Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Trip to the Dentist

Yesterday I had to bring the girls to the dentist. Vica needed to start getting fillings for the six cavities she has and Natasha needed to have her cleaning and fluoride treatment.

When I told Vica earlier in the morning that she'd be going to see Dr. Mason, she jumped up and down and said "Yeah!!!" I asked her if she knew what was going to happen and she nodded yes and made a noise like a dental drill and pointed to her teeth. Oooooooookay....... We got to the office and the girls were ready to go- they both did great. Dr.Mason was able to do three of the fillings and Vica came through it wonderfully- no anesthesia required. This of course completely amused him because Mommy happens to be the Doctor's biggest chicken of a patient in the entire practice. I want him to give me anesthesia if he's even going to TALK about drilling my teeth.

On Sunday Vica had a birthday party for one of her classmates. This was another first for her and she really had fun. Being new to the motherhood loop, I wasn't sure what the protocol was for these things. I'm from back in the day when your Mom dropped you off at a birthday party and left tire tracks down the road to make the most of the two hours she had, kid, or at least semi-kid free. Apparently, this is not the way it works today. I was expected to sit on a folding chair for 2 hours watching 22 shrieking, screaming 7 year old girls dance and play games. The other choice I had was to engage in conversations with the other mothers and since I didn't know anyone they were gossiping about, that was out. All of this without the benefit of alcohol. Seriously though, it was so nice for me to see how loved Vica is by her new friends. They ran up to her hugging her and kissing her, jumping up and down with excitement that she was there. It's what any Mom wants for their child, but this is more than I could have asked for so soon. I also observed another maternal rite of passage and had a play date requested for Vica- oh boy, something else for me to agonize over.

Do you see the pattern emerging here folks? Orphan child leaves everything familiar to her behind and lands on planet America- adjusts as if she's been here forever. Mom who's been dying to have kids most of her adult life can't figure out how to negotiate a play date. Oh brother..... thankfully Vica is still so enamored of me that she STILL thinks I can do no wrong and that everything I do is just wonderful (except when I make her eat broccoli) so while I've still got about ten seconds left of that lasting, I'll take advantage of it while I fumble through these new experiences and hopefully I won't come out on the other side of it all as Complete Dork Mom!

Monday, June 04, 2007

The Gabor Sisters and The Meaning of Life

You would never know that my two girls ever spent a single moment of their very young lives in any discomfort whatsoever. Both of them feel the need to report the slightest thing that may be bothering them at a particular moment. A few examples;

1. Vica runs into the house from outside specifically to find me and tell me that her arm itches.

2. Both girls will declare in an absolutely disgusted tone that it's HOT outside as if I possessed the ability to turn the Sun off. Sorry, but if I had THAT kinda power, I'd use it to pick lottery numbers kid....

3. The air conditioning- which is relieving said heat is now blowing too strongly on one or more of them.

4. The TV is showing commercials- AGAIN, and why can't I get their show back on IMMEDIATELY.

All of this diva-esque behavior has got me and Matt referring to them as Zsa-Zsa and Eva, which Vica really hates because I think she thinks we're trying to actually change her name to Zsa Zsa.

While all of this can be annoying sometimes, it makes me realize how far my girls have come. They aren't afraid to ask me for what they need, or want and have grown accustomed to being comfortable. They become more and more like every other kid every single day, they become "mine" more and more every day too. The bonding process is a long and complicated one, on both sides between parent and child and it really is a lot of flying by the seat of your pants.

Which brings me to the second part of this post- which is a bit off topic. I got some really sad news today. A woman I worked with passed away from lung cancer on Friday. She was only 34 years old and leaves behind two small babies. She was diagnosed just a few months ago and had been very healthy up until then, she just had a cold she couldn't seem to shake, went to the doctor and it all fell apart from there. I can remember when this woman was pregnant and how jealous I felt of her at the time because I could never hold onto a pregnancy. She seemed to have it all, and well, you already know how the story ends. I learned a long, long time ago (unfortunately the hard way- which is how I have to learn everything) that there's no point in wanting what someone else has, their reality has nothing to do with yours and while you're busy wondering why they have what you don't, your life is going nowhere, but that lesson comes from the benefit of a few thousand dollars worth of therapy, the lesson driven home for me today is that it doesn't matter who you are, how much you've got to lose, how much money you have or don't have, there's simply no way to know when the game is over.

I had an argument with someone I love this past week. I didn't mean for it to turn into what it turned into, but that's how some things go. You think you're just being honest and you wind up hurting the other person more than you started out being hurt by what they said or did. Things get misunderstood, other people interject their opinions and before you know it, it's a bona fide drama. I've had my fair share of drama in my life and I'm sure as hell not looking for anymore.

So, in the spirit of ALL of that, while I won't name names- I'm sorry.