People

I saw something amazing today. Something that really blew my mind. We took Derek to the local hospital for a lead test. It's required by his preschool, so we decided to take him early this morning with his dad, who was also having bloodwork done.

Some history: When Derek was younger, he had some allergy tests performed that involved a blood draw. It was miserable. He howled and screamed and writhed. They couldn't obtain a sample from him at that point, so we waited a few months and tried again at a different lab. They were able to obtain blood without any issue. Well, fast forward to now. We tried the hospital lab because we were assured that they were good with children, as they have a whole pediatric floor just above them.

The two phlebotomists were excellent. They talked to him throughout the whole procedure. I told him we would sing the ABC song together and by the time the song was over, they would be done. The two technicians joined in singing... and then there were more voices. The adults in the waiting area had joined in also as they watched, hands clasped under their chins. Many of them nodded and smiled in his direction, all their attention on my little boy.

The first arm yielded no blood, so they decided to try his other arm. This time he whimpered when they applied to tourniquet, but still didn't really fuss. When they put the needle in he cried and each time they remaneuvered it in his arm, he said "It hurts!" My heart was breaking for him as he tried to tough it out. I was so proud of him.

They gave up after a few minutes. I had asked them to just let it be if they weren't sure they could get it. They respected my request, let him down and showered him with stickers. A salty path of tears shone on his cheeks.

Now this is where it gets interesting... as we walked out of the lab, all the adults in the waiting area (at least ten, if not more) starting clapping for him. They all watched him, some offering "Good job, buddy!" or "Wow, you were so brave!." He looked around, a little dazed and scared, but I think their positive energy really kept him from totally losing it. It was truly amazing to watch their faces, as the whole group of them united in their respect and affection for my son. These were strangers. People whose names I will never know. But they truly made the experience a little better, and for that we will be forever grateful.

Do You Know What You Look Like?

Seems like an easy question, right? We've been looking at ourselves all of our lives, filling out forms with our descriptions... brown hair, brown eyes, 5'2"...

Maybe it's age, or maybe it's the fact that I have lost 30 pounds this year... but either way I see myself in pictures and I am always a little surprised. For the first 24 years of my life I was super skinny. The kind of skinny where other people often said "You're so thin, you disappear when you turn sideways" or "You're so skinny it makes me sick." It was never intentional, just a fabulous metabolism that offset my penchant for chocolate and alfredo sauce. So when I started taking some medication that slowed me down, it was a SHOCK. Wow. The weight just started to pack on. My clothes didn't fit anymore. My body felt different. Yet each time I walked by the mirror, I was surprised to see this new person. Evidence of the weight gain was all over my closet and my puffy ankles, but my mind could not wrap around the changes in my reflection. Who was that person? And pictures? Fahgedaboutit! THAT was not me. I was still the skinny girl... right? Wasn't I? Not anymore.
Fast forward 10 years. Thanks to a realization that the freedom to eat whatever I wanted only gave me the freedom to be fat, I decided to change up my life. To finally get healthy. What example was I setting for my son? I carefully prepared his meals, then sabotaged myself with cookies. So I finally shed 30+ pounds. But now, I don't know what I look like again. I had to take a picture of myself the other day because I didn't know what I actually looked like. The mirror played tricks on me. Was I that fat girl who longed to remember the skinny days? Was the skinny girl back? Or was this a new blend of old and new... a healthier, more mature me, with an older face, an older mind and a body that finally made sense.
The picture was about what I expected, but still... a nice surprise. I think it will take a while for my mind and my reflection to be in sync.
So... do you know what you look like?

Share and share alike...

Yesterday was my little one's open house at preschool. My husband and I watched in apprehension as our child managed to grab several toys away from other children. We worried together that he would be ostracized for his lack of "sharing" skills. I vowed to rehearse these situations at home before THE BIG DAY.
But honestly, kids just don't like to share. Frankly, I realized, neither do grown ups. What would happen if you and your neighbors had one Mercedes to share among you. Can you imagine calmly and happily arranging a weekly schedule where you each got to drive it for a few hours? I mean, isn't this why we work? So that we don't have to share, but rather we buy our own "toys" so we can have them as our own? Our own car, our own house, our own iPod, plasma TV, DVDs, Playstation, what have you.
So is the problem that kids struggle with sharing? or that we expect them to do what we don't?

Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person who wonders these things... like how do YOU choose a toothbrush from the hundreds of choices lining the aisles in CVS or WalMart or Walgreens. What type of marketing studies have been done about choosing a toothbrush? Do we respond to the color? The length of the bristles? The claims of fresher breath or cleaner gums? Do we gravitate toward the word plaque somewhere on the box? Really, how do the companies decide how to market their toothbrushes to We The People? I think I would like that job...