What goes around comes around...

     So, we haven't done much gardening this week because we've had frost warnings and cold temperatures.  According to my husband, who again, is the one who actually knows how to do this, we should plant our veggies and what not the weekend of  Easter.  So, until then, I have some funny things that happened this week that I thought I would share.

     If you are a parent, your child has or will do something that make you instantly think to yourself, "Oh, my poor Mom/Dad.  I totally did that same thing to them."  And, you will feel so guilty about it!  Well, that happened to me this week.  This is the story of Angel Bear...
     When I was expecting my first child, I was ready!  The nursery was ready MONTHS before her scheduled date of arrival.  The strollers, (yes, that is plural) were put together, the car seats were installed, the clothes were washed, dried, ironed, hung up, etc...  We were READY!  But, one day I was shopping in Babies R Us when I realized that we didn't have any stuffed animals for the baby!  Apparently, that was appalling to me in my hormonal state.  So, I probably spent about an hour trying to find the perfect stuffed animal for my baby.  I sifted through hundreds of animals and none of them quite measured up.  That is, until I spotted....  Angel Bear.  There she sat, this perfect white bear with angel wings.  I promise you she had a spotlight on her little stuffed body that beckoned me over to her.  She was the perfect combination of soft, cuddly, downy goodness and she had angel wings.  Again, in my hormonal state, this appealed to me and angel bear embodied everything that I wanted for my precious little angel.  I stood there envisioning Angel Bear as "the one" the my child would always hold dear to her...  Having an honored place in the crib, then the big girl bed room, then the college dorm and then finally given to her daughter so many years from now.  (Again, VERY hormonal at this point). 
     Fast forward 6 years as my oldest child, the recipient of Angel Bear, is cleaning out her room to make room for her new things that she received for her birthday...  American Girl Dolls and their accessories, clothes, makeup, etc...  She decides to make a pile of stuff to give away to those less fortunate.  She's throwing all kinds of things into the hall, mostly baby stuff.  As she sifts through the pile of stuffed animals, she gets to the bottom and pulls out Angel Bear.  As I expect her to ooh and ahh over her, she tosses Angel Bear into the hall with the rest of the give away pile without batting an eye.  WHAT?  But that's not the worst of it...  My 2 year old son walks up to the pile and finds Angel Bear.  Awww..  He's going to rescue her.  Yay!  Nope.  He picks her up and starts hitting things with her - like she is some kind of weapon.  6 year old sees this and joins in.  They then take the party downstairs to have more room to throw poor Angel Bear around and at each other.  2 year old likes to make a gun sound while he has her and 6 year old follows suit.  So, not only is Angel Bear not sitting in a place of honor in 6 year old's bedroom, she has now become a weapon of mass destruction to my den.  As this is happening, I am instantly reminded of Barbara Ann... 
     If you were born in the late 70s, like I was, you may have had an adoption doll.  Adoption Dolls were kind of a precursor to Cabbage Patch Kids.  But, instead of purchasing an adoption doll, you actually made them.  Well, my sweet mother, who does not enjoy sewing at all (much like her daughter!) actually took a class and MADE me an adoption doll.  She was big, too, and extremely well made!  I can only imagine how long it took my mom to make this doll for me.  If I were her, I would be more than proud of myself for accomplishing this sewing masterpiece as Barbara Ann was.  I did love Barbara Ann.  I even gave her that awesome name.  Ha!  But, one summer, we were spending the week at the beach with some family friends.  The condo we stayed in had a really big staircase.  Funny thing is, that is really the only memory I have of that whole trip!  The staircase.  Our friends had 2 sons that were 4 and 8 years older than me.  As we got bored not being at the beach one afternoon, we discovered that Barbara Ann made quite the torpedo to throw down that long staircase.  Over and over and over again, we threw Barbara Ann up and down that staircase, all under the watchful eye of my mom.  POOR MOM!  HOW IN THE WORLD COULD I HAVE THROWN THAT MASTERPIECE THAT SHE SPENT HOURS ON UP AND DOWN THOSE STAIRS!?!?!?!?!?  Oh yeah, because I was a kid and it was fun!  And, do you know what my mom said?  Nothing.  She let us do it and have fun.  So, that's what I did as I saw how much fun my kids were having with Angel Bear, the machine gun.  I let them have fun just as my mom let me.  Thanks mom for handling those moments with such grace.  I hope I handle the many many things I will face in the future with half of the grace you showed me. 
Until next time...