And no one talked to me...

So today was day two of Kayla's swimming lessons at the Mystic Education Center. The first week I had a friend from work to sit and talk with. This week, she went in the water with her son. As I scrambled in 5 minutes late, hurried Kayla into the water and took a seat in the bleachers, I realized I was on one side of the great divide, and these other mothers fell squarely on the other. Now, we all have children younger than 10, some older than Kayla, some younger by a few months, most right about her age. This, my friends, is where the similarities end. These women all were over 30, most closer to 40. Most carried that haughty tooty "Mystic housewife" air about them. You know, they all talked about their perfect, well behaved children and their husbands, and laughed those conspiratorial laughs of perfection as they waved around their beautiful, big diamonds and expensive braclets and such. They wore the "Mom uniform"- trouser jeans or authentic Aidas track pants, button downs, unstained long sleeved tee shirts and SHUDDER clogs. Sorry, mommies, my jeans are bootcut only- with stretch. I happened to be wearing a black and gray leopard print tee shirt, certainly not a button down. I rocked my Reeboks...and last week I rocked my heart print Airwalks. My finger is indeed void of ring of any form, most especially a diamond. Their hair was groomed and makeup impeccable...even in the heat of the pool...my hair was up, thrown into some form of a bun/ ponytail combo. Last night's glitter eye makeup is still sparkling in bits and pieces on my face, not to be outshined by the giant bags under my eyes from being up too late. And there were certainly no tattoos in sight...yet you could see part of my Kayla tattoo plain as day, and Kayla was sporting a Sleeping Beauty fake tattoo on her forearm. Now what is my point? I love who I am. I love who I am as a person, 27 years old, independent, chaotic, neurotic, obsessive, fun, full of love and life and sometimes yes a bit crazy. I love what I am as a mother, the steady presence, the one to go the extra mile and stick my neck out and take on what needs to be taken on to for Kayla, her protector, her biggest fan, but also fun and the mother who just wants to give her everything, whether its always within my means or not. Me having tattoos, or not wearing Mom jeans or rocking a big diamond, does not make me any less of a mother, any less of a woman than the women I encountered tonight are. I know lots of moms like me, in their 20's, single, tattooed, dressed stylishly, and this holds true for them too. They are good moms, hardworking moms, moms that would do anything for their kids. Yet the fact remains that not one mother spoke to me. And they looked pitingly at Kayla in the locker room as she cried because she didn't want to go home, like poor baby and her trashy single mom. Well guess what, she has a mother who is just as good as you are, maybe not as old, but just as good. Why did I let these women get to me? I felt self concious, even though I felt no need to offer apologies for who I or Kayla are. We are ourselves, beautiful, whole, imperfect, and you can take us or leave us. I just hate feeling, in the year 2009, when there are more single mothers in this country than ever, that we are a rare, unfortunate and inconvinent breed. I have very few places I have felt out of place, but this was one of them, because in their silence, it was unspoken that I threw off their secure, married, middle aged ratio. Well, let me tell you...half of all marriages end in divorce so at some point, one of those women will be a single mom. They just won't be as young or stylish attired to find themselves a man as I am...I jest, I jest, but I am serious about feeling outcast. I hate the Mommy competition. Old, young, inked, non-tattooed, polished or unkempt, we should all just come together and realize that as women, as mothers, we need to build ourselves up and not tear each other down. If we want our children to be accepting of everyone, to love themselves, how can we show them exactly the opposite? I don't have tolerance for the cattiness, the judgements of women. I want Kayla, as a woman, to be accepting, to love herself free from and in spite of the judgements of others, and to not succumb to the pressures women place on each other. These women proved to me tonight I have a lot of work to do as the mother of a girl in order to break the cycle. Quite a bit.

You know what's beautiful...

Today, Kayla and I were driving on a road that parallels the Thames River. She stopped whatever she had been saying, because in truth I was only half listening, and said, "Mommy, you know what's beautiful?" I said, "You are!" and then she said, with such seriousness and thoughtfulness you would have assumed she was much older, "No Mommy, the water is beautiful. I love living at the water." And there you have it, the simplicity of the world through a three year old eyes. And the more amazing piece of this is that I feel precisely the same way, always have. Growing up in a coastal town where you can taste the salt coming off the water if the wind happens to blow right, its always been such a blessing to me. Water is a great source of comfort and peace to me, instilled in me since my earliest days. And apparently, instilled in Kayla too. I am so glad that wordlessly, effortlessly, my love of the water, my appreciation for it, its beauty, all that is, has been passed onto her. I am so grateful to be raising my child in the town I grew up in, so close to all the things that have defined my life, my memories. We drove to Bluff Point today, and just sat and looked and talked. I can't wait for the better weather, and her on her bike, taking the trails. I want her to know the places that have meant something to me, for us to share the universal experience of this place. It may be a miserable town at times, but its our town! The roots of our family run deep here, and I am so thankful she will always know that. And even more thankful she is recognizing that as she gets older.

25 things about me...

Taking a cue from Erin's posting on her blog, I am also submitting a list of 25 things about me. Enjoy!

1. I am deathly afraid of squirrels and lightning. More specifically, being attacked by a squirrel or getting struck by lightning.

2. I collect shot glasses. I have a lot from different colleges my friends have attended, states, places. They're lined up on a shelf above my kitchen sink.

3. I have a mild bordering on moderate obsession with the color pink. Any and all shades.

4. My new favorite color to wear is green. Like classic, Crayola green. One of the women at work calls it my signature color.

5. I want to dye my hair this really pretty, shiny burgundy color.

6. I have loved Gone With the Wind and Grease for more years than I can remember.

7. I would have loved to have met Janis Joplin, more specifically go see her in concert. I love her music.

8. I am coveting high priced Britney Spears and Keith Urban/Sugarland tickets. All over $100. I can't justify that kind of money for one night, even though I would give my eye teeth (where does that expression come from, anyway?) to see Sugarland or Britney.

9. I have a major chocolate obsession. Peaked during pregnancy and still trying to wean myself down to a reasonable amount.

10. I watch Hannah Montana even when my daughter is sleeping or not home sometimes.

11. I watched Finding Nemo obsessively when I was pregnant. I would daydream about watching it with my own daughter and yesterday, I did.

12. I have a brilliant and marketable idea for a magazine, but am not sure the first step to getting it published.

13. I can't watch a movie based on a book without reading the book first.

14. I have never left my daughter with someone other than family, her daycare or a close friend to babysit her. I wouldn't even know what to pay a babysitter. The thought panics me.

15. I had a dream about the new VW Bugs that came out, the green one, about a year before they introduced them. I have preminitions and deja vu frequently.

16. I know maybe three state capitols and lack a knowledge of geography almost completely.

17. I was named after an Allman Brothers song, Melissa.

18. I was a teenager when my grandfather took our childhood playhouse out of his yard, and I cried like a baby and threw a fit.

19. I love Boston. Everything about it. I would live there in a second if it wasn't so expensive, and I didn't have Kayla to raise.

20. My sister, my nephew, my daughter and I all have the exact same blue eyes.

21. I can't say the word industry.

22. When I want to feel close to my mom, I eat Yodels.

23. I work with children. All day. Every day. Its never boring.

24. I wish I could hit the lotto and take a year off to write my book. Books.

25. Being a mother is the only thing that makes me feel alive sometimes.

Quarantined...

I thought this week would turn out to be a most memorable one, after my candidate swept the election...well I wasn't wrong, but its not memorable for that reason alone. Kayla has been struggling with a persistent rash on her nether regions for months now, since the summer. We have been to the doctor for it half a dozen times. It has gone from a staph infection, to a yeast infection to an irritation, to strep, and now, the most definitive and terrifying defintion: MRSA. Now for anyone who doesn't know what that is, its a antibotic resistant staph infection. She also has impetigo, which she has had before, and will clear up, but is still gross and itchy. When the doctor said MRSA however, I became near hysterical. MRSA has KILLED people. My mother had MRSA during her illness, and I was warned, as I was pregnant at the time, that it could be transmitted to Kayla through contact with my mother. There wasn't any concrete proof of this, and we took precautions, but I was absolutely guilt ridden and sick with myself, thinking I had caused this to happen to Kayla. There's no way to prove I didn't, but Dr. Holtzman thinks it would be HIGHLY, HIGHLY unlikely. She also assured me MRSA as it exists in the pediatric community is much less severe and life threatening then it is in within the adult community. She gave Kayla some heavy duty antibotics, only one of two known to effectively treat MRSA, and we should be on the way to a complete recovery. Being the neurotic person I am, I have been surfing the web and have discovered that 77 kids died last year from a combo of the flu and MRSA and MRSA has been linked with respiratory problems. My mind immediately goes into overdrive...one, Kayla has a cough, which she developed this week, so is it a cold or MRSA reeking havoc on her system? Two, she hasn't gotten her flu shot yet...we're due to get it Friday...is she going to end up in a very serious situation?
My whole point with this is, will I ever get to the point when I believe what a doctor tells me? I have been assured she will be all right. I have to keep her on the antibotics and I am quarantining her just because I don't want to expose anyone else to it, but I can't lose the feeling like this situation could go another way, a very scary way at any moment. I need to stop, and breath, and realize it will all be all right. In the meantime, I am not sure if my sanity will stay intact between an itching child, endless cartoons, sterlizing everything in sight, and everything else! Wish us luck!

Halloween Hoopla...and A Day with Thomas

Sorry all these pics are at the top...it wouldn't let me move them! GRR!

My favorite pic of the day...me and the kids on the carousel.

Kayla on the train...SO EXCITED!

Kayla, Malik and I at A Day with Thomas

Kayla and I as Pebbles and Wilma...yeah I know, no red hair! Bugged me all night!

The Flintstone and Rubble clan...the MODERN Stone Age family...no men! HAHA!

So, Halloween has come and gone. All in all, a very good night. I didn't find a Wilma wig, or spray my hair with the hideous red hair spray Sara found, so I was a brown haired Wilma, sans honkin' pearls as well, and that detracted from the night, but everything still went very nicely and we all had fun. Kayla skinned her knee about 5 seconds into trick or treating, but she had a wonderful night, and made out like a bandit!

Today, we went to A Day Out with Thomas the Train, the popular character on PBS. Tickets were $18 a piece, so $32 for me and Kayla. Might not sound like a lot to some people, but for me, thats a pretty big deal. I can get a lot of groceries for $32, and a lot of clothes and shoes for her too! But I decided to go, and I don't regret it at all! Kayla had never been on a train before, and we go to ride in the car right in back of Thomas (the VIP section I told her!) and she LOVED it! She loved the bus ride from the parking lot too! She was just excited by everything. After we got off the train, where she got a cute Junior Engineer certificate and where we cheered on Thomas, we got our photo taken with Thomas, and tried to get one with the kids from our camera with Thomas, but of course they didn't cooperate, and we didn't get the pic. Why do kids never cooperate when we want them to? Oh well, I have the memory, just not the photo op.

Next we spotted the free kiddie rides set up. Free! I was so excited, usually anything you go to like that, its always extra. But this was included. We did three rides, including Kayla's favorite, the carousel. That girl is looney over carousels. She also loved the Lego version of Thomas that they had set up. We skipped the magic show also included, but we did get some Thomas temp tattoos.

We headed over to the Imagination Station, where tons of Thomas tracks were set up for kids to play with, along with a Thomas viewing station, and tables of stamping and coloring activities. Kayla got her face painted and missed getting a pic with Sir Topham Hatt, which I was disappointed about. I mean, she knew he was there, and didn't care, she just wanted her face painted, and she didn't get upset at all that she didn't get her picture taken, but for me as a parent, I wanted her to say she had the experience, and on a stingy level, I wanted to get my money's worth! I know, its a bit insane, but I can't help it. Ohhh and a cute boat worker at the Steam Train hit on me. I should have given him my number. When we go back for the ride with Santa, I'll have to be on the lookout for him! HAHA!

After we hit the Imagination Station, we left, as kids all around us were having meltdowns, and ours were beginning to show signs that the fun was soon about to end in tears and tantrums. We got a cute magnet picture frame as a gift for the kids and boarded the bus back to the parking lot. All in all, we got our money's worth and I would definiteley recommend it to anyone with kids in the 2-4 range. I thought our Thomas adventure was over, but lo and behold, on our way to get lunch, Thomas chugged across the road. I tried to get some snaps, but my camera was being chintzy. Kayla saw it though, and was very excited to see him from another perspective, one last time.

The pizza place we went to topped everything off perfectly. Nice skylight and gravel floor, picnic tables and a cool juke box! AWESOME DAY!

Tag, I'm it!

So my cousin Erin tagged me on her blog. I am not sure what all this tagging means, as I am new to the blog world, but I was instructed to go to the sixth folder of my photos and pick the sixth picture and share my memories about it. I have all my photos in one folder so I chose the sixth photo.

I swear I didn't do it on purpose, but this is one of my most favorite photos of my favorite person, Kayla! This picture was taken at Erin's baby shower and she was smiling at my sister, who she ADORES! I think her smile is so gorgeous and she looks so happy. She is also looking a bit too grown up for my liking, but I digress!

I also have to apologize for not blogging more often. I am in the middle of completing a new certification for work, and raising this crazy beautiful girl! Life is hectic! I promise to have more soon!

I don't have 6 people to tag, so I will just do one, my Auntie Lisa. I would be very interested in seeing what she posts!

October

I've been planning Halloween costumes for me and Kayla since last month. Is it just me? Am I the only one who starts planning for the end of October in August? I claim I want to be prepared, but I need a distraction from October. From knowing that its coming, and from pretending that I will be fine once it arrives.
October used to be just another month, highlighted by my mother's most elaborate and favorite of holidays, Halloween. She made all of our costumes by hand, mine, Sara's, my step dad and hers. She decorated the house. She planned and executed two Halloween parties every year, one for the kids and one for the adults. The kids party was the stuff of legend at school- a fortune teller, a haunted house, those boxes of gross stuff you have to stick your hand in and guess what it is. The adult party was another legend in its own right. Family stories abound from those parties- Rich in his Batman costume stumbling home drunk at 3 AM and being stopped by the police, my mother almost being set on fire in a bar when she went as a scarecrow and used real straw by a man dressed as a magican doing a trick, Rich in his Elvis wig and getting sick in the car and looking by Prince from the wind blowing the wind at the end of the night. So yes, those were the Octobers of my childhood- fun, carefree, never dull.
What is October now? October is pain. October 13th, my mom's birthday, begins the guilt and sadness spiral. Next comes what would have been me and AJ's anniversary. Just an additional sadness to add to the month. Not saying I want to be with him, but its hard to let go of a life and love you imagined for yourself. October 26th- the day my mom went into the hospital and never came out. I remember the year she got sick, I had just moved in with AJ in August and I was pregnant. We were planning a Halloween party. I was attempting to fill the shoes of my mother, even though I never could. On the day she went in, my entire focus shifted. I remember I was on the phone with her doctor handing out Halloween candy. The world fell in on itself in October, and I don't know if its ever sturdied itself again.
Halloween is fun for Kayla now, and I look forward to that, don't misunderstand. She is going to be Pebbles this year, Malik is Bam Bam, I am going to be Wilma and Tammi is going to be Betty when we take the kids around house to house. Cutter is even going to be Dino. Its going to be fun, and I am even going to attempt to make our costumes, as I have seen nothing I really like online. Its going to feel a little bit like it used to, just for that one night. And that night, when we are taking the kids out, I will look up in the sky and know my mom is smiling and missing us, and of course making sure no one puts any razor blades in our apples...that was always her concern, that and getting all the Reese's for herself! HAHA!
And from October just comes the season of unbearability to me. November and Thanksgiving and Christmas...and while we are on the subject of Christmas, I am already planning that too. Any good ideas for Kayla? I am thinking a Leapster so far...not sure what else, but its stressing me out. I feel like I should be farther along in my holiday plans. Three months doesn't seem that long to me.
Its going to be a long holiday season. Very long indeed.