It takes more than car seats

When I first became a parent, I knew my role was to keep this precious new bundle safe.  I knew to buckle him into his car seat.  I knew to carefully introduce new foods.  I knew to cover my electrical outlets.  I knew to place a gate at the top of the stairs.  I knew to make him wear his bicycle helmet, and look both ways before crossing the street.  I knew to teach him not to talk to strangers.

I never would have guessed that I might need to keep him safe from his friends’ parents.

Nothing happened with The Snake, but I heard a disturbing tale from a classmate’s mother.  Apparently, her daughter was invited to a playdate with a classmate.  During this playdate, the other child’s mother asked her a number of pointed questions about her parents.  Questions about how old they were, where they worked and what cars they drove.  While certainly these may have simply been a lame poor attempt at conversation, it seemed rather evident that this parent had some ulterior motives.

I wasn’t exactly cool or popular in school (you’re shocked, I know), but I thought that I’d left all that behind in high school.  Perhaps I’m a tad idealistic, but I expected that parents of kindergartners would be focused on helping them navigate sight words and shoving on the playground.  Not using them as a means to potentially denigrate another adult.

I’d like to blame the scenario completely on my locale, but I’m not that naive.  While we have moved to the land of glamour and shallow narcissism, I’m not foolish enough to think that such behavior is exclusive to this environment.  I can easily see it happening across the country.  Frankly, it saddens me.  With all the demands of contemporary society for today’s children, do we really need to heap on our own insecurities?

I dislike people

Being the primary caregiver for 5-month-old twins and one five-year-old means I don’t really get out much.  When I do, lately it just seems to remind me why I don’t like people.  Is that surprising?  I mean, really, I became a veterinarian ’cause I don’t like people.  Although like many vets, I realized too late that unless Tiger has his own trust fund, he ain’t paying the bills — which means dealing with people.

In the spirit of some recent little baiting by a bloggy friend (hello Mrs. Chicken!), here are some of the reasons I don’t like people:

• People ignore the HUGE double stroller headed toward them on the sidewalk and don’t make room
• People come flying out of parking lots and almost plow into my HUGE double stroller
• People take the California pedestrian right of way to extremes and take 20 min to cross
• People stand right in the entrance gate to school and gossip while everyone else is trying to pick up their kids
• People talk on their cell phone while driving their Mercedes
• People shove past little old ladies in their rush to vote
• People think they can stop me and touch my babies just ’cause there are two of them
• People don’t pick up after their dog
• People come home at 2 am and shout and stomp up their stairs and slam their door which is 4 feet from my open bedroom window

I could go on …

Disclaimer:  There are some certain LITTLE people that I DO like.

Oh, and my family, friends and bloggy pals are, of course, exempt.

If only …

they’d do this more often.

I’ll dig you up …

and take you wherever I go.  – quote from The Snake upon passing a cemetery

We had been trying to explain that many people bury the dead and visit the grave.  He decided this was unacceptable, and it would be better to bury his dear mother in the front yard.  Oh, and if he moves, he vowed to be sure I got to come along.

Oh sweet boy, just be sure the fuzz doesn’t know.

I Wanna Be a Rockstar

The Snake ready to rock out on Halloween

It was a nice Halloween.  The Snake had a good night, despite missing the old neighborhood a bit.  The fruit babies and I stayed home waiting for trick-or-treaters who never arrived, that’s right, not a single one.  Now I’ve got 5 bags of candy.  So much for the last 2 pounds I lost.  *sigh* 

A more mellow singer-songwriter moment

Rock-n-Roll is hard work, so is trick-or-treatin