Do Not Be Afraid To Ask

I received a bill from the hospital after my baby was born. As I do with all bills I read it carefully.

I do not know medical billing but I did find something that puzzled me. There was a tray with a number that was charged twice. 

I had no idea what it was so I called the hospital and asked. The woman was very nice while letting me know that I was interfering with her day.

She looked in her list of medical terms. Then she looked at her copy of my bill. 

Tray number whatever was for performing a circumcision. They were charging me twice for my son's circumcision.

She very kindly took it from the bill.

If I had been afraid to ask I would have been overcharged.

A good thing to remember is that if you ask you will get one of two responses. In the case above the response was positive. I saved some money.

If the response had been negative the charge would have stayed on the bill. and I would have paid it. I would only have lost some time.

If you have a question always ask. You never know which answer will come but it is better than not knowing.

IT IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE

My son liked to watch Star Trek. All of them.

The second incarnation was Star Trek: The Next Generation. It introduced a character named Worf.

Worf is a Klingon. Klingons live for battle. When barging into war a Klingon screams IT IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE. It is a way of saying that if the warrior is brave in battle there is no more honorable way to die.

My son has an affinity for gadgets. He had one of the first home computers. He was on the internet as soon as it was available to him.

He kept telling me about all the interesting things he was doing. I really was not interested at all.

Finally one day he talked me into looking at it. He found a site I was willing to look at. I read it and learned a few things. Soon I was on the computer often reading that site.

Then I discovered these things called links. If I clicked on a link it would take me to a different site. Wow. I could find stuff. I would sit and click away. 

I found some things I liked. I found some things I did not like. I found some things that embarrassed me. I still clicked away.

Until... one day I clicked on a link. What appeared was a totally black page that somehow had a red tint to it. I was puzzled.

Then a loud deep voice told me IT IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE!

I ran to get my son. I was terrified. I thought somehow I had clicked onto a curse of some sort.

My son just laughed at me. He explained that he had installed Worf's voice to sound if the computer crashed.

It's not funny!

Bored

Are you sick of having the kids underfoot all the time yet? Are they constantly whining about having nothing to do? I have a solution.

Find a nice roomy spot that is out of your way. Cover the table and/or floor with newspapers. Set out a few items that you have laying around. Examples are macaroni, string, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, glitter, paste, rubber bands, used wrapping paper, and any other 'useless' items. Tell the children to have fun and walk away.

I advise quietly peeking in from time to time. We want to make sure the dog is not pasted to the ceiling. Otherwise leave them alone until you are ready to feed them.

My feeling is that a bored child will find something to do. That something usually gets them in trouble. If you give them something to do they are entertained and not misbehaving.

Enjoy your cup of tea.

Merry Christmas

 

Let It Snow

 I have often told my children of the heavy snowfall we had when I was a child. I think they believed I was just an old lady exaggerating my memories.

I remember going out on Halloween to trick or treat with a light snow falling. It was no big deal.

By the end of November we usually were in a white world. Over the River and Through the Woods is written about a family on their way to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. A sleigh was the method of transportation because of all the snow.

When we lived in town we walked to school. Weather did not make a difference. Of course I walked to school in the snow. Sometimes school was up a slight hill. I always had shoes. 

Right at this very moment we have about 10 inches of snow on the ground. My son said it looks like the snow I used to tell them about. 

I miss building a snowman, snowball fights, and making snow angels. Kids around here do not seem to do that. Pity.

At my age I worry about falling. So I stay inside a lot. But I have a window from top of the door to the floor that I watch all sorts of creatures playing in the snow.

A Long Time Ago

I am getting old. I remember things from the past more easily than things from yesterday. I am still enjoying the present so I am okay.

Recently I have been missing when my children were little. As you know I have three sons and a daughter. I loved being their mother. Still do.

When they were little we did a lot of fun things together. A walk through the neighborhood allowed us to smell flowers, look for colors, say hi to squirrels, count the number of stones to the corner, see how many shapes we could find, describe what smells there were and so many other fun activities. Dancing in the rain and the snow.

In the house we made cookies and tarts, watched scary movies, and colored pictures. The Cub Scouts came once a week because I was their den mother. I took my daughter to dance class once a week.

At bedtime we read stories. Sometimes we were in my rocking chair and sometimes they were already in bed. It was a quiet time after a busy day. 

We lived down the street from the zoo so we went there often. And there were a lot of special events for special days. 

My parents lived down the street from Tiger Stadium. Any number of family members would hop on the bus and go to a Tigers game.

Nieces and nephews were welcome at my house as often as they wanted to come. Younger brothers and sisters also spent a lot of time there.

I certainly do not miss all the work involved in taking care of children. If you want them to grow up right it is a lot of work. It is worth it but I am over it.

I miss my children being little. They are all in their 50's now. Where did the time go?

Christmas Treats

 

We all know enough to leave a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve. He works hard all night to deliver gifts to good girls and boys. Cookies and milk are what we always leave out for Santa.

Did you ever consider that the reindeer are working hard too? They are able to eat snow so they need nothing to drink but I have a recipe for Magic Reindeer Food that the children can spread outside before going to bed. It makes the reindeer so happy.

MAGIC REINDEER FOOD

In a small zipper food storage bag or empty shaker container, mix:
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red or green sugar crystals (as used for cake decorating)

Package Magic Reindeer food in small food storage bags or holiday gift bags.

Now that you have made the magic reindeer food, the rest is easy. Before the children go to bed and have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, let them run outside and sprinkle the magic reindeer food around the yard. Away from the house might be good. Santa's reindeer like a little space.

After gifts have been opened in the morning, everyone can take a look to see if the food was eaten.

Are we done? Nope. We still have to thank the elves who help Santa all year. Let's make some Elf Donuts.

You will need a box of Cheerios, some small tubes of frosting (the more colors the better), sprinkles, and perhaps cinnamon sugar mixture. Perhaps you like chocolate, powdered sugar, peanut butter, or Nutella. Anything you might use to decorate normal sized donuts.

Squeeze a bit of frosting onto a Cheerio. If you wish then you can dip it into a bit of the sprinkles or maybe colored sugar. Or you can leave it plain.

Place the Elf Donuts on a saucer or in plastic sandwich bags. The sandwich bags might make them easier for Santa to take to the North Pole.

Now we have a happy Santa, reindeer, and elves. And these are projects that require little supervision for the children to stay busy on that last day before Christmas.