Lately, I've noticed that my kids have gotten politeness, sort of.
The other day, I was busy and Mark asked me to stop and do something for him. I told him he could wait for me to finish or do it himself. He replied by singing a song from a kids' show, "You help me and I'll help you." I explained that I didn't need his help at the moment and that he could do it himself. He shouted, "Ex-Cuse ME!?! Tha's not the point! The song says 'You help me and I'll help you. Tha's the point. Tha's the song, mom." I smiled, finished my project, and helped, per the song.
A couple days ago, I asked Anjali to finish a chore and she replied, "No thanks, Mom," and kept walking. I insisted that even polite disobeying was not working for me.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Trip to the North Shore
This weekend we took our first family trip to the North Shore. Our first stop was a new marina just north of Duluth and we got out to climb around.
Our hotel was in Silver Bay and after dinner we went for a walk to see the town mascot, Rocky Taconite. The kids took a shine to Rocky and Mark took this photo.
We all choose what we most wanted to do- 3 votes for rock climbing and Mom's vote for walking the pier at Two Harbors. So we stopped at another marina to rock climb, then traveled to Gooseberry Falls for more rock climbing. Here's Mark and Tim up the falls.
We went to a naturalist class and learned new things about fish. Mark was a sunny, Anjali was a catfish, and I was a rainbow trout. Mark's stripes help sunnies blend into seaweed, Anjali's feelers (see green yarn hanging down) help catfish feel food in the mud, and my spots help trout blend into rocks.
My flat tail indicates that trout are not fast swimmers while the deep groove between fins on the kids means that sunnies and catfish are faster. Gotta say that wiggling my tail while talking through a dixie cup mouth pretty much made my afternoon. :) Had to capture that for the blog.
Tim made friends with a large pillow rainbow trout. Mark asked what it's name was and since the naturalist didn't know, Mark decided that it was a girl trout and named her Ahri. Also a blog moment captured by Mark.
We finished our adventures at Two Harbors where for the 4th time in 24 hours, Tim and the kids climbed rocks.
Then we drove home slowly through crazy construction and traffic. Kids were great sports and now we've got some food for thought about our SD trip in September.
Good times!
Our hotel was in Silver Bay and after dinner we went for a walk to see the town mascot, Rocky Taconite. The kids took a shine to Rocky and Mark took this photo.
We all choose what we most wanted to do- 3 votes for rock climbing and Mom's vote for walking the pier at Two Harbors. So we stopped at another marina to rock climb, then traveled to Gooseberry Falls for more rock climbing. Here's Mark and Tim up the falls.
We went to a naturalist class and learned new things about fish. Mark was a sunny, Anjali was a catfish, and I was a rainbow trout. Mark's stripes help sunnies blend into seaweed, Anjali's feelers (see green yarn hanging down) help catfish feel food in the mud, and my spots help trout blend into rocks.
My flat tail indicates that trout are not fast swimmers while the deep groove between fins on the kids means that sunnies and catfish are faster. Gotta say that wiggling my tail while talking through a dixie cup mouth pretty much made my afternoon. :) Had to capture that for the blog.
Tim made friends with a large pillow rainbow trout. Mark asked what it's name was and since the naturalist didn't know, Mark decided that it was a girl trout and named her Ahri. Also a blog moment captured by Mark.
We finished our adventures at Two Harbors where for the 4th time in 24 hours, Tim and the kids climbed rocks.
Then we drove home slowly through crazy construction and traffic. Kids were great sports and now we've got some food for thought about our SD trip in September. Good times!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
911 twice in 2 days
Two days in a row we saw ambulances come. One Tim and Anjali saw when an elderly lady fell in a store parking lot, hit her head, and was bleeding.
The second was Tuesday when our neighbor, Hodan, had difficulty breathing, when she went to the park with us. Her sister mentioned an inhaler and I knew we couldn't walk her back home for it in time. As she lay gasping on the ground, a friendly stranger, Ayan, with a cell phone stopped and helped me dial 911. I talked with a paramedic by phone until the ambulance arrived. I was terrified and Anjali cried. I had no idea how to help her myself and could only call for aid, watch her, and stroke her hair. Hearing those sirens coming for her, I was so moved. Help is coming for you! Then once she was under the care of paramedics, I spoke with Safiya, her mom. Safiya had entrusted her daughter to me and now she was laying in the back of an ambulance. I had no idea she was an asthmatic, no idea she even had an inhaler. Telling that mom- your daughter is in an ambulance- that was sober. Then the paramedic told us she was alright and I signed Hodan out of the ambulance according to her mother's instructions by phone. I've never had to sign anyone out of an ambulance before. Another sober responsibility.
Hodan is alright. She's a new inhaler user and she's agreed to carry it all the time now.
Special thanks to the kind stranger, Ayan, who stood there in the park for 20+ minutes while we used her cell phone. Thanks also to the 4 police officers, 3 fire fighters, and 2 paramedics who came to help a stranger, someone they'll never meet again. Thanks for being here and for doing for her what I couldn't.
The second was Tuesday when our neighbor, Hodan, had difficulty breathing, when she went to the park with us. Her sister mentioned an inhaler and I knew we couldn't walk her back home for it in time. As she lay gasping on the ground, a friendly stranger, Ayan, with a cell phone stopped and helped me dial 911. I talked with a paramedic by phone until the ambulance arrived. I was terrified and Anjali cried. I had no idea how to help her myself and could only call for aid, watch her, and stroke her hair. Hearing those sirens coming for her, I was so moved. Help is coming for you! Then once she was under the care of paramedics, I spoke with Safiya, her mom. Safiya had entrusted her daughter to me and now she was laying in the back of an ambulance. I had no idea she was an asthmatic, no idea she even had an inhaler. Telling that mom- your daughter is in an ambulance- that was sober. Then the paramedic told us she was alright and I signed Hodan out of the ambulance according to her mother's instructions by phone. I've never had to sign anyone out of an ambulance before. Another sober responsibility.
Hodan is alright. She's a new inhaler user and she's agreed to carry it all the time now.
Special thanks to the kind stranger, Ayan, who stood there in the park for 20+ minutes while we used her cell phone. Thanks also to the 4 police officers, 3 fire fighters, and 2 paramedics who came to help a stranger, someone they'll never meet again. Thanks for being here and for doing for her what I couldn't.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)