Dentist Round Two

February 28, 2013February 28, 2013Leave a comment

And so we returned. But this time to a pediatric dentist in Dublin named Dr. Harring who was sent from the heavens, I’m quite sure. After a most hellacious experience a couple of months ago, this dental trip was a piece of cake. Jon had taken him a few weeks ago to an initial consultation with Dr. Harring and really liked him. It was at this time that he found 6 cavities in Mario’s mouth as well as a tooth that needed extracted because it was infected. Lovely. Just stick that “Mom of the Year” pin on my chest. I will never forget that sinking feeling I had when Jon texted me with the news. I was sick the rest of the day.

But then perspective opens up and you realize all you can do is move forward. And so we did. We promised Mario a Skylander and a a package of $4.99 coins for Heroup.com if he was a strong boy and stayed still. I ate a gallon of peanut butter chip ice cream the night before his appointment.

Spider-Man and I showed up at 9:15. The dental assistants loved his outfit. The waiting area has video games and toys to keep the kids busy. Nice touch.

The dentist arrived shortly after we walked back and hooked the laughing gas onto Mario, turned on Scooby and all went smoothly. At one point, Mario started waving his hands in the air and talking nonsense about the Scooby show. The doctor told him the gas should be relaxing him but Mario said “no way, I am hyper!” I asked the dentist to describe how Mario feels with the gas and he said it’s like us drinking two glasses of wine. Now the arm-waving makes sense.

I cringed when the dentist pulled Mario’s tooth but thanks to the gas and a boatload of novocaine, Mario felt nothing. He high-fived the dentist after it was over and bragged about going to get a Skylander. I told him that I wasn’t sure he needed a Skylander since the procedure was so simple. He told me I promised him. A deal is a deal – I will know next time (seeing we have at least two more visits to fix up those teeth – I am the toothbrush nazi every morning and night after this insanity).

We drove straight home because Mario decided he wanted to buy 2 $4.99 gold coin packages rather than a Skylander. When I went to try and buy them my credit card would not process. So I got irritated and restarted the computer and tried again. The second time it went through immediately. Then a screen popped up and told us our first try went through so that pipsqueak got $20 worth of gold. He loved that.

I called Patty to update her on the appointment and she had news for me when I told her how much I hate taking Mario to the dentist.

“Mario told me the other day that he loved going to the dentist because he got toys afterwards and got to stay out of school.”

I think I’ve been taken by that boy.

Stepping out

February 26, 20132 Comments

Our trip to Cancun started with a box of Whoppers and Bossypants. I must have snacks and a good book on a two-hour flight (in fact, any mode of transportation absent a bike requires emergency snacks).

We left Mario with Patty and Joe and Maria with Meg for the first two days of our trip and then M&M went to the farm for the weekend. Mario is beside himself at Patty and Joe’s house even more than before because they recently bought a Wii. Mario packed up his Skylanders and couldn’t wait to spend hours showing them off to Grandma and Grandpa (they will be sainted). It was almost as awesome as Christmas morning for him. While Mario was at Grandma’s house, he made a formal declaration to her: “Grandma! My mom doesn’t buy me any clothes that fit.” He did this after he went in the bedroom to get dressed and came out with a pair of high water pants and a long sleeve shirt that could have been short-sleeved on him. In my defense, I bought him clothes this year but I have tended towards the smaller sizes because up until this awakening with Patty, he never wanted pants that went to his ankles and he wanted his shirts skin-tight. So, I’m glad to see he’s turned a corner and that Patty got to be his personal shopper while we were away. He dragged her into Children’s Palace, picked out clothes, and had her and Joe wait outside while he tried them on in the changing rooms “like the girls get to do.” He walked out with an Oxford shirt and a pair of jeans and asked if he looked cooler than Justin Bieber. Patty told him he looked cooler. He was smitten. He found a tie to match his shirts and he was set. Thank you Patty for clothing our rock star.

Maria hung with Meg and dragged her all over the house to see random things – her fish, her clothes, her on-line games. She even got to take Meg to see her classroom and demand Meg to definitively tell her whether it was Jack’s old room or not. They ate pizza with Jen and hit Target for a new pair of hip peace symbol pajamas.

On Friday morning, Maria got the present of her life – a day off of school due to the ice accumulation. Poor Meg had to deal with the school closing (Jon and I lucked out!). Not only did she need to deal with the school closing – she had to deal with a migraine and vomiting. We would have never known had Maria not left me a voice mail that I got when I returned home on Saturday that went something like this: “Mom, please call me as soon as you hear this message. Something is very wrong with Grandma and we need you to come home.” Lovely. Meg ended up feeling better by later in the afternoon and luckily the kids were able to spend a few hours at the neighbors’ house dancing to Gangum Style while she rested. Mario got to eat chocolate for breakfast and Maria got to fill her cereal bowl with Lucky Charms so all was good with them.

Meanwhile, Jon and I ate like 16th century kings and played in the ocean like toddlers. We are one of few folks from Jon’s work that actually go into the ocean, probably because there are always red flags on the beach (meaning you shouldn’t enter) and because you wouldn’t want to hit the waves if you are the tiniest bit intoxicated. The waves were angry this year, and Jon and I were hurting after a half hour in the water. We limped out complaining that our shoulders hurt, our legs were weak, our calves were twitching. It’s not easy getting old and still acting like you’re two. But we continued to jump in every day we were there. We may be immobile for the next two weeks but we did it.

I had a rough Wednesday night and Thursday due to some rockin’ gin and tonics. There was something about the ocean, full moon and 80’s music that made me do it. And it will be another year before I do it again. I just don’t have it in me to recover quickly. I woke up in my dress Thursday morning with Jon laughing at me. I felt like I had swallowed a cat. When I stood up, my legs felt like spaghetti. I was hurting. I tried to make it the gym to ride the bike with the hopes of sweating some of those nasty toxins out of me but as soon as I pedaled, it felt like someone was squeezing my head in a vice. It was no use. I went back to the room and curled up in a ball. Jon returned from breakfast and shook his head.

The rest of the day consisted of a facial and a massage and lots of steam room and sauna action. I refused to leave the steam room until I was dripping in sweat. Those little alcohol toxins were going to be blasted out of my body somehow if not by exercise. I ate two entrees for lunch. We sat with Jon’s colleague, Dave and his wife Jen (the “sporty couple”). They are always a treat with hilarious stories about their kids or their house or some random event that happened to them. They also give us a little glimpse of what M&M may be like in a few years since their kids are a few years older than ours.

By the evening, I was back with the living. We had dinner at a fish house with Jon’s boss and others on Jon’s team. We sat outside and chowed down on crab, lobster and apple pie. One of Jon’s friends, Craig and his wife Julie (the “healthy couple”) sat with us at dinner. Craig gets on Jon for eating McDonald’s for breakfast; he gasps when he hears Jon order his breakfast and tries to urge him to eat oatmeal instead. God love him. There was an ongoing joke at the restaurant that Craig and Jon were “together” since they sat next to one another (I sat across from Jon and Julie and Julie and I decided the boys could have each other). It led to much laughter through the evening in addition to the laughter that came from discussing 80’s tv shows (Love Boat, Dynasty, Eight is Enough, Chips – it was hilarious to hear the names of these shows that we all grew up with in the 70’s and 80’s).

Friday was a much more friendly day to me. I had not drunk at all on Thursday night and my body thanked me. I got out of bed ready to take a run in the heat and hit the gym. Jon and I hit the breakfast bar together, too, which is one of our favorite things to do on these vacations. For a girl who loves chocolate and bread, I was in heaven, Chocolate croissants, french toast with almond slices, nutella, chocolate donuts, chocolate muffins. Maria would have been hitting the bar with me five times over if she was there. We swam in the ocean again Friday and then met up with the president of Jon’s company and a throng of others to have dinner at a Mayan restaurant. We sat with a good group of folks including Jon’s colleague, Joe and his wife Lydia (the “chic couple”). They are precious. Lydia is Sicilian so Joe had some hilarious stories about dinner with her parents. He also told us the story of why he enjoys Porsches and VWs so much. Jon wants to follow in Joe’s footsteps and buy a Porshe. I told him he could if Joe promises to provide maintenance on so it so we avoid throwing thousands of dollars at a car shop when something goes awry.

We were so full after our dinner on Friday night we could barely move. We packed up some of our clothes for our 8 am departure on Saturday but then gave up and laid on the bed like two beached whales. When the morning hit, I did one last run to remember the hot weather (I would much rather run in cold weather) and then hit the breakfast bar with Jon. We got to the airport two hours early as the hotel requires us to do and then found out that our flight was delayed three hours. So we had five hours to kill. We played Gin Rummy and ate Dominos pizza. It was the bomb even though Jon is up 7-4 on me. But I did win our one and only game of Crazy Eights. Yeah, I’m bad.

We arrived home late Saturday night and called the kids. They were so excited to hear from us they couldn’t stop grabbing the phone from one another. That felt good. Meg said that Maria cried for me when the night-time rolled around – sweet baby. Mario got me on the phone to tell me he thought of me when he looked at the sky and he wanted to see me – second sweet baby. I hung up the phone feeling loved. The kids reported their adventures when they returned from the farm – Mario helped Peepaw cut a trail in the woods (he showed me his cuts from the thorns); Maria helped Peepaw clean bird nests and found two blue eggs and Meg taught her the process of sewing (that is a talent we need in this house). Both kids got to go fishing on Saturday when it was a tepid 45 degrees outside. They got some bites but no fish.

When they arrived home on Sunday, I ran out to greet them. I got two of the longest, strongest hugs in a while and sat on my knees enjoying them. Then I got pulled inside to look at Maria’s eggs and to show Mario where the iPad was so he could play on it – he hadn’t been around technology for two whole days! Maria was by his side within minutes helping him try to buy gold coins to use in his Spiderman game. And we are back to normal….

Serenades

February 18, 2013February 18, 2013Leave a comment

I asked Mario to sing me a quick song for Valentine’s Day last week after I sang one to him on our drive home. The only way he’d agree to sing me a song is if I’d stop singing to him (neither child appreciates my voice).

And this is why I will never refuse a request from the kids to jump in bed and snuggle.

When we picked up Maria, I did the same thing – sang her a Valentine’s ballad. She, too, agreed to sing me a song if I stopped crooning. We went from sweet, innocent Mario to sultry, Lady Gaga Maria.

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I knew my daughter would be…

February 18, 2013February 18, 20133 Comments

I always doubted when parents would say “I knew my child was going to be a veterinarian when….” Really? You gathered that your daughter would be a vet when she rubbed a kitten’s belly and it purred?! It seemed more the parent’s wish than the innate skills of the child.

But that skepticism was blown to pieces when Maria brought Jon and I together to resolve a spat we were having. Ri had overheard us bickering and came to the rescue. We had been bickering about something she didn’t need to know about so I made up something when she asked the problem. She sat Jon and me down opposite one another and had me explain the issue.

Me: “I wanted dad to take me to lunch today and he couldn’t.”

Maria: “Is that true, dad?”

Dad: “Yes, bu-”

Maria: “Hold on. Just answer the question, dad. Now mom, when did you tell dad you wanted to go to lunch?”

Me: “I called him at lunchtime.”

Maria: “So you waited until lunch to tell him you wanted to go to lunch? Do you understand he has work to do?”

Me: “Well he’s usually available.”

Dad: “I have asked your mom to lunch a bunch of times and she always says she’s too busy.”

Maria: “Really? Is that true, mom?”

Me: “Yes.”

Maria: “Then it seems that dad has tried to go to lunch with you in the past and you’ve always said no. Does that seem fair to get mad at him because he was working and couldn’t take you today?”

Me: “I guess not.”

I am an attorney but I have no particular desire to have my kids go into the profession. However, after the cross-examination from Ri, I can definitely see it. If she does become a lawyer, I will look back at that moment in time and say “I knew my daughter would be a lawyer the night she sat my hubby and I down…”

Then again, I could probably say the same if she became a psychologist or marriage counselor because after her grilling of us she gave us advice on spending time together by finding a place where I could eat chocolate and Jon could eat a sandwich and we could be together for a while alone.

Piece of work, she is.

Riding the see-saw

February 17, 2013February 17, 2013Leave a comment

Behave as if tomorrow is your last day.

So that has been my motto the last few days. I had to figure out something that would make me pay attention to all of the wonders before me: my hubby and kids, my family, my home, warm socks, Lucky Charms cereal. I had such a maddening couple of weeks at work that I lost balance and found myself on the low end of the see-saw that was stuck in the mud on the ground. I’d come home to kids who yelled “Mom!” and I would put on a smile for them but as they ran away to get a game to play or show me a cool toy, my smile vanished and I stood in the room all funked out. It didn’t help that I got my hair cut in those same maddening work weeks. I went to a new gal and told her I wanted bangs.

“Just make me blond and give me bangs – what the hell,” I told her one night after work.

Usually stylists are hesitant to make that move, especially if you are a new client. But this gal had bright red hair, tattoos everywhere, and quite a few piercings so if I told her to go for it, she was going for it – no questions asked. She completed her work and I wanted to sob. Yellow canary hair and straight, straw-like bangs. I couldn’t have looked less attractive. We took another hour and a half to tone down the yellow but I still walked away feeling like a mix between a monster and an 80’s punk rocker. It didn’t help that when I walked in the house, Jon’s mouth dropped and all he could say was “Oh My God.” Actually, he said one more word after that. “Thor.” Yeah, he called me “Thor.” I couldn’t really remember what Thor looked like but I knew he was making fun of me. A few minutes, he called me into his office with the kids. He had a picture of “Thor” on his computer screen, and pointed to it. The kids felt my pain and responded “that does not look like mom, dad! Only his hair looks like mom!” I wanted to crawl into bed and not return to society.

But alas, within a couple of hours, I was laughing with them about my hair and putting it all into perspective. It’s just a haircut, heh? Really, so I look like a male warrior, it could be worse. Not sure how, but it could be.

And so I decided this weekend that I would turn myself around – change my negative thinking and get on with it. I am now back on balance somewhat. Riding close to the middle of the see-saw. I even managed to handle a trip out to Dover on Saturday with Jon, the kids and Patty and Joe. I was a little frantic about the trip on Friday night because I wanted that day to prepare for Jon and I’s Cancun trip. I had also found out from Vicki a few nights earlier that the baby shower we were heading to (hence the trip to Dover) was going to have 100 people and be three hours long. Baby showers are those necessary evils that you must attend because a baby is going to be born! When you are the mother-to-be, it is the greatest ever. When you are a guest, it can be taxing at times, especially when there are 60+ gifts to open. But the visit went much better than anticipated. I got to spend time with Patty, and the kids got to torture her in the backseat by making her watch Homer Simpson iPad games and color rulers. We got to eat cupcakes and talk to Vicki and look at all the sute baby clothes that Stacy got. Maria got to sit next to Bianca and listen to her and her friend talk about random things like make-up, hair and boys. She was mesmerized. There were a few other little girls there ranging from ages 3 to 10. Maria was ok playing with the three-year old because she just held her around the lobby but she was completely awkward around the 10 year old girls. I had to stand out in the hall with her for 20 minutes making conversation with the other girls (who were just sweet as can be). When I finally told Ri I had to go back ot the party, she stood out there a few more minutes but then came back inside. She eventually went back out in the hall after some prodding and had a good time with the girls but she is not the chatty-kathys like Patty and me. She has got her dad in her in that area. She has always been one to choose to hang with the adults – even when she was three years old. It is that old soul in her.

We went back to Big Mario’s and Vicki’s house for some wine and some trampoline jumping (yeah, be careful mixing the two). After an hour or so talking with them, we drove home in near white-out conditions at times. Luckily, Jon drove. Patty and I kept the kids busy (she read an entire Aesop’s Fables book to Mario and I made up stories with Ri) until we got home. Then we ate more cookies and cupcakes and went to sleep at 9:30.

We woke up on a frigid Sunday morning and made chocolate chip-peanut-butter pancakes and eggs. It was heaven. I read them a few facts from the newspaper as we ate (the Pope is resigning; the economy is looking better; the Underground Railroad Freedom Center is in Cincy and we need to go soon). At one point Mario looked up at me with chocloate chips caked around his mouth and all over his hands. I almost let out an exasperated sigh but some other force came over me and I laughed. I laughed hysterically, which caused the kids to laugh hysterically. We couldn’t stop. It was marvelous. And awakening.

The moment took me to the high end of the see-saw.

Valentine wish

February 14, 2013February 14, 2013Leave a comment

To my Valentines:

You go to bed too late
You rarely clean up your rooms
You are louder than a cheering crowd
But you certainly make your mama proud.

You love to eat sugary nonsense
You forget to brush your teeth
You complain about a bath
But you sure do make your mama laugh.

You stomp through the house
Tracking dirt and toys everywhere
You whine when I make you clean your piles
But you always make your mama smile.

You love to jump all over the house
You are addicted to technology
You wrestle and play fight all night long
But you sure do make your mama strong.

So on this Valentine’s Day
Will you do me a big favor?
Will you never change a thing about you?
Because mama adores you and dad does too!

Bugs, cousins and grandmas

February 10, 2013February 10, 20132 Comments

Mario got the horrid bug first. He woke up on Wednesday morning complaining that he felt like he was going to throw up. We’ve all been fighting colds so we told him it was just mucus build-up. Within five minutes of dismissing his complaint, he was violently throwing up in our bathroom. His whole body trembled as if an alien possessed him. He cried and begged to not throw up anymore. If there are two people who hate to throw up, it’s Jon and Mario. So guess who got it next? Yep, Big Jon. Poor things. Mario wanted me by his side for the entire day holding his hand and rubbing his back. I willfully obliged. Jon wanted left alone with good reason. They both got over the crux of it within 24-48 hours, thank god.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling funny and ended up in bed all day. I didn’t have as bad of symptoms and with lots of sleep, I think I have dodged the worst of it as I write this on Sunday afternoon.

Mario had his buddy Quinn over while I was held up in bed. Those two played Skylanders for three hours – only taking breaks to eat Mac-n-cheese and wrestle. Quinn is a dream playmate for Mario.

Later that night, Quinn’s folks took Mario for dinner and a movie. Jon and I were so bummed not being able to take advantage of a night out alone with me still ill and Jon recovering. Instead we sat in the family room and watched National Geographic and felt like we were 85.

Meanwhile, Maria was having the time of her life at Grandma and Grandpa Ionno’s house with her cousin Alana. I am so glad Patty took them for the weekend because they are seeing less and less of each other as they get older. They are making their own friends which is great but I don’t want them to lose sight of each other. This is a little taste of the dress-up party happening up north…

Maria’s tough self never got the bug. She was fine leaving her family in the infested house and escaping to her grandma’s house. She got treated to Tim Horton’s (a girl’s morning out on Saturday) and to spaghetti and meatballs and to Grandma’s fine attire and shoes!

Jon’s reaction was priceless when he opened this picture Maria sent him.

“Holy cra-!”

My sentiments exactly. Sweatpants and sweatshirts for that girl from now on.

Skylanders and baby dolls

February 6, 2013February 6, 2013Leave a comment

Mario got quite the treat last week. He got out of two days of school because Grandma and Grandpa Ionno picked him up Wednesday night. Patty had been with her brother in Marietta who is recovering from the flu and also battling COPD. She’s been his rock. It has taken its toll on her though. And her way to recover – take Mario. Seems paradoxical but it’s true. Mario loves spending his days in his pjs with G&G (and doesn’t mind donuts and Grandma’s cooking either!) and Patty and Joe love his presence.

Mario also gets spoiled too death (as do all grand kids when they head up north). He got two Skylanders when he went to Meijer’s with Grandma. Unfortunately, Grandma doesn’t have Wii at her house. He was torn between Grandma’s house and home. Eventually, the desire to watch his new Skylanders in action overtook him and he called us to pick him up (of course, every time he does this he begs to go back to gmGrandma’s within a few hours!). Jon drove up north to retrieve the nut and he ran in the back door, hugged Ri and me, and went straight to the Wii.

After playing on his own a bit, he begged Jon to play. Jon doesn’t mind it too much (boys and their video games) and before we knew it, Ri and I saw two boys chillin’ and laughin’ with Skylanders.

Meanwhile, Maria has found a renewed interest in baby dolls and loves to play that I’m the grandma and she’s the mom. She cuddles with her newborn and feeds her a bottle but as soon as the baby poops, she hands her over to “grandma.” I see how she’s gonna be….

Hittin’ the jackpot

January 30, 2013January 30, 20131 Comment

Jon and I hit the jackpot with our kids. No doubt about it. Sure, they may be rather animated at times and want to butt their way into many a conversation but their warmth and depth and compassion bring me to my knees.

Last night, instead of playing Skylander or having a friend over, they gathered clothes and books to take to the Overflow Homeless Shelter. We drive over and dropped off our items and ended up staying for a half hour because Mario was making the male staff members crack up with his dancing and Maria was engaged in an in-depth conversation with the female staff members about school. As we walked out, they both thought of ways we could help out next week.

“Maybe we could get blankets so they stay warm.”

“Could we bring them coats so when they have to leave in the morning, they won’t be cold?”

Ri has always had that caring soul instilled in her. Since she was three, she has always been willing to give her stuffed animals away to children in need. Mario, well, he needs a little more teaching. But he is coming around. He likes to give his time to others and loves to make people laugh.

I was so proud of them last night.

Then we wake up this morning and I come out of the bathroom to find Mario rubbing Ri’s back because her tooth hurts. I asked him what he was doing and he looked up at me as if I had no reason to be surprised by his actions and says: “I’m taking care of my sissy.”
8 am rolled around and Ri engaged in her usual sergeant drills pushing Mario and I to hurry up. But when she saw Mario struggling with tying his shoes and heard him plea with Ri and me to watch him tie them, she let go of the time and watched him. Indeed, she even video-taped him so dad could see “what a big boy Mario was this morning.”

Yep, no doubt about it, we hit the jackpot with these two pumpkins.

Cincy weekend

January 29, 2013January 29, 2013Leave a comment

We finally made it down to Cincy two weekends ago over the MLK holiday (we talked about MLK on the trip down and what an impact he had on the civil rights movement; Maria explained to Mario how unfairly black people were treated and how MLK helped change the world so people would be nicer to each other). Sarah and Jorge ended up in town, too, because Sarah was interviewing Grandma Menkedick’s friends for a school project.

It was the normal tornado of a trip. Mom and I made big plans to take the kids and Gracie to Union Terminal for the kids museum. Maria had begged to head to the train museum and funhouse but I told her I wanted to go downtown. We got to the Terminal, spent $6 on parking, walked inside, and found a line that snaked nearly the entire one side of the Terminal. An hour and a half wait. I wanted to cry … or hot someone. Although Union Terminal is only 30 minutes from my mom’s house, it feels like hours when you have to drive down I-75. We trudged back to the car and headed back up I-75 to the train museum. The kids were not disappointed at all. Mom and I did pretty good keeping our frustration inside if us. Mario made us laugh after I said I had to pee; he pointed out an “outhouse” on the side of the road for me to use (it was a port a potty for construction workers).

The train museum provides about a half hour of train viewing (it takes all our might to get the kids to stand still to read the plaques) and a half hour of play in the jungle gym area. I think Ri and Mario are getting too old for it. But they lived vicariously through Gracie.

The area that they really wanted to go to was the Fun House. It had the obligatory cardboard cut-out that the kids could put their faces in. Grandma Lolo situated their faces just right in the hole so they really looked like tiger trainers.

I had been through the Fun House once before when Laura introduced us to the museum last year. It scared me too death, especially the House of Mirrors. I felt claustrophobic and trapped. It was Maria’s favorite. I warned mom about it and she was equally fearful. But the kids were full-on ready to go.

We hit the “easy” areas first. The Clown room only made you feel sick with the slanted rooms. Next we hit the curtain room, which I forgot was just as bad as the mirror house. Mom and I were hyperventilating by the time we found our way out (thanks to Ri and Mario). Then we went to the Hall of Mirrors and continued to be horrified. Way too much for us to handle. The kids laughed hysterically at mom and me running into mirrors. Finally, we agreed to the Cosmos House which was kinda cool but at the end it had two huge black cushions squeezed together mimicking a Black Hole. You had to push through them to get out. Ri was the only brave one. The rest of us went out the Exit door. Mario finally got the guts to do it if I held his hand and once he did it, he wouldn’t stop.

Before we left, Mom braved the Hall of Mirrors one more time with Mario (quite a feat!) and I went through the Black Hole cushions. Yea, we’re tougher than we think. As a reward, we got ice cream and chips at the concession stand.

Mom and I felt like we had been out since 6 am when we returned home. She went for margaritas with Sarah and Jorge and I went to Julie’s to hang out with Liz and Grace and M&M. We got LaRosas – I’d take LaRosas over margaritas any day. The kids play great together at these ages; Grace still let’s Maria baby her to some extent and Grace laughs her head off at Mario which he soaks up. We topped the night off with UDF ice cream and cozying up with Sar and Jorge in mom’s basement.

The next morning we got to see Maggie and eat pecan pancakes and goetta thanks to Julie. Goetta is pure heaven and a treat not known by many people in Columbus. I grew up with it in Cincy – pork and oats all fried up . Yum! After filling our tummies, we went back to Grandma Lolo’s and she got out random small boxes and soaps for Ri to smell. This has been a tradition since Ri was born. Smelling soaps. They sit on the upstairs floor and lay them all out. Meanwhile, Mario was in search of cash. He found coins in Grandma’s jewelry case and asked her if he could have them. She said he could have a couple. He responded with “how about two handfuls?” She agreed to one handful. His right hand was spilling over with money.

She then showed him a dollar coin. He wanted it. She said she’d give him a dollar bill. His response: “could you give me ten dollar bills? She replied “how about two?” He said he’d take three. She walked downstairs chuckling and commented “your son is quite the negotiator.” As we packed up our things, Mario held tight to his money and even kissed it at one point. The 2013 Gordon Gecko.

My mom was getting on her coat and gloves to take Lou for a walk in the park so we decided to head out with her and leave from there. We needed some crisp Winter air before our two hour drive. The park looked like a scene in a fairy tale. Bright white snow balancing on the tree branches and blanketing the water in the pond. No one but us running through the woods and climbing up the ladders to the slides.

We kissed Grandma and Lou goodbye and headed back to our Columbus home. Dad was waiting for us in order to take M&M to gymnastics. I got the duty of heading to the grocery store to pick up dinner. Man, I wish Columbus had LaRosas.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Kids