillion toys from him too, but I think she understands the essence of the holiday. We read her picture books about the baby Jesus too, so she will understand the correlating story about this time of year.

It’s all about celebrating light and love this time of year.

Autumn Collage

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Claire started this by drawing branches with a green marker. Then we went to town with glue (I helped squeeze) and she chose what to put where and put stuff all over. We’re doing a lot of crafts lately, especially because Hub is out of town and we are together almost 24/7 (except for sleep).

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.

–Stanley Horowitz

autumn collage

Apple Crumble

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I’ve wanted to have an apple dessert that doesn’t require the fuss of a crust. Sometimes I just don’t want to bother with making the crust, and Claire wants to help make things too. So I found a crumble recipe. The first version didn’t turn out superbly, so I tinkered with the ingredients, with the following result.

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It was sublime. It’s a bit richer and sweeter than a pie (so smaller servings satisfy), since a pie crust is basically flour, butter, and little salt, while the crumble has sugar and spices in it. It really turned out well. Here’s my recipe (for a 10-inch wide, 2-inch deep pie pan):

Apple Crumble

6-8 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. tapioca (or 1.5 Tbsp. flour)
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg

Mix the apple slices together with the other ingredients and put it into a 10-inch pie pan.

2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 sticks of butter
1 ¾ cups rolled oats

Mix the first five ingredients together. Cut the butter into small pieces and use your fingers to mix butter into flour mixture until it looks like coarse sand. Mix in oats. Put the mixture on top of the apple slices; press down lightly. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.