Turning Away

** It has been some time since I last wrote. Somehow five kids and a full-time job leave little time for such things as writing…

"FACT IS, we can't fully be at home and fully at work at the same time -- not even if work is in the next room. Work and life don't overlap so much as they collide or intersect -- leaving us to sit in our ergonomically correct swivel chairs and pivot between the two. And each time we turn toward one, we are, in that moment, turning away from the other."

From Life's Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom by Lisa Belkin


5:00 a.m. -- I have been up several hours in the night with a sick child. As I lay awake I wonder, “Is he too sick for daycare?”

I make the phone call and send the e-mails – I won’t be in today. Classes are cancelled. Teachers are notified.

Pablo The Pet Chicken

You know you live in the sticks when your child has a pet chicken.

I heard the door open, shut, and then the sound of footsteps move quietly across the floor. He was whispering, "It's OK sweetie..."

Puzzled, I wondered, "Who could he possibly be talking to?" (certainly not one of his siblings).

To my surprise I found the three-year-old standing in the livingroom holding a chicken. He must have sensed my confusion because he quickly blurted --

"This is Pablo... He's a Mexican chicken.... No, he can't go outside because it's too cold... No, he doesn't want to see his mommy... I don't want to take him outside... I just wanna watch TV..."

And so, the three-year-old and Pablo the Chicken watched Sponge Bob for a time until I finally convinced him to take his feathered friend back to the coop.

Soon after I looked out the window to see the child on the swings (with Pablo in hand) singing at the top of his lungs, "Twinkle twinkle little.... underwear!"

Farm Etiquette 101

“Were you born in a barnyard?... No, but
I have one in my front yard!”
A. Villarreal

Rule #5: When you live on a farm it’s OK to pee outside… even in below freezing weather, but be careful NOT to pee on the electric fence.

Things were quiet – much too quiet – a sure sign that someone was certainly up to no good. The silence was broken by the sound of muffled amusement which quickly escalated to waves of uncontrollable laughter.

I looked out the window to see the two little boys (three and five years old) standing on the edge of the trampoline trying to pee on the dog.

Aghast, (remnant of my suburban upbringing) I yelled to Mr. V. “Dear, the little boys are trying to pee on Bella’s head!”

Without missing a beat or even cracking a smile he replied, “Did they get her?”

Remembering Montevideo

“I like him because he smiles at me and means it.”
Anonymous

It was an unlikely meeting in an unlikely place and yet, in that moment things were forever changed.

Now, I don’t consider myself a hopeless romantic, and I am certainly not an expert on commitment, but I can tell you this. There are times when the most unlikely becomes the very thing that fills the empty spaces of life.

And, so in this moment I am feeling a bit sentimental. It has started to rain and somehow, the smell of rain reminds me of tortas fritas, dulce de leche, cobblestone, and mist.

Baby Sister

“People have been asking me if I was going to have kids,
and I had puppies instead.”
Kate Jackson

Lately, the kids have been asking for a little sister. It first started as comments slyly thrown into everyday conversation – “Hey mom… did you know that Jacinto has a new baby sister?” or “Mom, last night I had the weirdest dream… I dreamed we had a baby sister!” and (my favorite) “This is a picture of the family – there’s dad, you, my sisters, my brothers, the goats, the cats, the chickens… and this is our new baby sister!”

I was not overly concerned (thinking this was just a passing whim) until the five-year-old proudly announced at church that his “mommy is having a baby” and the congratulations starting coming my way. At that point I realized that something had to be done.

“Mr. V.” I said, “Do you realize that the whole church congregation thinks we’re adding another child to the Rancho?”

Without looking away from the TV he sarcastically replied, “If that happens we will have to name her Milagro (Miracle).”