Labels

Blog Archive

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Eddie is My Battery

Last week was rough since my mom was in the hospital and I was worried about her.  All I wanted to do on my Tuesday afternoon off with Eddie was go home and dig in the dirt.  Gardening calms me and I needed to reconnect.  But of course, kids have their own agendas and it's unfair to spend our time doing only stuff I wanted to do.

So I packed up a snack and we went to a new park that afternoon, just like Eddie wanted (always wants) to do.  This time we went to Sandy Motley Park, which was fun because it had a backhoe digging toy and a seesaw.



I brought his little red potty and I'm glad I did...he needed to use it.
Tucked behind a rock doing his thing.

After this particular pottying at the park experience, I asked my Facebook friends about what happened there:

Question for parents: what's the etiquette for kids to go potty at the park? We've nixed daytime diapers and not all parks have restrooms. So we just take a little Ikea potty and Lysol wipes wherever we go (restaurants, too, since Eddie hates "loud potties").

Yesterday we were at a park and a little girl watched me take Eddie's potty out of my bike basket and remind Eddie to use it when he needed to go. She immediately told her mom she needed to pee...the mom looked at me and laughed, saying, "Oh...we don't bring a potty...she just pees near a tree," and then helped her daughter squat to pee.

I'm not necessarily against public urination for little tots--but I couldn't figure out if this woman was laughing AT me bringing a potty or if she was defending herself for not bringing one. Thoughts? I don't have much sans-diaper experience with kids Eddie's age...is tree peeing the norm?




We got home in time to reheat a frozen homemade pizza for dinner AND plant some beans in the garden.  And so concluded our perfect afternoon together: we both got to do what we really wanted, and we got to do it together.  I spoke to my mom on the phone that night and she sounded comfortable and much better than before.  I was amazed that night how much relief I felt.  My stress was gone and I really felt recharged. It was great and evidently, just what I needed.  Spending time with him definitely recharged me.

Yesterday I went to Livermore to visit with my mom (sans germy Eddie), now that she's out of the hospital and on her way to recovery.  We didn't do much--just had lunch at our favorite Japanese restaurant, Hanabishi, and chatted at the house.  It was particularly nice because Edward and my dad joined us, so it was us 4 Levies together.  We didn't do much other than that.  She had some chores to do around the house so my dad and I spent some time diving up herb seeds so we could each plant some.  My heart aches to see her sick, but I know that she's getting the care she needs and it was so nice to hang out with her for a bit.

2 comments:

Kaitlin said...

It's unreal how much comfort I often find in my children. So glad to hear that you mom is on the road to recovery!

Leah said...

That's so hard, Julie. I hurt along with you when I hear how worried you are/were about your mom. Its so wonderful that you can find relief in gardening and of course with Eddie, and even more wonderful that your mom is doing better! Sending some hugs to you from down here.