Well, my wagon is still draggin’. I slept a good long time and woke up with the feeling that someone shoved a hundred beans forcefully into my nostrils to fill every available area of my face. I loathe acknowledging out loud that my face hurts lest I open myself up to the retort, “well, it is killing me!”

I am thinking a long shower, some sinus medication and more sleep are in order; but, not before I talk about the thoughts that come to mind this morning. It is interesting the linkage in my mind. As I was explaining the way my face was feeling above it reminded me of two separate incidents with two of my children.

People often ask me how I come up with the things I blog about. Sometimes I actually do identify things I would like to blog about before I sit before the keyboard, but often I just start typing (or hunt and pecking to be more accurate). My blog is more stream of consciousness than methodical writing…which is what distances me from some of my fellow bloggers who are real “writers” (indeed some are “authors” or soon to be “authors” as well). I don’t fancy myself a “writer” as much as some one who enjoys sharing through writing…oh no, a “writer” I am not. I am grateful that the real talent on this blog site allows me to hang around.  🙂

At any rate, the beans up the nose comment reminded me of two things. The first was an incident with Sarah when she was a youngster – about three years old I think. She was standing out in the front yard at my mom’s house admiring what we called the holly bush (so dubbed as it had what appeared to be holly leaves and small red berries). Sarah had her back to me and having gotten a glimpse of her pulling one of the berries off the shrub I said, “Honey, those berries are not for eating – don’t put that in your mouth.” Having given that warning (and believing at the time that my children were such perfect listeners) I returned to my conversation with my mom. Minutes later, my second oldest child, Noah, came over and reported that Sarah had something stuck in her nose.

Given that Noah was all of two years old I expected his report had more to do with a disgusting “booger” (that is mom-speak for materials that are expelled or picked unceremoniously from a child’s nose that meet certain viscosity and volume criteria). My children regularly reported these types of disgusting irregularities (indeed they still do) and it wouldn’t be the first time something seemed at first blush more dire than it actually was.  No worries – as a seasoned mom of two at that time I never left home without a pack of tissues. Alas, it was not a booger. It was berries – many berries – all skillfully shoved up her nose.

I had to dig out all those berries from her nose (there were at least twenty up those tiny nostrils as I recall it) and all the while I kept asking her, “Why did you put the berries up your nose?” She had no answer to my query; but, she did offer the following (perhaps as a means of consolation), “I didn’t put any in my mouth.” Ah, yes…what a good little listener she was…which brings me to memory number two.

I got a call from the school nurse when Cory was in first grade. She informed me that Cory had put a kernel of corn in his ear while they were doing an art project and it was now stuck in there. She noted that while she could see it, but she did not feel comfortable taking it out herself. She asked me to come down to the school to take it out myself.

So off I went to the school to take in this display of yet another one of my children’s “uniqueness”. After several attempts to extract the kernel myself it became clear that extraction would not be occurring without medical assistance.

At the doctor’s office we all had a good giggle about the silly things kids do. I shared the Sarah berry story, the doctor told me a story about one of her kids – it was a “kids do the darndest things” moment. Then the doctor looked in Cory’s corn kernel ear and announced that there was something else shoved up in his ear as well.

They did an ear wash and low and behold, out came the kernel and a good sized chunk of a Styrofoam packing peanut. The doctor theorized that his ear was probably bothering him and that is why he shoved the items in his ear. I appreciated that explanation and went with it as I could not fathom another explanation for shoving a packing peanut in one’s ear.

Ah, my special children and the memories that endure. Remembering it now makes me smile a bit and my face, well it doesn’t hurt as much anymore – perhaps all I needed was a little smile therapy to loosen up those beans.

Day one hundred and three of the new forty – obla di obla da

CC