Today, during the “severe” weather watch that only the South shuts down for, we are watching the rain fall, wind blow and ice form on the tips of the branches of Cypress trees. No ice on the roads just yet, but we have hunkered down for the weekend. Mel and I ventured out to dinner at Bow Thai and then to Wal-Mart last night to prepare for the severe weather while our girls enjoyed movie night at First Baptist Church. We stocked up on Moon Sand, movies and munchies. (Along with the rest of Hartsville, who inevitably stocks up on bread and milk at even the remote possibility of ice.)
Daddy left for work early, so today, so far, the girls’ team has enjoyed a late and large breakfast, created a Moon Sand castle, roller skated around the house at least 300 times, made chocolate frozen banana pops, ate popcorn for lunch, have had two dance parties and have watched at least a dozen iCarly episodes. (Is iCarly always on Nick?) It isn’t often that we are home for more than a two hour stretch, so I’ve still got some planning to do, as it is only 2pm. Maybe a nap is in store for us.
Hopefully after our severe weather weekend, we’ll enjoy more 60-70ish weather once again! Until then…
Saturday afternoon, as Mary Clare, McCanless and I were hand-in-hand skipping out of Magnolia Mall, it hit me. I realized that I had just experienced a major rite of passage with my oldest daughter. McCanless did it. She got her ears pierced. I was in tears as I looked down at my big six- year- old smiling like a Cheshire cat. I had no idea I would be so emotional. I didn’t feel quite so weird when we later called my sister and she also cried upon hearing the news…
It was a beautiful sunny day and the girls team decided to put those Christmas gift cards to good use and go shopping. A few shops later, we were in line at Target and McCanless looked at me with a sly grin. “Mom, I want to go get my ears pierced.”
I nearly fainted. She has wanted real earrings for a while now, even going so far as to wear magnetic and stick-on earrings daily, but wouldn’t dare put herself through the pain of the real deal. I told her after her sixth birthday she could do it. But still, she refused and said she would never, ever, ever really have her ears pierced, so it came as a huge surprise that she seemed ready.
We immediately took off for Claire’s boutique in the mall. I didn’t have my camera, Mary Clare was in dire need of a nap and we only had 20 minutes until I had to be home for a party with Daddy. I knew we would have lots of consideration and contemplation to do. This is McCanless we’re talking about. Lots to do in little time. I was skeptical. We walked in as another little girl was in the piercing chair. Great. As soon as the little girl began to scream I knew we would be leaving soon. No ears pierced. I told McCanless we could go home. No big deal. (Actually, after seeing the little girl scream, I didn’t really want McCanless to have it done. My heart ached as I knew she would soon feel the same pain. ) I encouraged her to wait a while. Maybe even bring Daddy with us next time. Later. Maybe in a month. Or two. This summer, even.
I think it was the allure of the shiny, sparkly earrings all around her, but she was more determined than ever. She chose “diamonds” and it was over in a matter of minutes. My baby girl cried for a moment and a diamond-studded big girl emerged from the hot pink vinyl chair eager to see herself in the mirror.
Immediately, Mary Clare threw herself in a rage onto the floor screaming to have her ears pierced, too.
McCanless perused the big hoop section and chose a multi pack of pink, purple and turquoise hoops. I had to. I couldn’t tell her that after going through all of that, that mom and dad had a few rules about types of earrings. We’ll get to that later.
So my big girl has her ears pierced. I have no photos of the monumental event, but I will never, ever forget the smile on her face, bursting with excitement, as she looked in the mirror for the first time to see her beautiful “diamond” earrings.
Last night, as we were going through our usual bedtime routine, Mary Clare decided to spice things up a bit. McCanless was already in her bed asleep at 8 pm. (She has strep throat, by the way, which is the only reason she would be in the bed asleep at such an hour.) I plopped Mary Clare up onto the counter as I do every night. She had her juice in one hand and her paci in the other. I turned my back to grab her syringe for her Blood Pressure medication, which happened to be sitting beside her. We have done this twice a day for her entire life. She takes 2 ml’s of her Enalapril. Once in the morning and once at night. In the split second that I was grabbing the syringe, I heard her sucking on her sippy cup, or so I thought. I turned around and she had the bottle of Enalapril turned up.
Funny, I didn’t panic. I’m not sure if it is just my personality or that I’m so used to unexpected events in my household after having three high maintenance people living with me. It also helped that I remembered one of my heart mom friends, Maddie‘s mom, from Washington State, telling me about her daughter who had an over-dosage of her BP med for a couple of weeks. (Pharmacy’s fault, but she was fine, thank goodness.) So that gave me some comfort, I’m sure.
Nonetheless, I grabbed the phone to call Mel, who was at a city function. I couldn’t get him so I called MUSC….and long story short, we ended up going to our local hospital to be monitored for four hours. (Well, I wasn’t monitored. Mary Clare was monitored.) All was fine. Her BP did drop pretty low, but not low enough for intervention. The nurses were more concerned about her “low” oxygen levels because they were in the upper 70′s. I had to explain numerous times that her O2 wasn’t our concern. This was about her BP. Upper 70′s are fine for her, especially when she was sleeping! Such is life with a heart kiddo.
So today, we’re home. Vegging right now. McCanless is ill because I won’t allow her to skate through the house (sick, remember?) and I took Mary Clare to school for a couple of hours to get out of the house. She certainly hasn’t been acting like her BP is running low. Quite the contrary. She was running circles around McCanless this morning and begged me to take her to the park at 8 AM despite our late night rendezvous. So, pre-school it was!
Life is back to normal. McCanless is fussing. Mary Clare is happily blue. Mel is filming some local television interview and I’m tired and thankful. And happy.
Lesson learned.
My sweetheart in her princess pj’s fast asleep at the hospital. Even the constant BP cuff squeezes and the beeping of the pulse oximeter going berserk over her “low” levels didn’t arouse sleeping beauty.
Glow bracelets, disco ball necklaces, a little duck shooting, and lots of roller derby pals made for an awesome 6th birthday party for McCanless!
I may have to pass the torch. My little rising party planner told me exactly what she wanted and even designed her cake. I took her to CJ’s and she told the cake designer every detail, down to the disco ball on top!
It was a family affair. Mel made a Roller Derby Mix CD for everyone as party favors. (Some didn’t burn correctly for CD players, like mine, so if you need another, please call me! It is a great mix.)
So how did my now six-year-old spend her birthday this year? January 5, 2010 was the first day back to school after Christmas break, so she couldn’t wait to share the good news of her birthday with her classmates. She jumped out of bed that morning eager to begin her birthday. With 30 white-frosted, pink-sprinkled cupcakes in tow, her day began as she was dubbed the classroom princess, so she says. She was morning board leader, line leader and even received flowers from Nonnie at school.
After dance class that afternoon, we did what we always do on birthdays.
We headed to Los Tres for a birthday dinner, Mexican style! (I will have to say that she is her father’s daughter. I offered the choice of Chuck E. Cheese with the four of us (Mommy, Daddy, MC and McCanless) or Mexican with anyone else who could make it on a last minute notice.) She loves celebrating with a crowd. So, Los Tres it was!
Mary Clare, donning one of McCanless’ gifts, a party dress, spent the evening bargaining with grandparents for quarters for the tatoo and gumball machines.
So, it hit me today as I was watching a Jif peanut butter commercial. (Which is ironic in itself; I never watch television. I just happened to turn on the television in the kitchen as I was eating a bowl of cereal for lunch.) A teenager in college received a care package from her mother. She was calling to thank her for the comfort food and love from home. The mom answered the phone and said, “Hi college girl.” That’s when it hit me. In ten years, McCanless will probably have narrowed down her college choices. At 16, I was entering my junior year of high school, I thought I knew everything and was on a one way track to USC. I thought of the experiences I lived through, thank goodness, and thought of all that I had in front of me at that point in life, with so much to learn. McCanless will be there in 10 years. 10 years is not a long time AT ALL. I was in tears again as I thought, “Then Mary Clare is only three years behind her.”
Am I crazy?
Okay, so I know she is only six, but still I’m a mom. I want my babies with me forever. My tune may change as my “babies” grow into teenagers. For now, though, I wish I could freeze time and keep them with me always. I love the midnight sounds down the hallway when I realize that I’ll soon have an additional snuggle partner. (I find it fun to guess who it actually is. A thud and hard, slow steps and a pillow dragging behind mean McCanless is on her way. Quiet and quick pitter-patter foreshadows my youngest baby girl who will inevitably ask for juice as soon as she climbs into bed.) I love taking McCanless to school with me and love that she is proud to walk down the hallway hand-in-hand with her mother for now. And if only Mary Clare’s complete trust in me and belief that I, as her mother, can fix anything would last forever. I know so much of this will change, but I’ve got my fingers crossed. (We can always buy a king sized bed as they grow taller, right?)
I’ve found that I love each phase of our lives more and more as the years pass. I can’t imagine having more love and more fun with my little family than I do right now, so I can’t to see what is in store for us! Hopefully, I won’t have to face anymore peanut butter commercials any time soon.
