Come, Mommy » everyday stuff

Phishing

lieslf — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:33:37 +0000

Like everyone else, my e-mail is flooded with amazing offers and anouncements on a daily basis. Offers of meds to improve performance of body parts I don’t possess, meds to enlarge those same parts, $15.00 Rolex watches, service cut-off notices from our “phone company”, and of course my long-lost uncle (he’s an unfairly dethroned African prince who needs to borrow some money in order to return my lost millions to me.) Today it seems that the Internal Revenue Service plans to send me a payment covering my itty-bitty part of the government stimulus package:

Dear Taxpayer,

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment.

Please submit the Stimulus Payment form in order to process it.

A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons.

For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the attached document.

Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit.

Regards,

Internal Revenue Service

Yeah, I’ll get right on downloading that attachment and filling in all my vital information. I’m sure my check will arrive shortly.

I have to admit, these “phishers” are creative. I wonder what would happen if all that brainpower was applied to legitimate endeavors?

Snow Day

lieslf — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:44:53 +0000

We had our first snow day of the year last week. The forecast the night before promised doom and gloom, and despite the arrival of only an inch or snow overnight, the forecasters kept on warning of heavy snow followed by ice. At 5:45 the school called to say school was canceled.

I let Liam sleep in a bit, and after he had had a chance to wake up, I told him. “Guess what? Today is a snow day – school is canceled because of the weather.” I remembered how excited I was as a kid to wake up and learn of a snow day, and so I waited for the joy.

Instead, Liam immediately panicked and screamed, “No! They can’t close school! Today is bread baking day and I want to play in the snow outside.”

Somewhat taken aback, I said, “Well, we can bake bread here, and we can play outside in the snow here.”

Liam thought about it for a minute and said, “Well, OK, but only if I can go to school tomorrow.”

Kevin and I chose his school because we loved it so much and just knew he would thrive there. So I guess instead of being grumpy that my eldest would rather go to school than stay home with me, I should be thrilled that the place is such a great second home for him.

And I should also hope that his attitude lasts through middle and high school.

The Disadvantages of Co-Sleeping

lieslf — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:01:10 +0000

We are a family of co-sleepers. Both of our kids have been in our bed since they were newborns. Liam moved out when he was two – or three, I can’t remember for sure, but he comes back some nights just to fall asleep, and then we move him into his bed later on. Kieran is obviously still in bed with me since he night-nurses, and I’m not getting out of bed in the wee hours if I don’t have to! Co-sleeping works for us. I love having warm little bodies snuggled up against me, feet against my tummy. It’s safe and it’s warm and we all get (mostly) the sleep we need.

However, there are situations where co-sleeping is not such a great thing. Not many, but I did find one today. Let my story serve as a cautionary tale. Kieran played in the sandbox with the big kids for a bit this morning at drop-off. (We’ve been having a problem in that he doesn’t want to separate from Liam in the morning. He cries, begs to go back to Liam’s play yard at school, and unless I keep him busy, he will periodically point out the front door, sign “car”, and say, “Leem! Leem!” It’s really is a sad thing to witness. So Liam’s teacher has been letting us hang out for a bit at the beginning of school to let Kieran have a few more minutes with his brother and have some fun playing with the big kids. That has helped a lot, and Kieran is much happier.) Today he joined a “strawberry pie” making party that was in progress in the sandbox when we arrived. (The pie looked a bit grainy to me, but Liam assured me it was delicious.) At one point one of Liam’s classmates drizzled “strawberry filling” all over Kieran.

Despite the fact that I brushed him off as well as I could, he ended up bringing some apparently large percentage of the sandbox contents home under his shirt and in his pockets. I was not aware of that fact as I gently picked up a sleeping child from the car and tucked him in for a nap when we arrived home. He looked so peaceful that I decided to join him.

It was a wonderful nap until I woke up a bit later. The bed was distinctly scratchy. I tried to brush the visible sand off the sheets. Just then Kieran rolled over and several spoonfuls of sand fell out of his pockets. I brushed that off, but then more sprinkled out from the cuffs of his pants. I gave up and let the baby sleep. When he woke up he pointed to his shoes and socks, obviously wanting me to remove them. I did, and out poured sand. I wouldn’t have thought you could squeeze much sand into Robeez, but it turns out that yes, you can. And I’m too lazy to change the sheets today since that’s on the agenda for tomorrow, so we’re just going to put up with some sand in bed tonight.

So there you go – co-sleeping is warm and fuzzy and wonderful. But when the kids get big enough to play on their own, it’s a good idea to check the contents of pockets, shoes, and other spaces in clothing before they enter the bed. Who knows what could end up in your bed? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Happy New Year!

lieslf — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:32:00 +0000

Wow am I out of practice on this blogging thing – it’s been over a week since I posted. I got pretty sick with that bug I picked up from Mr. Lemur and it’s only in the last couple of days I’ve been wanting to do anything beyond recovering basic respiratory function. But we have had some fun – Santa left plenty of cool things for the boys, and we did go to a really terrific New Year’s Eve party last night, so we haven’t been completely without fun.

In the meantime, I’m going to take one last nap before Kevin goes back to work and it’s just the boys and me. I’ll be back with some cute kid stories in the next few days!

Bits And Pieces Of Pre-Christmas Minutia

lieslf — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:23:00 +0000

Yup, it’s less than 48 hours until Christmas. The last week has been crazy because…

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I found out Wednesday morning that I was the designated person responsible for acquiring bouquests for the teacher’s assistant and for the aftercare teacher at Liam’s school. This was not a problem as I was sure I could get FTD or somesuch website to deliver two bouquets to our house Wednesday afternoon that I could take to school for the Christmas party on Thursday. I called, and sure enough, I was guaranteed that two beautiful winter bouquets would be delivered by 5:00 PM. At 8:00, there were no bouquets, and the customer care center at the website was closed, as was the local florist. So I went to a nice grocery store, grabbed one of every kind of wintery flower they had on hand, and made two really nice bouquets for the teachers.

The next morning, I took my bouquets and both kids to school, had the party (the teachers really liked their flowers), and came home. On the porch were the two bouquets I had ordered the day before. They were very pretty and looked nice in my home, but since they had been ordered for another occasion and were late, too late in fact, I called the website back. They promptly refunded my money AND we got to keep the bouquets. So yay for flowerssenttoday.com!

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Liam came down with an ear infection Monday. He did make it school this week, more because he wanted to go than because he was really up to going, but he’s still a little tired. His pediatrician got herself fired for telling him rudely that his symptoms don’t make sense, and his ears don’t hurt when she peers inside.

(There’s a long story here, but I’m not going into it now. Suffice it to say a change in medical staff is necessary.)

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Kieran caught the bug from Liam, and ran his first high fever – he woke up at 3:30 Friday morning with a 101.3⁰ temperature. But with Motrin and TLC, he seems better by this weekend..

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I caught the bug from the kids, and spent this morning in the ER. I thought about waiting and calling my internist tomorrow morning, but really, that’s crazy. I don’t even know if the office is open on Christmas Eve.

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My husband is wonderful. He’s handled both kids pretty much by himself since Friday afternoon, except for nursing duties.

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Yesterday, Kevin and the boys made these yummy white chocolate chip-cranberry cookies. They are so good!

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And, while waiting for my antibiotic prescription to be filled, I bought Kevin and me a bottle of champagne for refreshment while playing Santa tomorrow night. I hope the kids cooperate and stay asleep.

(Don’t worry, I didn’t buy anything requiring complex assembly.)

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I don’t know if I’ll be back before the Big Day, but if not, Happy Holidays to everyone!

The To-Do List

lieslf — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:46:00 +0000

Thins to do between now and tomorrow night:

1. Laundry

2. a. Packing (clothes)
b. Packing (toys and travel diversions)
c. Packing (snacks)

3. a. Take the dog to the kennel.
b. Don’t forget his meds.
c. He’s got the doggie equivalent of athlete’s foot, and his feet itch horribly, poor thing.

4. a. Take the ferrets to their caretaker.
b. Don’t forget the ferrets’ meds.
c. They all are on amoxicillin for a respiratory infection.
d. Remind self not to share pathogenic bacteria with pets.

5. Get new pair of glasses.

6. Clean the fish tank.

7. Parent-teacher conference tomorrow morning.

8. Lantern walk for Martinmas tomorrow night.

9. I’m sure I’m forgetting something. (Mushy brain, ya know?)

So, with all that, why am I lying in bed blogging while the kids are peacefully napping? Because it’s just so warm, cozy, and relaxing. Motherhood has its privileges, you see!

Bits ‘N’ Pieces Of Stuff (Random)

lieslf — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:25:00 +0000

We’re getting ready to leave town for a week. We’re going to Gran-Gran’s. Actually, the boys and I are going to Gran-Gran’s, while Kevin gets the fun of attending a conference for most of the week.

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I always get stressed out by travel plans. I’m trying hard not to get all frazzled, but I’m not having much luck in that department.

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I can’t remember most of the things I was planning to include in this post – after answering “why” questions all day, my brain is most mushy.

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Example “why” questions:

1. “Why are operas so long?”
2. “Why does Santa live at the North Pole?”
3. “Why can’t I eat French fries all day long?”
4. “Why are there so many cars on Route 1?”
5. “What are there so many cars on every road?”
6. “Why aren’t you answering me, Mommy? Mommy? MOMMEE?”

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It’s the peak of the autumn color around here, and it’s really pretty driving to school in the mornings

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I was in the pet store last Saturday, and walked in to find a huge display of Christmas goodies for dogs and cats. I was busy thinking it’s kind of early for Christmas stuff, but Liam ran ahead of me yelling, “Mommy! Look! They brought Christmas back!” He was so happy I couldn’t be grinchy for long.

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I guess I better start that Christmas shopping. Soon.

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I leave you with the cute picture du jour:

“Mommy, in this picture I am the SuperLemur Express speeding down the track. I almost seemed to fly!!!”

Six Months Of Brotherhood

lieslf — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:48:00 +0000

In six months we’ve gone from a little boy and his newborn baby brother to a full-fledged pre-schooler who has a little brother almost half his size:

Don’t they just look like they’re up to something?

Liam dyed this silk at his school’s Michaelmas festival. He brought it home and promptly used it to transform himself into Super Lemur, a broccoli-eating primate…

Speaking of fall festivities – Liam found all these “treasures” on a bike ride. We brought them home and made a wreath with them.

Meanwhile, back in Babyland, Kieran demonstrates the “sit up and pull off the socks” maneuver.

I think it’s a construction worker playing guitar, but I’m not entirely sure…

Mmmmmm, peaches!

All this eating and playing sure make a fellow tired!

I can’t believe it’s been six months already!

Bits And Pieces Of This And That

lieslf — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 01:12:00 +0000

Breaking News: Having two kids really can get in the way of blogging. They give me lots of fodder, but by the time I actually remember that there was a cute moment I wanted to write about I can never seem to find time to post. I need to find a way to make sleep optional. Then I could have time to blog and read or knit, perhaps. Imagination is a wonderful thing, no?

In the meantime I present ya’ll with another stream-of-consciousness Bits and Pieces post.

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From the Department of Lemur Training we have news of complete surrender by the Lemur Parents. We outsourced Sanitary Education to a close friend of mine who teaches young autistic children. As a result of this career she has lots and lots of experience with potty learning. She managed to get Liam to decorate his potty with drawings and clean up “accidents” caused by toy animals who couldn’t get to the bathroom on time. She also left us with an Elmo toy that Liam thinks is just the bees’ knees.

As she left, she said, “He is one tough nut to crack. I’m not sure this can be done right now.”

This morning, The Lemur pointed to his potty and declared, “You see that paper on the potty, Mommy? All of it is signs that say, ‘Leaping Lemur does not have to sit on the potty!’”

However, progress was definitely made in that it seems that The Lemur is no longer afraid to at least talk about the potty. And he’s all about playing with Elmo, which is good. So for now, we’ll leave it at that and see where thing go if the “Lemurs do not have to sit on the potty” rule remains in effect.

Thank you for attempting this, Lisa! It’s a wonderful person who will even consider potty teaching someone else’s child. I owe you big time.

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We took an afternoon trip to the Shore today, and on the boardwalk we happened to see this table:

It’s an open casting call for Wife Swap. The families that appear on the show each get $20,000. Kevin said that wasn’t enough money for him to part with me for a week. Now, how sweet is my husband????

On the other hand maybe we should have enquired further, as we have on our hands…

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(cue suspenseful music)

An Unpaid For Baby!

Zounds!

Actually, he’s paid for. It’s his entrance into the world that is not. Yes indeedy-do, Large Insurance Company That Starts With A denied our appeal. Fun times, indeed.

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Ah, but the plot thickens. I mentioned our plight to the neighbors who live right behind us, both of whom are lawyers. The wife is in healthcare related law and used to work for the Insurance Bureau before deciding to stay home with their daughters. She had a baby last January, and has coverage through the same Insurance Company Of Little Common Sense. In her case, the birth was covered, but the baby’s pediatric care was not. And their appeal has gone nowhere, either.

She and her husband are very angry. And very well connected in the health insurance world.

I suspect thing are going to get interesting around here.

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Obligatory Cute Baby Picture:

“What’s with the six months of exclusive breastfeeding, you doctor dudes? Has no one informed you that books are delicious????”

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For my friend Robbie, who just spent a week at Sturgis - see what the fire department was raffling off at the beach today for their fund-raiser? The Lemur assures me that this is a “very cool and likely very loud motorcycle.” And he took this picture himself…

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Liam tried his hand at a boardwalk game today. Apparently we are raising a very non-materialistic kiddo. When he managed to catch a fish, he was thrilled, but when presented with a prize, he burst into tears. I guess it’s all about the game for him.

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Tomorrow we are going back-to-school shopping. Liam needs boots, a raincoat, and new shoes for school. And a backpack. And a some new clothes that meet the dress code. It’s the first time we’ve ever done school shopping. It’s a milestone for all of us.

Three weeks until Liam’s nursery school starts. And he was Kieran’s age only three weeks ago, I swear.

Exactly who gave my kids permission to grow up???

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Oh, and Liam’s a bit down in the dumps that his school does not use school buses. He really wants to ride one. This is the closest we’ve been able to come:

He did allow as to how he might be OK with my driving him if a) he gets his music on the stereo, and b) Kieran comes along, too. Aaaaawwwww…….

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That’s it from these parts. Maybe one of these days I’ll have an actual story or anecdote or well-constructed essay.

Hey, a girl can dream…..

18 Weeks Of Brotherhood

lieslf — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:52:00 +0000

I was just looking at my stats page, and it seems someone found my blog with the search phrase “puddle of pee under the table.” Which is apropos in that we are submerged in the world of potty training here, and well, thanks for asking, it’s going so-so. I’m not going to write about it just yet because a) I’m afraid of jinxing the minor successes we’ve had this far, and b) my nerves have had it for tonight.

Anyway, I’m way late with the biweekly Brotherhood post, so here you go…

~~No Name Diesel Engine~~ Leaping Lemur gets down and rocks with his “kintar.”

Here’s Kieran attempting his new trick, the roll-over.

Pets are great for kids. See how much Pippi and Liam love each other? (Ignore the fact that Pippi’s eyeballs are bulging from being hugged.)

Kieran still loves his spoon!

Gran-Gran and Pop-Pop were up here for a few days before we went to Chicago. Here are Kieran and Pop-Pop enjoying a visit.

Two brothers together.

And my favorite picture, GG (Great-Grandma) and the boys. They all look so gorgeous! And thanks to Gran-Gran for all the pictures!

Coming soon (I think) ~~Misadventures in Parenting~~ “How to Potty Train a Lemur in Thirty-ish Days.”

Imagine the bizarre search terms I’ll be seeing from that title…