Mama's Memories for M: Green Food, Great Friends, and Gorgeous Weather

Maliana ~

We have had some great reprieves from the winter weather this week. Dare I say that spring has arrived? I probably just jinxed all of Ohio by saying that, but oh well.

Here are a few pics of us airing ourselves out from the winter...

getting the "hog" ready for the road

you are doing so much better on your scooter this spring ~
like you've been riding one for years!

playing with our amazingly sweet neighbors outside...and yes,
you're all wearing shorts in March!

running to the park with Mommy, stopping to pose on one of my
favorite bridges along the way

you were nervous and scared of this slide at first, but
after a few practice runs with me, you
CONQUERED it!

While we have had fun getting back outside again this week, so has everyone else and therefore it has been tough (for me at least) to deal with all of the other "less than ideally behaved" kids (and parents) who we have had the opportunity to experience. Let me elaborate just a bit.

Here's a status from Facebook that I posted to give you the gist...

~ had a great run to the playground, frollicked in the sunshine and got good and dirty in the sandpit with the munchkin...however just want to post a little word to the wise for any Westerville parents of unruly children ~ If you choose not to parent your kids, I'm more than happy to do it for you, but you won't like it. No one messes with my little girl without dealing with this "mama bear".

I won't go into a lot of detail, but I will say that the two that woke my "mama bear" and elicited some assertive and protective responses from her were "the sand thrower" and "the territorial bully". I suppose I can't be too shocked to see certain behaviors from kids since the process of proper socialization is all about learning rules, pushing boundaries, and trial and error for most littles. However, I get downright enraged when I see the parents of these children purposely turning a blind eye to their hideous behavior. It makes me cringe, and then I see red. We did meet a few nice kids on that particular day, and we generally meet many nice kids on our outings, so I can't let this taint how I view everything. But I don't think I'll ever get over the lack of parenting by some so-called parents.

This whole episode also further brought to light the fact that I'm not always going to be there for you either. As we ran back home along the trail, I had this sinking and helpless feeling. You are getting bigger, and therefore able to do so many more things on your own, including mixing it up with kids on a playground (or wherever) while being out of earshot from me. You already go to preschool, and next year you will start kindergarten, so I know that the possibility of mean-spirited run-ins and difficult situations is probably already here. But to see it happen with my own eyes really brought it home. It makes me worry that I'm not arming you with enough self esteem to blow off any disparaging remarks that you are bound to hear (after all, you can't grow up without hearing some inane or mean comment from someone sometime), enough self assurance to know when some little jerk or bully is full of crap, and then enough chutzpah to tell them so. From what I've witnessed of you so far, you appear secure and confident, wisely cautious at times but sure of yourself once comfortable, with a strong sense of who you are no matter what. After all, you were able to stand up to a bully for another little kid, like I mentioned in this blog, just a couple weeks ago. But I just worry. I guess that's naturally a part of my personality, and a part of the job description of being a mom as well. Not my favorite part of either, but I'll take it.

And speaking of that courageous little personality of yours, a couple things happened this week to exemplify your striking presence and assertiveness. For one, Daddy took you to his gym on Monday night and instead of playing with the kids' toys, you did the Crossfit workout along with the adults. And you did a FABULOUS job too! Everyone was thoroughly impressed. Even the owner of the gym came over and made a comment about how great it was that you were so enthusiastic about exercising with everyone, and also about how strong you were and what endurance you had. You wowed them all and the next night had many people wondering where you were when Daddy showed up solo. You are such an old soul.

Welcome to the Gun Show!

The other instance happened on the way to school with Daddy. Evidently, Daddy was a bit stressed with another driver and, not realizing he was being so closely observed, began muttering and cursing under his breath, then escalated to honking and getting more angy. Once the situation had subsided and all was status quo, from the backseat he heard a calm little voice say, "Daddy, that was not nice. That's not a big boy. I'm disappointed in you." When he called to relay all of this to me at work, he said he felt more convicted hearing that from you than from anyone else in his life. Just like one of my favorite quotes, "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." -Angela Schwindt. Ain't that the truth?

This week also brought a nice treat in the form of spending time with our Audrey Ayi who just finished her classes for this quarter at OSU. We haven't seen her for a while because she has been so busy with work and school. So, after her last final, we met her at Easton and treated her to dinner at PF Chang's to celebrate. Yummy!

Congratulations Audrey Ayi!

bellies are full and we've got our Audrey Ayi,
life is good!

We then rounded out our week visiting a child psychologist for the first time. I want to see what we can do about increasing your cooperation to make the most out of your speech therapy for the next 6 months before your scope, and also to get some ideas for how to better encourage you to allow Daddy to put you to bed without throwing a huge fit. For some reason, that has been dubbed as Mommy's job and you freak if he even attempts it. You were spectacular during the appointment and we have lots of good ideas to try out. We'll see how it all goes!

When we got home, you and I took a walk and discovered all of the new buds on the trees and began talking about what happens during spring. I just love this mild weather! Then Daddy took you to the grocery store with him and you had fun finding empty aisles and speeding like mad in your race car (aka the grocery cart). I love that Daddy is just a big kid sometimes and is "that dad" for you. He sure does know how to have fun. And while you still didn't want him to put you to bed that night, you did say "I love you" all on your own to him when he came to say goodnight. It's a start!

Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and what a day it was! I started it by telling you "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" as soon as you opened your eyes, and you ever so sweetly said, "Thank you" and then "Thank you for waking me up!" and then..."Did you get me a gift for the holiday?" Ha ha. We headed into the kitchen where I did give you the rainbow and gold surprise I'd made for you as well as made you green milk with your Lucky Charms for breakfast. Earlier in the week we had also made special St. Patrick's Day pretzel buttons together. It was all very tasty!

rainbow Twizzlers and gold peanut butter cups!

green milk with your Lucky Charms!

our lucky pretzel buttons!

We headed out to celebrate the luckiest of all days with our buddies, the Yersavich crew. If anyone knows how to whoop it up on this day, it's these guys. First we all piled into the car and headed to the parade downtown, then went to the Irish Family Reunion at Vets Memorial, then onto Joe's sister Gail's house to celebrate with the family there and eat corned beef and cabbage (of course). It was a really nice time. Their family is so warm, friendly, and welcoming. You got to play with a bunch of kids, and of course your beloved Sammy and Erin (about whom over breakfast you said, "I looove Sammy and Erin!), all evening. And as it turns out, you really dig corned beef! I didn't manage to get my camera out nearly as much as I usually do, but I did get some pretty cute shots (if I do say so myself).

we are ready! let's party!

silly leprechauns

on our way downtown with Colleen, Sam, Abigail, Erin, and yourself

waiting for the parade with Abigail and Erin

waving to the nice Irish balloon man...but wait,
what IS that THING on his face?!

squeezing the last bit of fun out of our broken
dollar store shamrock glasses

Unfortunately Daddy had to work on St. Patty's Day and couldn't celebrate with us. So I definitely want to give a big THANK YOU to Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina for including us in their shenanigans! We had a blast from morning until night!

Sunday morning was a nice day with wonderful weather yet again! You headed to Gena's for breakfast with Daddy while Lao Lao and I went walking on the trail. After being gone all day yesterday, you loved spending the morning with Daddy at your favorite local cafe. Unfortunately, a long time diner there had passed away the day before, so the staff was much more somber than usual with many sad patrons extending their condolences and words of comfort all morning. Before leaving, Daddy made sure you went around and gave everyone hugs to help them feel better. Sometimes in life when you can't find the right words to say in difficult times, always remember the power of something as simple and silent as a hug. It can go farther than any words and do pretty amazing things.

Sunday night we had our friends Ziying and Zuchao (You You and William) over for dinner. We had a wonderful time with them, in spite of a huge scary storm complete with tornado sirens! Geesh, right!? Anyway, during the storm, you kept saying, "Don't look now but..." and then finish with something random. It was pretty comical. We then played a pretty hysterical game of Guesstures after dinner with you even joining in and taking turns like the rest of us. We coached you on your first couple, and then you ended up "coaching" us on ours. You are always so excited to be included in anything the adults are doing, and You You made the comment about how smart you are. Before they left, you brought them upstairs to show them your new bed and You You read you "Ten Apples Up On Top" by Dr Suess and taught you how to say "good night" in Chinese, which is "wan an". Which reminds me, during dinner you and You You kept toasting each other with "Ganbei!" over and over (and over and over) again. You really took to both of them, and especially You You. It was all very sweet.