Bunny Burrow

Smelling the Soul

Hello! I am Christine, of Mommy Matters. I am here today at Bunny
Burrow because Chana is a wonderful, generous person who helped
support the March of Dime's Walk America over at Barefoot Principessa,
and in doing so won my services here on her own fabulous site.

As I was perusing Chana's site recently I learned many things about
her, one of which is she loves the smell of babies. (I'm going to
assume here WHICH baby smell it is she loves, but I think it's a safe
one to make.) She and I have this, among other things, in common.

You know that cliché about the smell of a baby's head? It is so true.
I have a theory that the smell comes from their sweet, brand new soul
that you can only glimpse through the soft spot on their tiny heads.

The smell disappears when the fontanel "closes up". My son is now 20
months, and his soft spot is no more, and his sweet baby smell is also
gone. Now his head smells like… well, head. I work to recreate this
smell with a strict regiment of baths every other day and careful
hair-washing with Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. It must be this
shampoo – no other will work.

This is due to that powerful smell-memory connection. You see, when
this precious boy was just hours old the hospital gave him his first
bath, and when they brought him back to my waiting arms, he had this
glorious, clean smell. I put my nose into that sweet baby fuzz atop
his head and breathed him in. His downy scalp was so soft and
fragrant, as if he smelled of heaven itself.

This brings us back to that smell-memory connection. There I was
holding my brand new baby boy, love gushing out of every inch of me
for this new little life. For me that new baby smell is associated not
just with this tiny person, but with that overwhelming feeling of
love. I'm sure that is true of every parent.

I love my son more every single day, but when I smell that shampoo, it
takes me back to that moment, and I fall in love all over again. It's
not quite the same as getting a small peek at his soul, but it will
have to do. (We won't talk about the other smells that come from him –
that's another post.)

Where have I been?

I been here, there, and yonder!

And now I am gone to a weekend camp with my 13 year-old.  I will be staying in a cabin with about 6 little 13 year-old little girls so keep me in your thoughts!

See y'all next week...

Put that glass down!

I saw this a while back on someone else's blog but don't remember whose so if I don't give you the recognititon please forgive me! This was well worth repeating and probably much needed after my post from yesterday.

A lecturer was giving a lecture to his student on stress management.
He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?"
The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gm.
"It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, it is OK.
If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance.
It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier."
"What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."
We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.
So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment if you can.
Pick it up again later when you have rested...
Rest and relax.
Life is short, enjoy it!!

Currently feeling...

extremely stressed.  Yeah, I know we all have stress in our lives but sometimes it is just a little much.  The saying goes (I have no idea who says these things) that God doesn't give us more than we can handle.  I sometimes feel that God has overestimated me in some categories. 

Well, for those of you in the same boat as me, try this.  It's not much but, hey, at this point every little bit helps!

Have a great day!

Grudges

I finally saw the movie, The Grudge, and I still can't figure out what the movie was about.  Did anyone actually see this and understand the ending?  I am still scratching my head...

Well, anyway, this was a great reason for just one more list for me to make. 

My Grudges:

1. The old lady at Wyatt's Cafeteria when I was young that always called me a "little boy" when my hair was cut short in the summer. (She obviously had no fashion sense!)
2. Kelly Preston because she married John Travolta -- enough said.
3. The people at my old gym.
4. The cast of the X-Files because they all quit.
5. The crossing guard who, every morning, decides to step on out in front of me no matter what kind of gaps are waiting in traffic -- I promise, she waits for ME!
6. The guy at Starbucks who makes fun of my ordering-technique
7. The sneaky ghost that keeps stealing one each of my childrens' socks when they come out of the dryer.
8. The other sneaky ghost that uses the last itty bitty square of toilet paper and doesn't replace the roll.
9. And a future grudge I KNOW I will have: The first girl that breaks one of my babies' hearts!

Well I guess I don't really have 10 current grudges, but alas I guess that's a good thing -- huh?

What are some of your grudges?

to all my friends:

"There are three things that will endure
– faith, hope, and love –
and the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Who wouldn't...

put every single one of their Valentines in this Valentine box tomorrow at the class Valentine party?

Jace used his own feet and hands for the those patterns, and yes -- we removed those nasty glue strings.  He had the option to make anything he wanted and most of the kids already turned in sad little shoe boxes.

Sigh... I just have an artist in the making here.  What can I say?

Eu de toilette chicken fajita?

The other night we went out for fajitas.  (Ever notice how most of my blogs somehow mention food?)

I only dressed up for the period of time for dinner so when I came home I hung my sweater back up.  Trust me, if you did loads of laundry EVERY day and still couldn't get caught up you would do the SAME thing so don't be so quick to judge me.  I know other Moms do it.  You know who you are...

Anyway, next night I go to the PTA board meeting and put my same sweater on. (I used different accessories and wore a jacket, of course!)  Let me explain that there are people from all walks of life on the PTA board so when I smelled the distinct smell of body odor, I tried to just wave the whole thought off and make it through the meeting.

I think I must have been a scent-hound in a previous life because I can smell something a mile away!  I have always been like this and can even smell the worst of things with a horrible cold.  This is not always a blessing. 

HOWEVER, when I got home and took my jacket off I realized it was ME! After sniffing my armpits and knowing I most certainly had showered, I have come to the distinct conclusion that fajitas smell like B.O.!!  First of all, can I begin to tell you how mortified I am?  I am hoping the aroma was strong to me because I was smoldering it under my jacket as I sat there.. but who knows?

WHY do chicken fajitas smell like b.o.?  Did the chicken get hot and sweaty in the skillet???  It didn't smell like that when I was eating it.  Do chicken fajitas make ME smell hot and sweaty from eating it?  I am so confused. 

I have often thought that sometimes chicken soup is reminiscent of B.O., but fajitas?  Who knew?

Express Love, Give hope

Barefoot Principessa is holding a raffle this week for the March of Dimes: Walkamerica so if you have anything to donate or want to give to a worthy cause go on over and visit her.  Each dollar donated is an entry towards the prize of your choice, and there are some cool and unusual prizes!  And what could be better than helping save babies?

Also, if you want to help spread the word, she has buttons (like the one on my sidebar) you can use on your site to point traffic her way. 

Thanks!

Scavenging?

So you are here for Michele's Scavenger Hunt, huh?  Well, I already know which clue is mine and I ain't tellin'..unless you have sweets of course!  Then, you are my bestest friend!

Good luck!