My child is different and I think that's cool.

I know we are all different.  That's what makes us all so cool.

And truthfully, any 5 year-old at any given time could honestly be thought of as "different".

Bean is definitely "different".  How do I know she's different?

Let me show you one way.

She likes to remove the hoodie from her coat and wear it all by itself, all snapped up.

No, really, that's not bad in the least.  I think it's kind of cute.

And it's a toned down version of the outfits she usually puts together.

But at 5, these types of things are cute.  At 10, they start to stand out.  At 15, these types of things could be the reason she might be picked on at school or ostracized by classmates.

Why is it that we think these displays of individuality at an early age are so precious but grow to hate them when a child gets older?  I'm celebrating the fact that my child looks at clothing in a different way than I do now but if she continues to do this as she gets older, how will I react?  Will I have patience for it?  Will I have the words to soothe her when she comes home from school upset that someone made fun of her?  Should I try to "nip it in the bud" now and make her conform to normal ways of thinking already?

Really, I'm not concerned about it at all.  But I did wonder why we think toddlers who show their individual spirit are so cute but those same kids who show their individuality at an older age are made to feel "not normal" or "freaks" later on in life.  Why is it cute at 5 but freaky at 15?

It shouldn't be that way.  People should be able to feel comfortable at any age when they decide to show their own true spirit.

I hope I can remember writing this in 10 years when Bean might be going through a tough time feeling like she doesn't fit in or maybe she'll have a friend that feels this way.

Bean, I celebrate you today and tomorrow for the things that make you who you are.  For the things that make you different than that kid sitting next to you.  For the things that make you MY Bean.  I love them all and I think everything about them and you are cool beyond belief.

Again? Really?

So...Friday was my birthday.  Yes, that's right.  Another year older.  How many years you might ask?  Hush your mouth, I might say.

What did I get for my birthday?  Two days of absolute nastiness spent between the couch, the bed and the bathroom.  I will spare you all the gory details but no, it wasn't fun.  It still isn't completely gone and I'm still not having fun with it.

This makes me think back to actually how long one of the three of us in our household has been sick.  Someone has had something to deal with since Christmas Eve.

Frankly, I'm a little sick of being sick.  I know, I know.  There are folks out there that have it worse than we do.  We should be grateful.  I know.  Believe me, I know.

But I'm ready to call in those two English women that used to go around and look at people's homes and show them all the funk they had growing that they couldn't see.  I'm wondering if we don't have something like that going on.  Do they make Lysol bombs?  Probably not but they should and I should totally get royalties on that idea.

And now Hubz comes home Friday night talking about some "super virus", CRE, that is going around the country's hospitals and there is no cure for it.  Hubz works in some local Atlanta hospitals doing cabling installation.  He is all over these hospitals in areas you wouldn't think they'd allow regular joes to be.  So at any given time he could have come home with this super virus or any other creepy, crawly disease and we'd never know.  How gross is that?  So now we have a new system for his delousing when he comes home from a day at a hospital.  Our pediatrician was nice enough to give us some tips on this subject, too.

If you have any tips on how to battle the sickies or how you handle the spread throughout your house, please share them below.  I'd love any help I could get to finally get us all well.

Getting back to ourselves.

The Beanster and I have been quite sick lately.  Especially the Bean.

Last week her school called and said that she had woken up from her nap shivering and complaining with her throat.  By the time I got there she had gotten sick.  She was pitiful.  I finally got her in to a doctor and by then her temp was 104.3.  After various tests it was determined she didn't have strep or the flu.  They weren't quite sure what she had.  They sent samples off and still the next day it was inconclusive.  They did find bacteria in her blood which could have gotten in from her last ear infection.  So she has been on antibiotics all week and she missed 3 days of school.

The day before all of this started I went to the doctor and found out I had bronchitis and sinusitis.  So we have just been sharing the love and the germs around here I guess.

Pay It Forward

Firstly, I wanted to share a blog I've just found and where the idea of today's post came from.  Please take a minute to visit Amy at Clippie Dips.  She has a wonderful blog and it has probably one of the brightest, cutest layouts I've seen.  I really love all the colors and it's causing me to think about overhauling my layout.
I found Amy's blog from one of the many linky parties I like to visit.  She posted a tutorial on making her DIY Project Board.  Isn't that a great idea?



Now onto the real reason for my post.  Amy wrote about Pay It Forward.  I emailed her and was one of the commenters she picked to join in.

Source

Details:

The first 5 people to comment and leave their email and blog address will receive from me, sometime in the calendar year, a small gift - a handmade card, a hair clip, some stolen idea from another blogger - something handmade by me - as a surprise in the mail.

There will be no warning but once I know that the recipient has indeed received their gift in the mail, I will blog about the gift I sent and count down the five surprises with all my blog readers.

The catch:

Those five people will then have to make the same offer on their blog.

That's called Pay it Forward.  What a neat idea, huh?

Thanks Amy for turning me onto this wonderful idea.

Pinspiring Projects: Valentine's Shirt

Pinterest, as I'm sure some of you already know, is an addictive time-suck of gigantic proportions.  Hubz always rolls his eyes when I say "I found this on Pinterest" or "today on Pinterest".  He knows the rest of the sentence is probably gonna cost him either money or time.  Such is life, huh?

So...I found this on Pinterest.  Hazel and Company shared a tutorial on making a very cute Valentine's Day shirt. Hazel calls this her Polka Dotty Heart Top.  Look at how cute it is.  I knew Bean would love one of her own so...I totally copycatted Hazel's idea!

I folded my freezer paper in half and cut half a heart out making a full heart once you open up the paper.  Those were skillz I learned straight outta First Grade, yo!  About time they came in handy.  Then I ironed the freezer paper down and Bean set off putting down her paint dots.

She did a great job and filled the heart space up completely.

She wore it to her class Valentine's Day party.  I thought she made a very pretty Valentine!

So thank you, Hazel, for such a cute and easy idea.  I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day.

The Bean Interview - 5th Birthday

I am totally stealing today's blog post from a couple of other blogs but I honestly do not remember who I'm stealing this from.  So if I lifted this idea off of you, let me know and I'll gladly give you credit.  I'm not sure if theft by forgetfulness is an actual acceptable defense but that's what I'm going with.

The general idea is to ask your child the same set of questions on every birthday until they head off to college.  As you can see, since I'm starting this tradition on her 5th birthday, I've been a little slack in my job as an interviewer.  Hey, can I help if I didn't steal someone else's original idea sooner?

So here we go!

The Bean Interview on Her 5th (or a little bit later) Birthday!

1.  What is your name?   Bean.

2.  If you could change your name, what new name would you choose?  Savannah  (her cousin)

3.  How old are you?  5.

4.  When is your birthday?  Sunday.  (Her party was on a Sunday.)

5.  What is your favorite color?  Pink.  

6.  What is your favorite song?  Princess.  (She has princess songs on her LeapPad.)

7.  What is your favorite food?  Carrots and corn.

8.  What food do you dislike the most?  Broccoli

9.  What is your favorite place to eat?  Cracker Bell.  (Cracker Barrel)

10.  Who is your best friend? Xandry.

11.  What is your favorite book?  The bird book.  The princess book.  And the bunny book.

12.  What is your favorite toy?  Snowglobe.  And the Cinderella doll, too.

13. What is your favorite movie?   Brave

14.  How do you like to spend your time?   With Mommy and Daddy.  (Ain't she precious!)

15.  What is your Mommy’s name?   Mommy.

16.  How old is Mommy?  .Too old.   (Precious my butt!)

17.  What does Mommy do during the day?  She works.  And she eats lunch.  And takes phone calls and works on papers.

18.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Spending time together.  (Huh?  Whad'ja say?  These "too old" ears can't hear you.)

19.  What is your Daddy’s name?  Daddy.

20.  How old is Daddy?  100.  (Ha!  That's what he gets for snickering at her earlier answer.)

21.  What does Daddy do during the day?  He works, too.  

22.  What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  Play together.

23.  What is your favorite thing that happened last year?  The park.  (So the bar is set really low for this year!)

24.  What are you looking forward to doing this year?  Well...to play.

25.  Where would you like to go on vacation this year?  Florida.

26.  What will your job be when you grow up? A mermaid.

27.  Where do you want to live when you grow up?  In a house.

28.  Do you want to get married someday?   No.

Beanism - Smile when you don't want to

The other day as I picked Bean up from school, a little boy ran up to me and said "Bean is my girlfriend!"

I thought "Kid, if you value your life...".

I looked over at Bean and she had a silly smirk on her face.  Then she gets a mean mug on and looks at me and says "No, Mommy! I'm not anyone's girlfriend!"

So I just smiled at the little boy and thought "See there Stud Muffin!"

When we got in the car, Bean said "Mommy, I'm not anyone's girlfriend.  But sometimes when I'm mad I still have a smile on my face."

I guess that's a good thing.  Grace under pressure.

But Stud Muffin better watch out!