Be back when I'm better.

Hey, I got pneumonia. It really sucks, I spend almost all day in bed and am in quite a bit of pain. Just in case you were wondering where I've been.

Stuff is linked with other stuff

There's a correlation between the position of a mother's eyebrows and the amount of truth that comes out of her child's mouth. It's an automatic function, like your heart beat, or breathing, so it's something you might not normally notice, yet you count on it to work.

A conversation from today:

Me: Did you like the chocolate milk I made for you?
Jackson: Yes, mommy! I drank it all up.
Me: Oh! Good, well then I'll make it for you again next Wednesday.
Jackson: Oh. Uh, well .... I... no, that's ok, mommy. It was good. But I ....
Me: (slightly raised eyebrow) You what.
Jackson: Well ... I ... it was pretty good? But it sort of tasted a little like coffee.
Me: (raised a little bit more) Like coffee? Huh. That's funny. It didn't have any coffee in it, that's for sure.
Jackson: Well ... I ... actually. Actually? I didn't really like it at all.
Me: (both eyebrows all the way up) You didn't like it at all.
Jackson: Actually, mommy? ... actually I poured it all down the sink.

That's funny stuff. So, the reason I made him chocolate milk in the first place is that every Wednesday at his wonderful school is pizza day. The kids get a slice of pizza and choice of orange juice or chocolate milk, and either an ice cream sandwich or an orange popsicle for dessert. He only takes a couple of licks and then throws them away because they're too messy for him, but he has the fun of having something to unwrap with his friends.

We don't buy food that contains artificial flavours or colours and we try to keep the sugar intake to a minimum. We don't chew gum or eat candy except on Halloween or chocolates at Christmas time, Valentine's Day - stuff like that. But not cheap crappy stuff and it's never a part of daily consumption.

So anyway, Jackson doesn't like orange juice so I filled out chocolate milk on the form for Wednesdays and he chose popsicles as the dessert treat. I noticed that he was having really bad mood swings in the middle of the week but it wasn't until Halloween that I put it all together. He's sensitive to sugar but has a really bad reaction to artificial flavours and colours. He doesn't get hyperactive, he gets really depressive and it's awful for him, and awful for us.

I checked the ingredients on the chocolate milk since he does finish the whole thing and low, both artificial colours and flavours. Why is this necessary? So I spoke with the school and we agreed that I would bring in a different dessert for him and I figured I would make his chocolate milk with organic sugar and pure cocoa powder. I thought it tasted great! I'll try those chocolate soy milk drink boxes, see how he likes those.

For his dessert I drove across town to the most expensive and inconveniently located healthfood store looking for Tofutti Cuties (soy ice cream sandwiches) because he loved those when we lived in Tucson, but I reread the ingredient list and wasn't impressed with high fructose corn syrup listed as the second ingredient. I got some organic Soy Delicious Big Buddy ice cream sandwiches that have organic brown rice syrup as the second ingredient. Maybe not so bad? I don't know. He really liked it though, and got through dinner without a tantrum. So far, so good.



He and Darren are at the Math Mania math fair at school this evening. I hope they get home soon, it is scary windy outside!

More Jackson art.

He's drawing more monsters and animals now, and just started adding words coming out of their mouths. Mostly he draws a collection of letters and then asks me what it says, but here is a drawing of a monster calling his name:

Also last night.

One of those little moments I'll probably never forget:

As I walked into the kitchen to get his vitamins I hear Jackson running down the hall shouting something in one of his comedy voices.

I turn the corner and see him, naked, hunched way over like a tiny old man, holding his hand out in front of him carrying a small plastic spatula with a rubber truck tire on it, running as fast as he can without dropping it hollering, "COOKED TIRE FOR DINNER! COOKED TIRE FOR DINNER! COOKED TIRE FOR DINNER!"

Two minature candy bars and that boy is on another planet :)

Last night.

I heart Halloween.

We went all around our neighborhood last night and it was so fun because Jackson's old enough now to go up to the house alone while I stand on the sidewalk watching. Seeing him tromp up and down staircases, ring doorbells, yell TRICK OR TREAT!, and thank you and Happy Halloween! was soooo cool. Five is such an awesome age!!

I gave him a pillowcase like every kid should carry on Halloween, and he bagged a lot of loot. There were some great pumpkins this year and a few houses that really went all out on decoration. Our neighbors, the ones with the Big Crap Pile in the backyard, did a great job. There was a torch, police caution tape, lots of webs, and one pumpkin with a propane-soaked rag in it on fire on the front lawn. The flames shot up about three feet out of this thing. It was great.

My favorite, and also the scariest, house was just up on the corner. By day it's just a shitty looking rental, but who knew it could be transformed into such a spooky place for Halloween! They didn't even have to decorate. I never noticed that there is a subterranean apartment behind the carport and we would have missed it last night if they hadn't had a jack-o-lantern out. Theirs was decorated with a big knife and a throwing star embedded in its face.

The entrance is a pit about 3 1/2 feet below grade with a large wooden block serving as a make-shift step. There were overflowing ashtrays and two filthy recliners, minus their legs, propped up against the wall near the door. Jackson looked at me with a dubious frown. Laughing, I helped him down to the wooden block and encouraged him to knock. We couldn't turn back, we were in the full glare of the motion-operated flood lights! Jackson looked at the pit and said, "Ew. Smokers."

Two young college-age kids answered the door holding beer bottles and balancing empty sauce-encrusted spaghetti plates in one hand and each holding a bowl of candy and a bowl of chip bags in the other. They were so happy to have a trick-or-treater! They loved Jackson's costume. They said nobody ever comes, and gave Jackson most of what they had. How adorable is it that they carved a jack-o-lantern, and bought candy? SO adorable! I was really tickled by the whole thing and glad we had knocked on their door.

This neighborhood can be kind of rowdy at times, and the rentals do mean a lot of young adults and not as many families, but there is a spirit here that I love. There were bonfires and fireworks, and many of the adults who answered the doors were in costume.

Next year will be even better when I can take both kids out. I can't wait!

Oh, and all that candy - we selected a few of the better pieces and Darren hauled the rest off to the nursing home this morning. We do NOT need all that food coloring and glucose floating around in this already high-strung family's blood stream. More fun to watch the old folks all hopped up duking it out.