Finding her way through the tangle

Have I mentioned Munchkin is one of the brightest children I've ever encountered? She loves bigger than most too. This can make for an explosive combination.

Last week, I was told I isolate myself.  I have a theory about that and it comes from watching Munchkin try and find her way through the tangle of social relationships.

Munchkin often finds herself on the wrong side of a little disagreement between girls. All girls do this. But what few know, is that Munchkin, even when she instigated it, takes it very hard that she cannot figure out how to be with the "in" crowd.

I remember that sense of hurt and bewilderment that I'd somehow said something wrong - again.  Even if I imitated behaviors I'd observed, when it came out of my mouth, it came across as bossy or mean-spirited.

As smart as I was, I often found myself alone because of this inability to translate the social behaviors of my classmates into my own personality.  Books became my friends. I couldn't understand how to communicate my longing for friendship and so I tucked it away until I got older and could surround myself with like-minded people who understood my intentions, even when I didn't always say it right.

In some ways, it was a very lonely childhood. I am thankful God gave me a brother with whom I could truly be friends.  I also had a few very close friends on whom I could truly rely.

Since Munchkin is already so much older than her sister, I trust God will bring her a friend; a sister of the heart.

I am still a solitary creature. Some of those childhood lessons left pretty painful scars that leave me cautious around those I don't know.  I like to feel out the temperature of a room before I enter it. I try to avoid those who sow dissent and division.  I despise duplicity. And while I have become very good at communication, my black and white perspective on character can still make me hesitant to reach out when I've watched them practice gossip, slander, selfishness, and all other manner of hatefulness. 

People still confuse me.  I hope she will do as a child what took me a lot longer to achieve: the ability to overlook the failings of the human heart; especially her own, in order to make friends.

Cereal diaries - day - oh we've been at it a while.

Successfully introduced cereal, bananas and now sweet potatoes.
She loves to eat. I am still figuring out the right amount to give her and when to time formula. Today, it felt like we either ate something or made a bottle every couple of hours.

Not an easy schedule when I stayed home sick today. But, it's still the best job in the world.

I had so much fun today, even though I felt awful.

Cereal diaries - day 19

Two scoops of cereal today and four ounces of formula.  She loves to eat.  I want to try bananas today but that requires a trip to the store and I hate that place.  "honeeeeeeey"

monkeys at WordPress.com *giggle*

Once again, I've been visiting the Ninja Aunt's place and saw a really cool little year-in-review from wordpress and thought to myself, "hey, I wonder if I got one?"  And I did!  (they sent it to an email address I still keep for flickr but never use otherwise - go figure...)

So...here you go...

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:



The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,200 times in 2010. That's about 15 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 75 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 464 posts. There were 47 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 11mb. That's about 4 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was December 4th with 284 views. The most popular post that day was Downhill Slide.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, iconfactory.com, sarahwalstonsblog.wordpress.com, twitter.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for monsters inc, monster inc, roz monsters inc, monsters inc roz, and roz from monsters inc.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Downhill Slide December 2010

2

Goodbye November 2010
1 comment

3

Who is fridaynightgirl? September 2006

4

The problem with grief November 2010
2 comments

5

stroller, diapers and wet wipes - oh my! August 2010
1 comment

**aside - when I think of monkeys crunching numbers about blog stats, for some reason, this comes to mind:

Cereal diaries - day 18

Solids just sailing along. I think we might try bananas this weekend.

I put a cheerio in front of her today, just to see what she would do. She picked it up, then dropped it. I wouldn't have let her eat it yet, but I was curious as to what she would do.

Lessons to learn before children

I found this on fb and it's hysterical.  It's complete drivel but oh, so, funny.  Parents, enjoy.

_____________________________________

Lesson 1
 
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.
 
Lesson 2
 
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.
 
Lesson 3
 
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
 
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.
 
Lesson 4
 
Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?
 
Lesson 5
 
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
 
Time allowed for this - all morning.
 
Lesson 6
 
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
 
Lesson 7
 
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
 
Lesson 8
 
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
 
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.
 
Lesson 9
 
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.
 
Lesson 10
 
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
 
Lesson 11
 
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
 
This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

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Solids going well. I can't wait to try bananas but intend to wait until I'm sure we've established the program and she's sold on the process.

Have I mentioned this child has a temper?