Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Snippets

Woody has been not feeling well for two days now. He has a headache and is tired. I just know he is growing again. This must be a whopper growing spurt, even for him. This boy gets serious growing pains. He gets physically sick and the next day all or part of him has grown. Sometimes it is just a shoe size and sometimes it's an inch in height. Think I'm exagerating? Here are two true stories.
1. Last spring (just before turning 10) he goes to soccer practice on a Tuesday, comes home that night feeling nauseous and has a headache. Throws up in the middle of the night. Stays home from school on Wednesday but feels fine by mid-morning. Thursday gets ready to go to soccer again and his shoes (that he wore on Tuesday) don't fit him. He can't get them on.
2. January, this year, age 10 and-a-half. I hadn't measured him in a few months so I took him to the garage where we have their hash marks written on the garage door. I measured him and he had grown about 3/4 of an inch in about a 3 month period. A week later he did the whole headache/nauseous thing and the next day I measured him again (out of curiousity) and he had grown a whole inch. In one week. Somewhere between April and June he grew another inch. I'm going to measure him tomorrow, just to check. I mean two days of this? His whole body could be exploding. **update** yep, he grew half an inch since three weeks ago, and? He has some kind of bug***update*** virus (could me mono) too.

Buzz and I were sitting at the table yesterday. He was telling me about his day and pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. He says, "Here, mommy. This is my friend's cell phone number, he gave it to me." I asked him how old was his friend, and he told me that he was 7. "Oh, so this is his mom's cell phone number?" No, he said. "His dad's?" I asked. "No, he has his own cell phone and that's the number. Can we call him?" (WTF?)

"Summer of No TV" update:
Top 15 things the kids do/have done instead of watch t.v during the week:

15. Play UNO
14. Play "13" (card game)
13. Play Basketball
12. Play Hockey
11. Read books
10. Write in journals
9. Feigned illness and fatigue to get out of reading books and writing in journals
8. Rode bikes to the park
7. Played tag with the dog
6. Taken reeeeeaaaaallly loooooooong showers
5. Played hide and seek with a stuffed animal (take turns trying to find it)
4. Shopped for shoes on the internet (this is a potential problem I am choosing to ignore, hoping it will go away)
3. Invented and practiced secret/celebration handshakes
2. Acted out skits from their favorite television shows
1. Made fun of my singing. Apparently I was singing out loud to my Mp3 player while cleaning their bathroom and they were in their room screaming at the top of their lungs singing the chorus to the Nine Inch Nails song I was listening to (and laughing hysterically). "E-verrry Daaay Is Exac-tly The Same."
(FYI - yes it is. Yes it is.)

Ouch! - Just paid the PG & E (pacific gas & electric) bill for the first time since #91 moved out. That was the bill he paid in lieu of rent. $238.00! Now that hurts.

I'm on to you Wells Fargo - Just because I decline your, very kind, offer of moving me to paperless statements doesn't mean you need to deny me online access to my account. Oh, I know your little tricks. I fell for it the first time when I clicked the "not at this time" button after logging in to check my balance and you so conveniently told me that my account was temporarily unavailable. But the second time? How come, miraculously, after it was temporarily unavailable when I immediately logged in again it was suddenly available? And then the third and fourth time I declined? Hmmm? Nothing to say? What about the fifth time? Do you think I am going to succumb to your pressure and go paperless just because you bug me with that incessant pop up screen standing between me and my account summary? And the e-mails? I don't want paperless statements. I don't even open the paper ones. It's personal now. I will never agree. I will never push that "sign up now" button. And? You can't make me.

12 comments:

Cristina said...

Oh my GAWD. That is one high PG&E bill. I'll be afraid to open mine.

And that was a great list of what your kids are doing in lieu of TV. After reading that list, I think "I" should watch a lot less TV. :)

Jennifer said...

Our electric bill is going to require a second mortgage to pay if this heatwave goes on much longer.

My son had a "summer of growth" himself - six inches - so I can relate. It's kind of freaky to watch it happen in front of your eyes! But wow, talk about some intense growing pains! I hope he's feeling better soon.

Babaloo said...

Nicole- some of their "handshakes" look more like Pepto Bismol commercials, which does make it a hoot!

M.o.t.r- we have been spoiled for three years having our oldest pay the bill...now we really need to re-adjust the old budget!

Jennifer- six inches in one summer? Holy Cow! While the sickness is pretty intense, he gets through it because he knows he's growing!

Thanks for the well wishes!

Valerie said...

Wow your son is a growing machine! I will have to try the TVless summer someday but not today. Fairly oddparents is on.

Zephra said...

Kamran did that too. He has had so many appointments with RA doctors because we were sure he had some terrible terminal illness. He was in so much pain from growing that there were weeks that he could not walk for hours after waking in the morning. From last October to Janurary he grew 4 inches. Why is it always after we buy clothes???????

Bonnie B said...

My goodness! What do you feed him! My oldest daughter is a fast grower too, but I've never paid attention to when. I hate to say this but when her clothes start to pop and she starts walking funny I think, "What is wrong with that kid?"and "Did Ben do the laundry again?" Of course, she has just grown and eventually, I do buy her clothes.

Babaloo said...

V- Oh, can't miss Timmy!

Z- Ouch, that sounds painful. The older kids didn't go through this, so it kind of took me off guard. I always thought growing pains were emotional and not physical!

BB- my youngest wears hand-me-downs from the older one. However I recently realized that while they are three years apart, he fits into clothes that his brother wore 1-2 years ago...Yikes!

socialworker/frustrated mom said...

Lots going on. Hope he feels better. Good list.

Pendullum said...

My daughter gets the growing pains that just hurt... They wake her up in the night...
Her only relief is Deep Cold it seems to help those growing muscles...
and whhhhhoooo gives a cell phone to a 7 year old????
What is that all about???

Unknown said...

I'm waiting for my 14 year old to hit a big growth spurt. I know it's coming, and will mean a whole new wardrobe. AGain.

Pollyanna said...

HOLY CRAP. I have never ever heard of being physically ill when you grow. that's really wierd. But you gave us really good evidence so I think you're on to something. That is just odd. And I can't believe he grows that FAST. How tall is he now??

Loved your list. My kids are still watching TV this summer, but it's been cut WAY WAY back and that makes me happy. You are very smart and dedicated to keep it up!!!

Babaloo said...

swfm - He feel's 100% better now, thanks.

pendullum - I'll have to remember Deep Cold for future reference. The cell phone thing threw me for a loop too. I told my kids I'd get them one when they went a whole school year without losing an article of clothing. Not gonna happen any time soon!

Wendy- Yep, sounds like you'll need to dust off your credit card! 14, is that too old to be picking out their underwear for them?

Jodi- He is 62" and just turned 11. He fairly tall for his age, but not off the charts by any means. In fact, he has a couple of teammates that are the same age and even taller. Hubby and I are aren't that tall (he's 5'8 and I'm 5'6)... so he must get it from my side of the family (Dad 6'2 and brother 6'5)