Skip to main content

Mama, who is crap?

Yes, so I said "Crap!" out loud and Lucas, my 7-year old asked me who that was...so I had to explain that I used that term as an expression of frustration. My innocent Lucas. But it reminds me that I need to be careful about what I say in front of my baby parrot, Liam. I will be undertaking, the highly inadvisable, stress-inducing, international-flight-with-lap-child come the end of the month, and I expect that I will be inclined to use much stronger terms as I hustle through 2 airplane changes, customs and immigration.

It will be 6 years since I was last in Trinidad and while I am excited to be back home, I cannot help but feel some degree of trepidation about the visit. Don't get me wrong, if it was just me, no problem, but I have a vague sense of unease about exposing my very American-sounding and American-looking children to a third world country in this present climate. It is very difficult to explain to anyone who has not been outside the United States how much anti-American sentiments exist or even why. The kids are also going to be in for extreme culture shock (well, mostly Lucas, Liam won't care or know any different). Hopefully there will be enough water to bathe and at least we have air-conditioning at night!

In preparation for the trip, I've been busy making a photobook for my dad. It has totally consumed all my spare time (including my blogging time), but at last it is done. Naturally, as soon as I ordered it I saw changes I wished I'd made, but I am done. Right now, I am expending my brain cells on trying to figure out how I am going to fit all the stuff for the flight in one rucksack. Diapers, blanket and lovey pretty much fills it up, I have no clue how I will fit toys, games, books and oh yeah, food for the day! So far though I'm thinking small flash light, bouncy ball, paper, markers, stickers...I'll let you know how it works out.

So I may actually have pictures to post from Trinidad while I am there or when I get back. Wish me luck!
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
The other day - my little one said "this finger is for a bad word"
God, they know too much
25 March 2009 at 15:39
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Talking with Lucas on climate change

This is my post for Blog Action Day . This is an annual event where bloggers everywhere in the world post about the same issue on the same day to spark discussion around an issue of global importance. This is part of a conversation I had with my 8-year old. Mama : Do you know what climate change means? Lucas : I think it means when it is like 90F and it is hot.   And the change? It's when in the daytime it might be 90F and sunny and hot, and then you go inside for dinner and then right after dinner and it might have dropped to 70F Well, yes it is that in a way.  That describes what is happening in your area, but when people use the term "climate change" they really mean something more global, like affecting climate around the world Have you heard of the team "global warming"? What global warming is that it is made up of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and when they burn stuff the smoke releases CO2 and it's like a blanket covering the earth and if it k...
9 comments
Read more

My little Karateka-in-training...

Lucas recently tested for his high white belt (karate) and as I looked in on him through the glass doors to his class, I was overwhelmed by the sense of my little boy on his own in the world.  He looked so small in his white Gi in front of the table where his Sensei, her Sensei and another instructor, sat.  I watched him stand with his weight on one foot, then the other, doing jumping jacks to warm up and practicing kicks and blocks with his classmates. I felt the tears well up and got that old lump in the throat.  I hadn't felt like that in a long, long time with Lucas, why now? I think that unlike his spelling test, where I can help him by reviewing the words with him, or his Maths,  this was something he had to do on his own. I couldn't help him. Heck, I didn't even know what the right moves were!  I guess he is at the age where he will have more and more independent experiences.  I will hold on to this picture of him in my mind, and the feeling th...
6 comments
Read more

Cancer by the numbers 2 of 4: That grocery bill

This is the second "Cancer by the Numbers" post, the first was about blood counts . We have been trying to eat organic fruits and vegetables as much as we can, to reduce the pesticide levels we injest. I will publish another post about cancer and food, but for now I thought I'd share the cost of organic vs not organic based on a quick poll of my local grocery (HEB).  We had cut out meat prior to my diagnosis of cancer (ever since reading The China Study ) so perhaps the decline in spending in meat is offset by the more pricey organic items! The graph below shows the increase, as a percentage of the non-organic price, that I pay for common items that I buy. While the actual dollar amounts may not be significant individually, I can tell you that I really feel it on my grocery bill when I buy blueberries! If you feel you want to buy organic, but want to spend the dollars on those items where it makes a difference, take a look at the  Environmental Working ...
5 comments
Read more