Saturday, May 17, 2008

Gum 'n' Roses

I've got a touch of Chickie's cold, and by yesterday afternoon I was ready for a nap. Chickie obliged by taking a good nap herself, and Zoodle and I cuddled on my bed together.

Usually when Chickie gets up from her nap, she comes and finds me. Well, I thought I might be hearing some sounds but I thought--well, hoped--it was just noise from outside. Finally I was pretty sure she was awake, and I dragged myself out of bed to see what she was up to.

This sight greeted me:

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Recently Chickie has become obsessed with my purse--especially the gum in my purse. This week she literally ate about two packs of Orbit (thanks to multiple purse raids). Yes, she swallows it; she doesn't quite get the whole idea behind CHEWING gum yet. I've started keeping my purse on the top of the fridge so she can't get to it, but I forgot yesterday.

Clearly Chickie wanted to distract me from her mess, so she held up the car in her hand, and urgently told me, "I want to play with this red car!! I want to play with this red car!!"

Bright red toy cars aren't as distracting to me as Chickie would hope, and she earned herself a trip to time out. I checked out the damage, and, sure enough, there was the empty package of Orbit.

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The package had been nearly full, and there were only a few gum wrappers lying around. The Engineer is afraid the gum will create an intestinal blockage, but so far she's been pooping regularly--perhaps thanks to the extra fiber in the paper wrappers she's eating?

Clearly this week had its challenges. Which made it so meaningful when The Engineer came home yesterday with these:

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That's two dozen! What a guy! For an engineer who is naturally more practical than romantic, this is a big deal, and he earned some major points in my book. This gift told me that he's listened to my requests for more romantic gestures (requests that usually cross the line between open communication and outright nagging.) The fact that buying flowers doesn't come naturally to him makes it all the more meaningful.

(And while I'm a romantic, I'm also frugal, so I'll pass along a tip--Costco has great prices on quality flowers. Stick them in a crystal vase you've had since your wedding, and you're set. I bet The Engineer spent less on two dozen roses than on the huge box of diapers he bought--and the roses certainly smell sweeter.)

7 comments:

beckiwithani said...

Great picture! That story is classic.

Caroline said...

Oh Beth, this post made me smile and gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. This whole mommy thing is HARD, and reading stories like this from sister mommies going through the same thing, makes me feel so much saner.

And Jason gets the Awesome DH award for the week! That was a beautiful gesture and I love that he didn't break the bank doing it. Do you think he could set up some sort of online course for other husbands? ;0)

Kristi said...

Aw, Beth, how sweet of Jason! What a guy!

LOVE the pics of Ana and the purse aftermath! LOL! Mmmmm, Orbit! :) Her trying to derail you with the car is too funny!!

Caroline's so right! This mommy gig can be hard. And hey, if your naps only consequence was Ana ingesting a whole lotta gum, NO BIGGIE!! She could have eaten somehthing MUCH worse in your purse...like lipstick! That one's no good at all! :)

LEstes65 said...

Oh my goodness! That Ana story is TOO funny! And your profile pic of you and Eli? I could just PUKE from the cuteness.

Wow - Jason - way to go on those flowers! Nice job. Never thought you had it in you (kidding).

Anonymous said...

Gunny is a gum freak as well, and don't worry, none of my kids have had any sort of problems because of the insane quantities of gum they've eaten! It's like a rite of passage :-).

headscratching said...

don't worry about intestinal blockage. chewing gum is far more digestible than most candy or processed foods. :)
wow, you sure blog a lot. i'm going to have to start checking every day.
--sean

Anonymous said...

Ana is so crafty with the red car, I love it! Christian used to go in my purse and steal gum all the time too! After he consumed about 2 packages in a matter of days I now have no more gum in my purse at all, I stick all the gum in the top shelf of my pantry. (The purse won't fit on top of the fridge and guess what- he can get on the counters by himself!)

Jason is so sweet for bringing home roses. And great title- i loved it! - Claire