Giving Thanks
I am so thankful for them:
And also, sweet potatoes. I’m very thankful for sweet potatoes.
To all my fellow American readers, I hope you have a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving!
What I’m Here For
November 23 2011 It was raining as we ventured out, a light but steady ping of autumn sprinkles on the umbrella, the hood on our coats covering our heads for good measure. The entire day had been dark and gloomy, this bit of time was no exception. Though it was made a touch bit brighter by Abby’s new fall boots.
We walked in the rain until we found ourselves standing next to a small puddle under the bare branches of a tree turned by the season. Abby put her umbrella down, hood still up, and went in search of a stick to splash in the water with.
With the steady rain, however, all the sticks were dirty.
That wasn’t enough to deter my daughter at first. Singing and twirling in the rain, she found the perfect stick and splashed the water around in the puddle. Which stirred the gravel and debris from the bottom into a muddy muck that dripped, and initially delighted, my 3 year old who’s always more than happy to make a mess.
But then she noticed the dirt that got on her hands.
I scoured my pockets for tissues, with no luck. But she looked at me, as if I have all the answers. “I don’t have anything to wipe your hands with right now. You’re just going to have to hold on until we get home to wash them.”
Her face turned south for a scant few seconds. Until she wiped her dirty, mucky hands clean on my coat.
Or, you could do that. Because I suppose that’s what I’m here for. And I guess I didn’t really like that coat, anyway.
Happy Tale of a Puppy
“Here, puppy, come on!”, my daughter called for her stuffed animal. When the immobile toy didn’t follow as intended, she swooped over to pick it up. Then, nuzzled its white cotton fur against her cheek lovingly.
“Puppy needs food”, she declared.
“What kind of food does it want?”, I asked.
“Puppy food!”, she replied. Of course. So I looked around to see if there was anything available to feed her stuffed animal, settling on pretending to pour some beans from a decorative jar. But an animal can’t live on food alone, even one that’s not real, thus it needed water, as well.
When her puppy was fully nourished, we headed out to pick the boys up from the bus stop. She carried her cozy friend along the way way, first jammed in her pocket, then setting it on the ground to feel the grass on its feet. Because puppies, they want the semblance of freedom. Abby even took it for an assisted walk, before she was afraid it would get too cold.
“Puppy needs gloves, too”, she stated, looking at the mittens already on her hands.
“Your puppy has fur. That keeps it warm”, I informed, an explanation that seemed to satisfy her enough. Though she held it tight next to her, against her heavy winter coat, as an extra layer of protection. Then she praised, “He’s a good puppy”.
She was really cute with her puppy.
So cute that I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her puppy is really a lamb.
An Answer
I sat in a squeaky office chair as a small conference room of school faculty read aloud their reports. The room was otherwise silent and my expression absent as they detailed what they had observed from Buzz during their evaluations. Every few minutes I would glance up at the clock, willing for it to end. Stop bombarding me with what he’s doing wrong and tell me what we can do to help him.
Going into it, I had stated that I wanted answers. I had no idea it would feel like so much of an attack.
“He seems unaware of others’ space, and puts himself in unsafe situations.”
He’s always been my dare-devil child. I make jokes about it, even. You should read my website.
“He doesn’t participate well in class, and has a hard time focusing.”
Well, yeah, because of his trouble communicating. One of the reasons he was in therapy before.
“He has trouble making eye contact.”
I only noted this because his teacher mentioned it in the previous meeting and I knew I was filling out those stupid forms wrong. Personally, I’ve never noticed a lack of eye contact.
“He has a habit of playing with toys out of their intended purpose.”
He’s 5. He’s imaginative, I don’t understand why that’s bad. This is a ridiculous thing to single out.
“His speech mainly echoes that of what is said to him.”
I can’t argue with this.
I was sitting there, an abundance of negative aspects about my child being clinically read aloud, arguing the seriousness of each in my head. All while I was fighting the tears from my eyes. It was such a hard thing to hear, along with a diagnosis I had blindly swept out of possibility.
Put it all together, however, and it makes sense.
My son has Autism.
But he’s still my same little boy.
Healthy Choice Inspired by Top Chef
November 20 2011 Posted in: Reviews/Giveaways · Tags: sponsored
Meals for me have to be quick and easy, there’s just no getting around that. The longer I’m in the kitchen, the more trouble my little kids get into. Plus, I don’t like to labor over a dish when I’m the only one that will eat it. But I’ve also been concerned about eating healthier. That’s where the new Top Chef inspired Healthy Choice entrees come in.
I received 2 of the new Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers to sample. Their exclusive new line inspired by Top Chef includes 8 delicious varieties that utilize proprietary steaming technology that separates the sauce from the rest of the entrée, producing a fresh-tasting meal in minutes. The 2 I tried were the Chicken Linguini with Red Pepper Alfredo and Chicken Margherita with Balsamic. Both were packed full of quality ingredients like steamed broccoli, roasted garlic and plump bites of tomato.
In fact, I was so excited to try my first meal that I forgot to take a picture. But here is the Chicken Linguini with Red Pepper Alfredo straight out of the microwave, then after stirring in the sauce. As you can see, they are full of quality ingredients! I was very impressed.
While I devoured mine as a delicious lunch, these dishes would be great as a single-serving light, yet hearty, and healthy dinner. For more information, visit healthychoice.com or bravotv.com/showdown. You can also follow Healthy Choice on Twitter at @Healthy_Choice or on Facebook at facebook.com/HealthyChoice.
This post is sponsored by Healthy Choice and TheMotherhood. I received 2 meals to facilitate my review along with additional compensation for my participation. All opinions, as always, are my own.
