Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Reflecting

I am sitting in a bakery, sipping a vanilla caramel hazelnut latte, watching the people, feeling the sun, and thinking about the week.

This is holy week.  Of major importance to Jews and Christians.  Passover began on Monday and Christians of all denominations are engaging in rituals leading up to Sunday.

In all this, I started to think about the events that led to this week.

Last week, the weather was up and down and it was spring break for my children.  Last week, elected officials were hurling insults and trying to deny health coverage to children.  Last week, tea party protestors were calling elected officials every racial and homophobic epithet you could imagine.  Last week felt like alot of hate was in the air.

Some of those same self-proclaimed voices for the unborn, adherents to conservative doctrine, proponents of a faith-based country were definitely not acting like Jesus.  Now this week, you bet you can find some of them in their church pews, dressed in their piety, reflecting on Jesus, and feeling smug in their rightness.

And it bothers me.  It bothers some of the young teens who were engaged in religious discussions yesterday on Facebook.  It makes them wonder, question, wonder what this is all about if politics becomes intertwined in religion and none of it seems clear.

I also ponder during this week because spring represents renewal and rejuvenation, a time to shed the heaviness and dreariness of a stifling winter to put on the light and whimsy of a carefree spring.  It is a feeling of fresh and fun and possible.

It is also the week I reflect on the life of my first-born son.  Cory would have been twenty-eight on Thursday.  The days leading up to it I close my eyes and remember my hopeful and naive self as his body was bulging inside my toothpick thin frame.  I carry his memory on.

It is in reflecting about him and life and the heatlhcare and the pundits and the politicians that I made myself stop and step away, to not turn on the news, to not pollute my heart with the evil that was flashing before my eyes.  Not now, not this week.

It is holy week, let us stop for a moment and remember the least of these.  To honor the tenents of most major faiths, to love one another and seek the greater good. To ignore the polls and ratings and put aside greed.  Life is what we have before us, a great gift and people are the present.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Watching History

At this late hour, on this Sunday, during Spring Break, history happened!

219 votes in the House of Representatives to accept the Senate Bill is now on its way to the President of the United States to make sure my little girl will always have health care!  It is historic to see this.  It is major sweeping social legislation and it is fantastic that this first woman Speaker of the House kept fighting for it!  It does sometimes take a woman to get it done.  And that this happened under this historic presidency.

Thank you President Obama for bringing this to my family.

Republicans will be sorry they did not cast votes for people.  Hatred has no place and illness knows no color or party.  This was relevant for ALL Americans.

Life is for the living and health care is for the living, we need to take care of the children who are alive!!!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Eight Year Whine And Breakfast

This was not a good morning for my eight-year-old daughter.

It started badly with breakfast.

"Ugh, I'm NOT eating that."  And so the battle began.

Of course I knew it wasn't about the really good, rich, and creamy bowl of non-allergic hot cereal I made for her little sister (and she and I), it was about her thinking her little sister was getting more attention that she.  And, I think she may be right.

The princess, aptly named because she was the first girl to come along after four boys, was feeling as if her mother didn't love her as much.  I could tell the pouty look on her face and her feigning illness yesterday when I was battling a cold, she wanted to stay home.  There was more to the story.

"Look, I'm eating the same breakfast, and guess what, you can even put chocolate sprinkles on it."  I tried to be my cheery best even with minimal sleep and a busy day ahead.  We were running late and didn't need her throwing a tween fit.

"You always make stuff for her and nothing for me!"  She protested and pulled my pink snugglie closer to her chin.

Two choices ran through my mind, either play the tough "kids are starving in Africa" role and make her eat, or take a moment to minister to my daughter.  I did a little of both, then caught myself in the middle of a lecture about not having time for this and blah, blah, blah.

I sat down with my bowl of creamy cereal and hazelnut latte.  I made room in my chair and held my arms out.  My daughter enveloped herself like when she was a baby, cocooning and all.  She needed to be affirmed that she was still my princess, still had my love, and her needs still mattered even if she wasn't as sick as her sister.

We cuddled and I gingerly whispered to her, assured her it was ok to feel jealous and left out sometimes and acknowledged that her sister's illness and food needs did take up a lot of my time.  I even spoon fed her a few bites of the chocolately goodness and after she was calm, sent her to get ready for school.

The six year old, in the mean time, was blissfully enjoying her breakfast, giving me a thumbs up, as she ate and colored.  It really was good.

Sometimes, we moms of sick children can get so caught up in the minutia of their illness and doctor's visits (allergy shots today even) and writing down everything they eat, that we sometimes miss special moments with the rest of the crew.  I have to make it a point to carve out time for the older one more often.

We can think we give equal time, but that is not always the case and kids notice.  I understand why she tries to stay up past bedtime and wants to cuddle up with a book in my bed.  She loves to read, so do I, she wants to be a writer when she grows up, just like her mama.

I adore my children, all of them have enriched my lives more than I can ever imagine.  And my eight year old went to school with a smile on her face and the promise of a date just with her mama.  Saturday will be our time.

The Recipe
1  Cup Hemp Valley Vanilla Hemp Milk
1/2 Cup B.R.A.T. Vanilla Milk Alternative (or chocolate or original)
3 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS organic maple syrup (I like Trader Joe's Brand)
3 TBS Earth Balance Soy-Free Spread (trust me, tastes like butter)

Bring the mixture to just under a boil, mix with a whisk

Slowly whisk in 3 TBS Cream of Wheat (or sub Cream of Rice if wheat allergies are a problem)

Bring to a boil, whisk, then lower heat to low, simmer for 2 minutes, whisking the entire time

SERVE immediately as this is not good cold or with lumps

Garnishment ideas:  Enjoy Life Brand Chocolate Chips (about 1 TBS) or Enjoy Life Very Berry Granola (about 1/4 cup).

This breakfast is technically made for one, but I found it too much for one person unless that person is my linebacker sized husband.  Consider this for three kids with the servings measuring out at about 1/2 cup each.

I am not a warm cereal person but in my quest to find healthy things my daughter can eat (she is allergic to everything almost), I promised her I would try whatever I made for her.  We are ditching milk almost entirely in our house (except for the lattes  - the hemp and rice milk do not froth well).  I've made muffins and used the Earth Balance in place of butter - and the family never knew the difference!

It can be a challenge managing food allergies, but it is not impossible, especially if you get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit and This mama is looking forward to her date with her daughter!