Leave of Absence

God is trying to send me a message, but I certainly don't know what it is. Maybe that I shouldn't be a stay at home mom and I am better suited for just lying around, doing nothing.

I'm getting this vibe because at 2:00 AM Saturday morning I fell down a flight of stairs at our house. It was one of those moments where I could honestly say, "I've fallen and I can't get up." I had to crawl back up the stairs because my left foot hurt so bad that I couldn't put any pressure on it at all. And being the martyr I am, I refused to call out for help for fear of waking Baby A.

So I suffered in silence for hours, got no sleep, and was all worried about a pool party for some friends that we were supposed to have. After watching my inability to walk or even hold Baby A, my darling husband scolded me into going to the ER to have the foot checked out. After four to five hours before even being seen by a doctor, in less than five minutes this doc informed us that the foot wasn't broken, just badly sprained. Lucky me. Now I have to wear a splint and use crutches to get around, which is simply ridiculous for the girl who failed flag corps. because she kept hitting herself upside the head with the flagpole. This girl here don't just fall down stairs, she falls up 'em too. So tell me exactly how am I supposed to used crutches? I'm 36 for Pete's sake, and thank God, never had the chance to use them. I think I'll be scootin' around the house like Baby Girl does.

So I am taking a leave of absence from the stay at home mom gig, at least for three days according to my doctor's note (for real!). I wish I could claim workers comp, but I was checking on the cat, not the baby, so no go.

This could also be seen as comical and/or ironic because the exact same thing happened two years ago during the time between working at the magazine and CPH. Same exact thing. Fell down a flight of stairs for no good reason. This cyclical thing has got to go.

So much for my four hour a day workouts. And one good thing--my blood pressure was at a healthy, low level for me. And I didn't stress out like I could have. So I feel like I'm on the road to wellness, all things considered. Unless that's the pain meds talking.

I haven't broken the news to my boss yet (Baby A). She's gonna be pissed. Thank God Grams is taking her for a day or so to give me a reprieve since I'll be taking a leave of absence for three days. What a hoot.

And it turned out to be such a beautiful weekend, too. I was sure the party could go on with me hobbling on one foot, as long as I can hang out in a floating loung chair in our pool with a BIG honkin' margarita in my hand. Who needs pain pills when you have Tequila?!

Jump Around!

After six months of hearing Baby A beg for a jumperoo, "All the cool kids have them Mom," I finally caved in and bought her one. I swear Cassidy the dog taught her how to work the puppy dog face on us, 'cause it does the trick every time. But it was worth it to see her face light up with joy as she played with all of the gadgets and naturally, jumped around.

I'll fess up to the whole bit of it--I bought an exersaucer too. I'm not big on having lots of toys around the house. We have blocks, books, Baby Einstein DVDs, and teethers, but other than that we haven't gone nuts in the toy department in an effort to keep it real with her. We're blessed we even have a child, and we want to teach her the value of "things".

So my rationale in splurging on two of these things that the books say really aren't necessary is that she needs to be upright more. And that's not MHO, that's her actions. If that kid could stand up and walk on her own already, she'd be out that door. Of course I want her to crawl, and we're working on that. But that girl wants to move, and how can I stand in her way? I'm just a sucker for this kid. All that shopping I did formyself back in the day is now all for her. Who cares though? If I want my Baby Girl to have a fanfrackingtastic onesie, by golly she's gonna get it (and then who's gonna stop the Grandmas and Aunties from doing the same--certainly not me).



OK, so I got a little freaked that I could be spoiling my child. I know, what a ridiculous concept for a 6-month-old. It just scares me how kids today expect all the gagdgets and stuff that we had to earn growing up. Oh hell, let's face it, most of that stuff didn't even exist back then. But she was so happy, and hopefully I'm not imprinting her brain to think that mommy = cash register and/or gift machine (when, come to think of, I think that's how I looked at my mom as a kid, but I didn't know any better).

Anyhoo, I guess what I need to do at this point is simply enjoy the moments we share together, toys or no toys. That's the cool things about kids. I can stand around and do the funky chicken in front of Baby A and she just laughs and laughs. No bells or whistles, just me being my dorky self. Who is madly in love with this child and will do anything for a laugh, and I rarely need props (most dorks don't).