Today was spectacular! And to prove it, I submit this evidence to the court: It’s 8:30 p.m. and all three of my boys are sound asleep. That’s how much fun we had.

Our hot tub is working again and some lovely people showed up to try it out. The weather was warm and beautiful and our friends stayed all day long. Champagne was imbibed. Children and adults frolicked. I relaxed. It ended with scrumptious sushi. Simply perfect. 

Let the summer come. I am ready.

I was wondering if anyone can point me to good info about homeopathy? Does it work? Is it safe? (The FDA recently said not to give cold meds to children under 6 years old, so I’m trying to find something to relieve symptoms.) I don’t have much experience with this, but we are trying Hyland’s ear ache and cold tablets for children. I see homeopathy kits on the internet, but have some skepticism and sticker shock at their prices.

Lucas has been sick all week and still is sick. Today we took him to the urgent-care doctor, who determined he has a lung infection and asthma because of it. We now have medicines to treat both. And now Asher has a fever, too.

On Thursday night, after the fourth solid day of fever, I got creative. More about that in a minute. 

There is a whole school of Athroposophical medicine, of which I am largely ignorant. I know a couple of key points, however, and have an uneasy relationship to them. One key point is the idea that fever is one of the body’s main ways of purging itself of unwanted substances, i.e. viruses and bacteria. People who subscribe to this theory recommend not suppressing a fever with drugs, but say we should instead simply provide supportive care and allow the fever to run its course. The supportive care stuff is somewhat familiar (and seems natural/reasonable to me), and somewhat alien. Lemon leg compresses are not the stuff I was raised on.

Over the course of the past week, Ian and I have waffled a bit. Sometimes we gave Lucas ibuprofen to suppress his fever so he could feel better. When his eyes get glassy and he stops moving and talking, I begin to worry. Whenever we dosed him, he felt much better and was able to play and be more himself (still sick, but more himself). When he wasn’t that hot, we let him be in the hopes that he’d rest and get rid of the bug. Now I kind of wonder if dosing him may have prolonged the sickness, given that he was far more active with the ibuprofen in his system. Perhaps he overtaxed his impaired body during those times.

I am so not a doctor, and often have a hard time separating the health info/advice I have stored in my noggin into appropriate True, False, or Complete Bullshit categories.

Anyway … In an effort to distract him and keep him still, I made him a needle-felted Fever Fairy. (Yes, I made her. With. My. Hands. You may rightly gasp with amazement now.) So. A Fever Fairy. She is adorned in fiery colors and is made entirely of wool roving (with a single pipe-cleaner inside for structure). I named her Scarlett (OK, that part wasn’t very creative) and gave her to Lucas, telling him that Fever Fairies are special friends who visit children who are sick and feverish. 

The job of a Fever Fairy is to keep sick children company and to whisper soothing things to them. Fever Fairies stay by their side as long as the children are sick, then disappear. But whenever a child needs a rest and some quiet time, he may call to his Fever Fairy and she will come to him and whisper soothing words and cuddle him.  



I told Lucas a story about a sick little boy and Scarlett, the Fever Fairy. Every time the boy became sick while he was growing up, Scarlett came to him and kept him company. She reminded him of all the cooling things in the world, like the sweet taste of ice-cold water, the many flavors of ice-cream, swimming in summertime, the feeling of snowflakes falling on his cheek and raindrops on his skin. She told him he would get well and feel better soon and that she loved him very much. Scarlett came to him when he was a boy, and a teenager, and a grown-up man, and even an old man—whenever he was sick. And each time she visited, the boy always felt better. Her sweet words helped his fever come down. They were forever friends.

Lucas has slept with Scarlett since then and held her while resting on the couch. I don’t know if this is an original idea or not, but I’ve never heard about anyone else doing it. Either way, his Fever Fairy has distracted him a little. And for that, I’m grateful. 

 

And now, we’re off to do some face-painting. He wants a teddy bear on his cheek.

Yes, that says “Day Four.” We had planned to spend his first week (and Ian’s only week) of Easter Break at the cabin in South Lake Tahoe. I know we were there just last month, but staying there is fun and free and we figured that we could do with another week of snowy bliss. 

Alas. We are not in Tahoe. We are puttering around our house, mostly enjoying each other’s company and not working, but we’re also bummed that Lucas feels so crummy. He has had a fever and a bad cough since Sunday night. He is able to play a little (occasionally a lot) when we dose him with ibuprofen, but when it wears off he’s back to feeling miserable. And he is bored. And whiny. 

But, really, poor baby! At least he’s old enough now to know that sickness is temporary. I hated it when he was younger and he would get sick and look at me with those big blue eyes and ask, “Why, Mommy?” And expect me to make it all better.

The weather is drop-dead gorgeous, if such a thing can be said about weather, and it’s hard to be cooped up indoors. We managed a leisurely walk along the American River bike trail at Negro Bar yesterday and a meal out in Folsom. Today we tried a walk around our neighborhood with Lucas on his bike, but he quickly decided he’d rather turn around and go home. Asher and I pressed on without Lucas and daddy and had a nice, quiet walk. 

Last week Lucas played with the grandson of his grandma’s friend on Wednesday. He was here visiting from Maryland or someplace. The next day the kid was sick and had to cancel another planned playdate with Lucas. I’ve been silently blaming that kid for the last four days for getting my kid sick. Turns out, he wasn’t this sick, so maybe it’s not his fault afterall.

On a more positive note, Ian has made us some marvelous meals and I love, love, love that I have a husband who wows (and woos) me with food. Tonight we had chicken picata with artichoke hearts and capers and a sidedish of kale and chard in a creamy tomato sauce. Two nights ago he cooked chicken korma, complete with cashews and garum masala. Totally delish. He’s a man of many scrumptious talents and I’m a lucky girl.

Also, the darling

frosteee 

dropped by (unfortunately when we weren’t at home) and left us a big, beautiful family portrait as a gift. It must be 16 x 20 or bigger (don’t know where my measuring tape is at the moment) and printed on metallic paper and mounted on a hard board of some type. It’s this shot that they took of us at Asher’s birthday party on Feb 3, and we look like rockstars!



I adore it and I can’t wait to have it framed. It’s awesome! Thank you, Frostee and T8! 

We received the acceptance letter yesterday. It says that the Waldorf school is pleased to offer Lucas a place in the first grade next fall. There was never any real doubt that he would get in, but I’m happy it is now official. We already know about half of the families that will be in Lucas’s class—a class he will be together with for grades 1 through 8. Most of the rest of the children who will make up his class will come from the other kindergarten class at his school, which means that Lucas already knows them, but Ian and I don’t yet. 

I know they are actively interviewing candidates for the teaching position that will hopefully take Lucas all the way through the eighth grade. It’s an extensive process. At our family Easter celebration, I learned from my cousin Jenna, who is in the master’s Education program at Sacramento State University that one of her classmates is up for the job of Lucas’s teacher. Jenna says this woman is very competant and Waldorf trained. Who knows? My curiousity is really high right now.

I’ve just finished tucking my 5-year-old in for the night. We have an elaborate but working bedtime ritual (bath or shower, brushing teeth and hair, stories, candle prayer with all of us, lights out, songs and cuddles with mommy) that begins just after dinner and ends with me creeping out of the room in the dark. I sing the same eight songs every night. Then I choose from one to six others in a regular rotation—I’m just wacky enough to mix ’em up once in a while! (Yes, I am a rockstar.)

The second-to-last song is always “Rock-A-Bye Baby.” I used to not sing this song to Lucas, but he started asking for it about a year ago. I figured one of his teachers sang this song at naptime. The last song is always “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” This one is by far his favorite lullaby.

Tonight Lucas asked me, “Does the baby really fall out of the tree, Mommy?” And I was left momentarily speechless. Because … well, I KNOW! What a terrible thing to sing to a small child! This is exactly why I chose not to sing it for so long! 

I said, lamely, “Well, it’s a way of saying the baby falls asleep.”

The internet says:

The words and lyrics to this nursery rhyme are reputed to reflect the observations of a young pilgrim boy in America who had seen Native Indian mothers suspend a birch bark cradle from the branches of a tree enabling the wind to rock the cradle and the child to sleep. The rhyme also hold a warning on the choice of bough!

Wikipedia elaborates. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-a-bye_Baby

(author unknown)

Rock-a-bye, baby
In the treetop
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock
When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall
And down will come baby
Cradle and all

Baby is drowsing
Cosy and fair
Mother sits near
In her rocking chair
Forward and back
The cradle she swings
And though baby sleeps
He hears what she sings

From the high rooftops
Down to the sea
No one’s as dear
As baby to me
Wee little fingers
Eyes wide and bright
Now sound asleep
Until morning light 

I think I’ll try to learn the two last verses.

It has been snowing steadily for days. In the almost-week that we’ve been here, I think we’ve received at least three feet of snow. It is both inspiring and challenging. Somehow the snowy landscape makes me feel contemplative. And hungry, but whatever.Our lovely friends kittiliscious, her man J, and mrplanet4 left this morning to make their way home. Ian and I have decided that it will be better for all of us if we take an extra day to wait out this big storm and not try to transport two bored little boys over the summit and home again while fighting weather and traffic the whole time. I’m happy with 2-hour drives home; I’m not at all crazy about 4-hour drives. I keep staring out the window and marveling at how ethereal the woods look. The light is bluish and it makes the evergreens look nearly black. Both the sky and the ground are the same brilliant white. Heavy pillows of snow burden every limb and branch. The palette is completely monochromatic. The road is invisible, despite the snowplow’s several daily visits. Two-foot icicles hang from the eaves; their shape is spiraled, like unicorn horns. Inside we are snug and warm. Our kitchen is well-stocked with food, so we could easily stay another several days if we needed to. We have everything to make our stay comfortable, including a clothes washer and dryer and dishwasher. We just ran out of vodka, however.  We have passed many happy hours this week playing in the snow, taking walks or “trudges,” playing games, drawing, sewing, creating toys, and reading. Lucas was thrilled to have our friends join us, for they provided a patient (sometimes eager) audience for him. He strove to impress them with his skills, his expertise, his humor, and his antics. I am amazed at his ability to interact with adults. He can be suave: “Kat, you could come and sit beside me, if you want.” He can be charming: “Justin, that was so fun riding on the saucer yesterday. It was awesome! Do you want to pull me along like that now?” He can act so grown up: “Don’t disturb me right now. I’m doing important homework and I can’t be disturbed.” Asher was nervous when we first arrived, but has settled into these surroundings beautifully. I was very happy that he hasn’t been especially attracted to the gas stove in the middle of the main room as it’s been on almost constantly and it’s very hot. It took him several days, but yesterday he realized that he was capable of climbing the stairs all the way to the top floor where we’ve all been sleeping. He was so proud of himself when he reached the top landing, he clapped for himself and squealed. Since then, he’s done it a bunch of times, and I wonder what it must be like to crawl up stairs like that: What if I encountered a staircase like this in the same scale? Would I want to climb it over and over again? Every new accomplishment delights him. He is learning at every moment. Asher is not walking yet, but is beginning to “creep” along while leaning on the furniture. He is fascinated with the snow that he can see outside, but is not too keen on touching it. He despises his snowsuit, but seems to like the snowflakes falling on his face.  Today when we went out to play, Asher seemed to be more comfortable in the snow, sitting in it and batting at it. There’s so much powder I can easily imaging putting him down and losing him in a drift. We have our Ergo carrier with us; obviously a stroller is pretty much useless. But man, with all the snow gear on us and on Asher, he’s really hard to lug around. For a brief time we were able to put Lucas on a saucer and Asher on Lucas and tow them along the road. We received a few dazzling smiles from both of them as a reward for our effort. Lucas is very brave, even when he slips and falls on the ice. He enjoys saucering a lot. It’s clear that his smaller body must work harder to plow through the snow drifts. He presses on because he wants to squeeze as much fun out of the experience as possible. His face glows with melted snowflakes and rosy cheeks. But when he tires, emotions run high and he demands hot cocoa. I am so happy that we can spend time in this glorious landscape and give him this experience.  

We are up at the cabin in South Lake Tahoe right now. Have been since Tuesday afternoon. It’s been totally lovely—snow keeps falling and blanketing the world. Lucas was a little sick for a while, but he’s better now. Some beautiful friends have joined us for the weekend. They’re all outside playing at the moment. I’m stuck inside because Asher’s napping. S’OK though because he’s sweet. I’ll post more about our week up here later on.

I’ve done a bit of work on and off this week, but nothing too strenuous. I’m trying to figure out what direction I want my career to move in. I’m pondering some possibilities while wondering where my next freelance gig will come from. I can tell you this: I like being unplugged from a corporate schedule and I have a hard time imagining ever going back to one. Working in the mountains, when I choose to, sure beats a daily commute to Cubesville. 

It’s funny when the winds of change blow into town. So much of my life is carefully circumscribed right now. It’s hard to know what is just a momentary wish and what might be a deeper yearning for real change.

Letter from Lucas’s teachers:

We are enjoying the rainy weather, thanks to our waterproof gear. Inside we are learning to sew, finger knit, knead our bread and chop the vegetables for our Friday soup. Many boats are being created for the “Little Ones” to go on an adventures. The children have grown kinder and gentler with one another and everyone has become friends.

 Soon it will be Valentine’s Day. There is no need for you and your child to make 24 Valentines for the other children. I have found this can be overwhelming. Instead we will be making Valentines for you at school, having fun while practicing our cutting and gluing.

 Our school auction is on Saturday, March 15. This is a lively event with many treasures to be purchased to help support our school. You are invited to a delicious dinner, a silent auction and a live auction. There is also an opportunity to attend as a volunteer. Each class gives a gift and our kindergarten has traditionally given a set of puppets. We decided to make a countryside set with a farmer, his wife, children, animals, etc. Please join us on February 6 and 13 for an evening of conversation, sewing and fun.  We will gather all the supplies, This is an opportunity to learn to sew, and to make a puppet which each of the older children in the kindergarten will be making after the spring break. We are asking for a $5.00 donation for the supplies. This can be put in the envelope on the shelf by the classroom door. We use the lids of frozen juice or spaghetti sauce for the bottoms of the puppets so if you have any of these we would appreciate it.

IMG_4639
Originally uploaded by SarabellaE

On Flickr there are a number of photos with descriptions of gifts that Lucas gave to me, Ian, and Asher for Christmas. They are all things he worked on with his own hands. This photo shows a Lucas original design: Cup Cozies!