Lost & Found

Lost:
Youthful Midsection. Does not extend further than bra in profile photos, bloop over waistband or measure larger than bust measurement. Last seen with Hips that Hold Up Pants.

Found:
Slightly deflated pool floaty filled with Jell-O.

Please contact me to claim your dumb floaty. It looks ridiculous on me.

Full circle with a twist

One of my favorite things about being a mom is listening to the kids play. I love hearing pretend diabolical plots unfold, personal experiences and issues emerge and creativity blossom. When they get to a certain age it sounds something like this:

"Let's say my name is Fire Ninja because I can fight with fire with my Fire Powers."
"And my name is Ice Ninja because I have Ice Powers."
"Yeah, and I was captured by the bad guys so you have to save me. 'Ice Ninja! I'm over here! The bad guys captured me! Come save me!'"
"And I freed you (you're free), but when I was getting you out of being captured the bad guys captured me and took me over here and put me in a jail made of lava."
"And because it was so hot you couldn't use your Ice Powers, but I can use my Fire Powers (enter verbal sound effect of the Fire Powers), so I saved you and we got away..."

What I especially love is the "and you said" part, followed by the other person actually saying those exact words. But I think the underlying reason I love it is because I did the exact same thing! We even had powers and bad guys and there was almost always lava! Admit it. You did it too.

Like jinxing and rock-paper-scissors, it's one of those things that gets passed on from kid to kid (not parent to child) with very minimal changes.

But the other day as I stepped outside to check on my monkeys I overheard a play conversation between a couple of the neighbor kids:

Sheri, carrying a bag of mini-marshmallows: "And I texted you to ask if you want a snack."
Mike, standing about 20 feet away and responding on a pretend phone: "And I texted you back 'not yet.'"
"And I texted that I'll be over here when you want it."
"And I texted you 'okay.'"

Even re-reading it it makes me chuckle. Naturally play reflects real life, but it's still funny to me. What will parents overhear in a hundred years?

"And I got in my hover car, but the dilithium crystals were gone."
"And you said, 'Now I can't steer my hover car.'"
"Now I can't steer my hover car, and the bad guys are right above us."
"But if you go down you'll fall in the lava."
"So I use my Wind Powers to blow us over the lava."
"And your Wind Powers blow lava on the bad guys so we're safe."

Aging awakening

Often when we arrive at the bus stop in the morning I take a moment to zip zippers, put up hoods and make sure that everyone is protected from the elements. It is January, after all. Just yesterday as Lee was running out the door to "go scootering," I intervened to remind him to wear a coat. He resisted strongly, insisting, "But if I wear it, I can't go speedy!!" After that I pulled Alex inside because he wasn't wearing one at all!

I remember wearing shorts on chilly, drizzly days in high school; begging to skip a coat on Halloween because it would cover my costume (blasted late-October nights); and going without a toque (hat) out in the snow because it would mess up my hair.

And that makes me wonder...when did I get old?

Now before I go to the bus stop I put on my scarf, ball cap, heavy coat and gloves. My only concern regarding my looks is yesterday's mascara.

I can't properly pinpoint when I shifted from "nonchalant and cute, but cold" to "who cares what I look like? I'm warm." And I'm not exactly sure what I feel about that.