Another Year Older

My birthday is coming up. I'm not fishing for well wishes or anything, in fact I've never really liked my birthday. I don't care so much about getting older, although the gray hair is really starting to get on my nerves. I had a sister who was 2 years and 2 days older. As kids we celebrated our birthday together, and as the older sister she got to pick cake flavor, theme and entertainment. As we grew older, we had a few good years where we met up and celebrated just the two of us. Six years ago she passed away very suddenly. I was living abroad at the time and wasn't able to make it back for her funeral. Since then, my birthday has always been a glaring reminder that she's gone and I miss her.

My sister and I had a little birthday tradition when it came to gifts. We would set a price limit and buy something for ourselves "from the other." When we met to celebrate, we would show each other what we had found. It was fun, we got exactly what we wanted, and even though I bought my gifts myself, I still think of them as gifts from her.

Last year I decided to try out reviving the tradition, but with a twist. I asked designer Lisa Lehmann if she would help. I sent her some money and gave her a general idea of my jewelry style. She sent me these copper spiral earrings and a pair with silver, hammered circles and green stones. I'm so happy that Lisa has agreed to play along again this year. Her designs are something I'm comfortable wearing everyday, and are still fancy enough to wear on the rare occasion that I dress up like a big girl.

I'll never get my sister back, and I'm sure I'll never enjoy my birthday. Now, thanks to Lisa, I have something to look forward to. After reading an email from Lisa today, I found myself thinking of my sister and laughing. I thought of how pleased she'd be that I'd finally picked something girly, something that I enjoy on a regular basis, something that lets me think of her and be happy. Also, she'd probably play the big sister card and "borrow" the earrings indefinitely. That's just how sisters roll.

Cooking with Kids

It takes a special kind of crazy to want to make something with kids. Fortunately for the Raisin, I'm just that kinda nuts. This morning Thing 1 went to school and Thing 2 had to go see the doctor, leaving Thing 3 (the Raisin) alone with Nanny Cait. We tried going outside, but after a trip to get the paper and check the mailbox, her little lips were blue and she was shivering too hard to even say yeah when I asked if she was ready to go in. (And she was dressed in tights, leggings, fleece pants, wool socks, boots, snow pants, a turtleneck onesie, a sweater, a jacket, mittens and a hat. Poor  kid looked like a pink starfish!)

So in we went, warmed up with a couple of stories under a blanket and then the wiggles struck. The Raisin is not the world's most snuggley child. She's a girl of action, and today she came up with her own plan. Knowing her twin was at the doctor, she told me, "Doodle 'prise make." This, for those of you not fluent in toddler, meant that she wanted to make a surprise for the Doodle. The smile on that girl's face when I asked if she wanted to bake cookies was amazing.

I find it's easiest to bake with kids if everything is pre-measured and set up. I put flour, sugars, butter, etc. in bowls, pulled out the Kitchen-Aid and brought a chair over to the counter. The Raisin asked about each individual ingredient. I let her touch a bit of flour and sugar so she could feel the difference, then taste a grain of sugar and a grain of salt. We talked about safety and why it's important to always bake with a big person- at least until you're old enough to be a big person. Lectures over, we began pouring the ingredients one by one into the mixer. The Raisin is a very careful girl and managed almost everything without spilling. The vanilla extract dripped a bit and I was dusted with a cloud of flour when she turned the mixer on high right after adding 2 cups to the bowl, but other than that there were no casualties.

The tough part, but also an awesome teaching opportunity, comes during the actual baking. I won't let the girls eat the raw cookie dough because of the eggs, so patience plays a HUGE part in this project. Not to mention the fact that the cookies are too hot to eat when they first come out of the oven. The Raisin handled this like a pro. I gave her the timer and sent her into the playroom with the instructions to come and let me know when it dinged. Exactly 10 minutes later she danced her way back into the kitchen to let me know I should take the cookies out. I told her to pick a really long song to sing and then the cookies would be cool enough to taste, so she sat down by my feet and sang Baby Beluga all the way through. Didn't stop once to ask for a cookie! When she was done, I picked her up and let her choose which one she wanted. And what did she do? She picked up a cookie, kissed me on the cheek and asked, "Cait want cookie yes peas?" Nanny Cait was proud!

Sharing

Sharing is a good thing. As a nanny I encourage the kids to share their toys, bites of snack, snuggle space during story time, etc. It's not always an easy concept for a toddler, but I think they've been doing really well.

Last night I went to bed feeling fine, a bit tired, but that's nothing new. This morning I had a cold. I felt like I had stepped outside hungover, been hit by a bus, and was lying in a gutter getting rained on. It was a beautiful and sunny day, which only made me feel worse. I walked into work fearing what anyone who has ever been in a room with 3 two year-olds fears: cacophony.

Sure enough, chaos reigned. Dad was trying to play songs for them on the guitar while they clambered around trying to "help." They were all singing songs, and while they were getting most of the words and notes right, they weren't exactly all singing the same songs. Baby Beluga, Kumbaya and Row Row Row Your Boat don't exactly make for the best mash-up in the history of music.

When a moment of calm finally settled, I said my hellos and gave hugs. Ladybug wanted me to give her a kiss hello, but I told her that I couldn't today. She was a little disappointed, but I explained that I'd gotten her cold, and that I didn't want to give her any more icky germs. At this, her face lit up and she said proudly, "I shared my cold! That's nice. Sharing is caring!"

It's nice to know some of my lessons sink in...