A Song For You

My son came home yesterday crawled in my lap and sang to me:

"I love you forever, I like you for always, as long as I'm living my Mommy you will be."

I got a lump in my throat and tears filled my eyes as I showered him with hugs & kisses because I thought he was such a brilliant, sensitive child who had composed a special song just for his mother. He explained (as he gasped for air) that his teacher read a book in class and the song was from the story. But he said it could still be my special song and he would sing it to me whenever I wanted him to. God broke the mold with that one. . . ;-)

In case you're interested (or maybe I'm the only clueless one here) the song is from a book by Robert Munsch called "Love You Forever". The crazy thing is that I've seen the book cover before and I thought it was about POTTY TRAINING! Ha ha! A literal example of not judging a book by it's cover!

Get Fit or Die Tryin'. . .

Okay, so in my attempt to adopt a healthier lifestyle I'm starting off with a detox "diet" to get my system back on track. I bought some Dannon yogurt, which is actually pretty good, and to kick it up a little I add a teaspoon of Special K Cinnamon Pecan cereal (I could eat this DRY all day!).

I just noticed today as I ate the last cup of yogurt that the package says "Light Fat Free". Huh? How can something be "light" AND "fat free"? No wonder I've been STARVING at the end of every day!

Actually, yesterday was my breakthrough day- I went the entire day without even thinking about chocolate. I even feel a little lighter. . .although that evil tool of the devil (the scale) only shows that only one pound of fat has melted from my body. I'm not letting this detour me in any way because it's not actually about really seeing weight loss so much as it is about getting healthy and re-energized.

But I swear it's a conspiracy because the stuff that's supposed to be the healthiest for you is EXPENSIVE as heck! While on the other hand the bad stuff is cheap and ALWAYS on sale! It's the devil I tell ya!

Choo Choo!

Looking for a fun summer craft project? How about homemade magnets?

You can purchase magnetic paper for your laser/ink/deskjet printers from the local office supply. Find a picture of your child's favorite animal, cartoon or superhero and paste it in a word processing document and hit print. Cut along the edges of the picture for a customized look. If you want to be a little more creative try a free hand sketch of a flower or other design on the paper with permanent markers.

My son and I made a train magnet. I found a simple train engine coloring page online and printed it on regular paper. I then cut out the train and used it as a stencil to trace the image on the magnet paper. My son completed the magnet by adding his own artistic touch coloring it a variety of colors. Another masterpiece!

For the time being it has a place of honor on the front of the refrigerator but it will probably end up on the washer and dryer (remember my OCD, I can't have a cluttered refrigerator door!).

You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry

My son has developed a fascination with the Incredible Hulk. He has never seen the television show (the reruns actually come on some random cable channel), nor the movies or even a cartoon.

He did however see a commercial one time and a coloring book so, he understands when the guy is mad (usually because he’s picked on) he turns into the Hulk. Whenever I pull out the camera he wants to do an Incredible Hulk pose. Whenever we play a “game” it involves him being the Incredible Hulk. And the other day he wanted me to find him an Incredible Hulk game on the computer.

As you can imagine I’ve had my fill of the Incredible Hulk!!! That is until I witnessed him turn into the Hulk. My husband left a Gatorade bottle on the living room floor (don’t ask) so, when I walked into the living I pretended to trip over the bottle and fall on the floor (seriously, I was just playing, ain’t no shame in my game if I would have fallen I’d admit it, like that time I was in the Jamaica, or when I was walking to catch my bus. . .) anyway, I do a pratfall and call out for help.

My son was in our bedroom with my husband and is the first to arrive on the scene. “Mama, what happened are you okay?” he asks. “Your daddy left this bottle on the floor and I tripped over it and fell,” I say with dramatic flair. “Daddy!” my son yells- because my concerned husband has not moved from the bed (he’s used to me falling). My son heads back to the room and meets my husband halfway with a GUT PUNCH!!!

He hit his daddy right above the belt as hard as he could and said, “You made my mama fall! You should have put that bottle in the trash!”

I was stunned- so was his father. I laughed- his father did not. I think it’s awesome that he defends me and so does my husband but he doesn’t like to be on the receiving end of the beat downs. My son was given a stern talking to by his father and I suggested that he just not hit so hard. . . . . of course I missed the whole point. . .or did I?

What He Said

Much respect to all the phenomenal mother's and father's out there! I love this piece from Def Poetry Jam by Jon Goode entitled, "Barbara" and ode to his old school, no nonsense mother. Priceless!

Warning: May contain offensive language

Stars & Stripes

Well, 4th of July in H-Town is off to a great start. . .it's raining and the wind is blowing pretty hard. But unless it's a hurricane I doubt that will stop our neighbors from engaging in their annual fireworks competition. They buy crazy amounts of fireworks and set up in the cul-del-sac and try to out do each other. My family and I pull out our lawn chairs and watch from the driveway. Good thing about this rain is the dampness will hopefully prevent the grass from catching on fire (again) or the roof.

Speaking of 4th of July, I've been thinking about how everyone (namely the media) has been questioning Senator and Mrs. Obama's patriotism. I personally don't know too many black people who are "patriotic" but that doesn't mean we don't love this country just the same. Despite the fact that American soil is stained with the blood of our ancestors and they toiled (and died) in slavery to build most of this country. We may be bitter. A tad angry that racism STILL exists and that we always have to be twice as good as our white counterparts. Nonetheless we are still proud Americans. Just because we don't have an American flag in our yard or we don't put our hands over our heart during the national anthem doesn't mean we are anti-American.

Think about your extended family- you know how everybody has that drunk uncle who you can't control and he embarrasses the hell out of you? But at the end of the day he's still fam and you love him anyway and if anybody tried to hurt him you might let his drunk ass take a few blows but in the end you'd step in if he's totally getting his ass kicked. That's how I like to think of the relationship black people have with America.

Afterall, when the United States won it's independence slavery still existed for almost a hundred years following the country being "set free". Yep, black folks aren't necessarily the most "patriotic" but we are here, this is our country and we ain't going NO WHERE. Now if Senator Obama wins the White House in November maybe you'll see a lot more flags in our yards.

Now if you'll please rise. . .

Back in the Day

Back in the days when I was young I'm not a kid anymore

But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again. . . .

Yesterday, my son told me he can’t wait to grow up and be a grown man like his daddy. He’s four!! I told him he should stay a child as long as he possibly can. When he asked why I told him being an adult is not as easy as it looks. . .

It got me to thinking about my own childhood and some things I can remember so vividly and others I've probably forgotten about long ago. But one thing is for certain I never knew how good and easy life was back then. . . .playing outside until the street lights came on, getting a note from the boy you have a crush on asking you to check “yes” or “no” if you wanted to be his girlfriend, spending the summers at Astroworld (I still get teary eyed about it’s demise), playing “school” with my cousins, impromptu foot races in the parking lot, making the bomb desserts with my Easy Bake Oven, hours of fun with black Barbie a.k.a Super Star Christie as we cruised around the house in her pink Corvette, watching kung fu movies after Soul Train, scrounging up 25 cents to get a kool cup from the kool cup lady, jumping rope (ice cream, soda water, cream on top. . .), parades on Homestead, watching original episodes of Good Times, getting all giddy with anticipation every time a new Michael Jackson video premiered, hula hoops, riding the BIG yellow school bus, Chico Sticks, Halloween parties at our house every year, Easter egg hunts at my grandmother’s house every year, Po-Ke-No games at my grandmother’s house (all the kids would be in the back room and come out eyes wide when someone yelled “Five a Funky Spades!”), trips to the country (Delhi, Louisiana) during the summer (getting eaten alive by mosquito’s!) and just being surrounded by family friends and so much love!

I’ve found adulthood is mostly filled with obligations and commitments with very little time to spend doing the things you really want to do. If you work full time you either have to cram everything into a single weekend or the few hours that remain at the end of the work day and before you know it, it’s time to start the vicious cycle all over again. Being an adult is VERY overrated!

I don’t want my son to worry about growing up, God willing- he will be an adult much too soon because it seems the years are passing by at warp speed. Besides I’m enjoying reliving my childhood with him!

(BTW- That’s a picture of me at 4 years old- cheeks for days!!)