Remember when I found a frog in my doorway?
Or the time when I freaked out at the frog who’d somehow crawled through the pipes and into my toilet bowl?
Well, they each lived to tell their tales (tails — haha) and apparently the entire amphibian world now knows that my house is a friendly one.
Lucas found this guy gripping our sliding glass door after some pretty heavy rain — isn’t he cute? The frog, not Luke. Well, maybe both!
Travers, try as he might, could not form a lasting friendship with the frog.
Oh, well. We can’t all get along.
Another funny story — remember this idyllic scene I shared with you this weekend?
That is the love of my life, Miss Elizabeth. She’s a happy girl who spends her days drawing fishies in sidewalk chalk and blowing bubbles. She likes Yo Gabba Gabba, Cardioke, organic foods and her mother and father.
The aformentioned mommy and daddy trusted me with their only child — perhaps not knowing the following facts about me:
- I have never been around babies, toddlers or infants for any meaningful amount of time. 10-year-old campers? Been there. 21-year-old college basketball players that act like they’re 10? Cake. But babies? I am clueless.
- I have only changed two diapers in my life, both times under supervision. I’m a college graduate and generally pretty smart, but the mechanics of the diaper change are beyond me.
- Lucas is a child whisperer, being the oldest of four boys. But Elizabeth’s parents paid him his baby-sitting fees in beer (me in Whole Foods gift cards), rendering him less than useful when it came time to put the darling girl to bed.
All of this culminated in a conversation that went like this (imagine a naked baby waiting not-so-patiently for her adult supervisors to start acting like adults):
Me: Luke — how do I know which way the diaper goes?
Luke: I don’t know — isn’t it obvious?
Me: No! Both sides look the same! I’m just going to put it on and make sure it doesn’t fall off.
At this point, I was able to velcro the diaper on and send the now-diapered naked child running into the living room for inspection. Lucas gave it a thumbs up, so I put Elizabeth’s pajamas on and put her in bed. She fell asleep right away and I mentally high-fived myself for a successful adventure in babysitting.
Fast-forward to a conversation that went like this:
Mom: So, we have to give you an A- for babysitting. You did fine, but there was just one thing–
Me:–the diaper, right? I KNEW it!
Mom: Yes, the diaper! It was on backwards!
There goes my new career. I’ve already told E’s mother that she needs to write me a how-to guide if it’s ever my turn to populate the world with little Tater Tots. Hopefully they will give me another chance because being around that baby…well, it’s pure joy.
How do you moms figure it out???
Back to things I know all about — good food.
Endive with salsa:
Popcorn:
Pasta:
Carb-y and random, I know. I did start the day with some a-maz-ing banana nut waffles, but that’s only because we had overnight guests and I like to convince them I’m some kind of Martha Stewart wannabe. Once they left, it was raid-the-fridge time for lunch and dinner.
Any foam rollers in the house? I just got my first one and tonight, I’m going to try it out. I did a painfully slow 4-mile ralk this morning, and just couldn’t get my legs to move. I’m pretty stuffed up and battling a head cold, but I think it’s on its way out. I’m hoping the training gets better, because I have some big events coming up!
And let me leave you with one more thing — one of my fave bloggers (Eating Journey) recently did a post that made me tear up. Check it out here as she exposes herself, both emotionally and physically.
via EatingJourney.com, one of the bravest bloggers I know
After thinking about what she said, and visiting her friend Esther‘s site (which distracted me for a good 2 hours as I caught up on her journey), I was reminded — again — of the power of honest blogging.
I hope I’m able to say something on this blog that makes you smile but also makes you think. We’re all beautiful, no matter our size. We all struggle and sometimes fall, and as long as we keep getting up, we’ll make it through. I truly appreciate all of you who read, who write and who share the truthful ups and downs of healthy living.
my fiance babysits with me sometimes, and every now and then says he thinks he should learn how to put on a diaper. then, when changing time comes, decides that the parents probably don’t want him to do it. so he leaves me to them.
it’s going to be fun when we have babies.
generally diapers fasten in the front (the sticky tabs or velcro depending on disposable or plastic come from the back side, attach to the front)
and when all else fails, playing “let’s go jump on the babysitter’s man!” is fun for the child, and gets to make you feel better about their lack of helping.
I just got sucked into Mish’s friend’s blog too. Awesome.
LOVE your blog. I’m going to have to catch up on all of your adventures! Thanks for stopping by mine.
I love frogs…but I don’t know if I could handle one that came up through the toilet!