Julie Pippert: Using My Words

Okay...how many times have I written about the Great Tooth Fairy Conundrum? Frankly, my husband and I sort of stink at Special and On the Ball. Someone once told me how they have stockpiles of Tooth Fairy prizes, at the ready, just in case. Someone else once said they have gold dollars that come from the Tooth Fairy. Another person has a special treasure chest for teeth. Our Tooth Fairy gets frantic texts messages, "OMG get off tollway NOW!! LOST TOOTH!! Must have WEBKIN, preference PINK and CUTE, nothing from OCEAN!!!!!!!!!!" Then said Tooth Fairy has Webkin in hand (do not EVEN ask how the Webkin precedent got set, suffice it to say...LESSON LEARNED!) and said Tooth Fairy and his ahem colleague, aka the Assistant Tooth Fairy, are tired from a long day of tooth business and tend to sort of collapse right around Tooth Fairy time. Then around 2 a.m. the Assistant Tooth Fairy tends to wake up in the middle of a heart attack, pokes the Tooth Fairy hard and hisses, "WE FORGO...

This morning, on my walk, I listened to an NPR story about a father, his two daughters, and Internet pornography. I'll include a few salient quotes from the article , but I highly suggest you read the entire piece (it's a short easy read). "[Crystal] Buckner says her daughter had told the counselor that late one night at her father's house, he'd shown his daughters pornography on a computer. "When he called them over, it was a live webcam of a woman by herself and Daddy was typing to her what to do," Buckner says. The live webcam action was followed by exhibitions of other online video pornography. The pornography was all adult. The girls reported that their father, Crystal's former husband, Jack A. Buckner II, said he was showing them the pornography because sex was something they needed to know about." As parents, we can all relate to the general concept of "whew, that was a mistake" along with "not the best approach." We al...

SCENE I. Elsinore. A platform bed in the master bedroom. MOM and DAD modestly under covers. DAD Who's there? MOM Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself. DAD 'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, child-o. Exit Child 1 MOM Well, good night. If you do hear or see another one, The rivals of my sleep, bid them make haste. DAD I think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who's there? Enter CHILD 1 and CHILD 2 CHILD 1 Tis us, fair father, Friends to this bed. CHILD 2 And liegemen to our fair mother, bearer of us and our not so fair antics. MOM Give you good night. ( to DAD: : And not in our bed, ho! ) DAD What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? MOM I have seen nothing. ( to DAD: : Ignore those specters and they shall return from whence they came. ) DAD Mom says 'tis but my fantasy, And will not let belief take hold of her Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us: Therefore I have entreated her along With us to watch the minutes of thi...

When Patience was a baby, her colic didn't end at three months like everyone promised it would. My mother and sister, both more experienced at mothering than I, insisted I ask about reflux, again, despite my doctor's continual waving of her hand dismissively. I finally got the doctor to listen and we did get a reflux diagnosis. Ah blessed quiet, blessed sleep. Unfortunately it took over six months and by then we were half delusional from stress and exhaustion. But never once did I question medical intervention because something was wrong and that created a quality of life problem, therefore it needed to be fixed . I watched a friend from playgroup get a patch for a lazy eye for her child, another get glasses for her toddler, another baby needed a helmet for a skull not growing correctly, that baby needed surgery to correct a hernia, this toddler was getting tested for developmental delays...from birth, we learn of human imperfection. Here, in our culture, we don't rely on s...

Two years ago, I wrote, "I do all that I do from love; my doing is an outward manifestation of that love. However, once I put it out there, it is no longer just mine. It will be viewed from a different angle and perspective, and might be missed, or misinterpreted. At the end of the day, I always hope that I get the benefit of the doubt or suspension of disbelief and all that I do is understood as being done from love. With kids, though, you don't always know. Lately, my daughter has been convinced I am so mean and out to ruin her day. Perhaps she thinks I lie awake at night plotting. It's okay to laugh. I have to, but I admit, a little piece of my heart breaks every time." We have entered this stage again. Yesterday, as we left a birthday party at which the girls had delightedly run, played, laughed and enjoyed, Patience's souvenir balloon popped. What a metaphor. Patience is troubled with endings, anyway, but the endings and transitions, I've found, can be ea...

"Mom! Guess what happened today," Patience demanded as we returned home from school the other day. "What's up?" I asked, panting more than a little, speed walking and jogging to keep up with her fast bike riding. "My friend Emma* in gym class is gone again. They said she had to move away for a while. Can you believe that? She's gone again!" Patience told me, confusion and sadness ringing in her words. I recalled the last time I had seen Emma. She and another girl were being silly with Patience and a few other kids at a school event a couple of months ago. My husband and I sat on the side and watched the children, noting Emma and another child in particular. "I don't mean to sound rude," my husband had said back then, with more than a little hesitation and concern edging his voice, "But I think something might be going on with two of those kids. I'm not sure. I can't tell. I don't know." And that's the thing. ...

I had a different post entirely queued up for today but then yesterday two news articles crossed my desk and I wanted to make sure that you were informed, on the off-chance you hadn't heard about this. The first I read at one of my "read every day and write for when I get the time" blogs (I will be posting there today about the second item, H.R. 847): The Political Voices of Women . BlueBloggin (out of Texas) shared this AP news article: Bush Vetoes Kids Health Insurance Bill By JENNIFER LOVEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush vetoed legislation Wednesday that would have expanded government-provided health insurance for children, his second slap-down of a bipartisan effort in Congress to dramatically increase funding for the popular program. It was Bush's seventh veto in seven years - all but one coming since Democrats took control of Congress in January. Wednesday was the deadline for Bush to act or let the bill become law. The president also...

NOTE to ALL : You don't have to write a new post for the Hmm. Old or new, short or long, funny or serious, any post on topic is welcome. So...get busy adding in your links below. Don't give me another reason to Dread December. ;) Today's topic for the Hump Day Hmm is pet peeves, the unique to me ones...and why. The mind boggles at where to begin. Oh I have so many peeves. Let's think of a few off the top of my head. * People who talk on those ear bud phones. In public. While making eye contact with you. Okay...just cell phones and rampant abuse thereof in general. Such as in restaurants, at a table for two, with one person shoveling bread in his/her mouth while the other gabs with someone not even there . * People who cut me off in traffic (deliberately, because they are clearly more important). * Boys with pants hanging off their rear ends (especially if they wear stripey boxer shorts). * Meat with bones. * Mispronouncing words (on purpose, such as gahy-raj for garage...

Part 1: How I resemble the Grinch Every One in the world liked Christmas a lot... But Julie Pippert, who lived south of Houston, Did NOT! Julie hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. But I think that the most likely reason of all, May have been that the month was simply too small. For, you see, when the month of December rolled round, She had birthdays and parties and demands abound. Buy plates, hats, gifts, and balloons. The guests are all coming, the party's too soon! Her head spun in circles, she looked quite a fright, Mopping and sweeping, polishing her home perfectly right. Juggling Christmas and Birthdays should be a joy, But all Julie could say, with a sigh, was, 'Oh boy!' She struggled to execute every single detail, Endlessly rechecking her phone and email. It seems RSVPs are in short supply this time of year, She had no clue at all who meant to come here. Not to mention the holiday open house and ...

On Saturday, as we drove to Patience's soccer game I noticed the two schools we passed on the way to the fields were decorated merrily in red ribbons. I might not even have noticed, had it not been for my two sharp-eyed lookouts, who catch everything and catalog it for me. Over. And over. "Look Mama," Persistence cried happily, "Wed wibbons! All ovah!" "Wow, so there are, red ribbons, how pretty," I answered absently, scouting for a parking spot. "Wed wibbons!" she squealed. "Umm hmm," I replied, guiding the car into a spot. "Wed wed wed wed wibbons!!" And so on. On Monday, instead of our usual power walk to school---aka the 'we left too late to saunter and oh well it burns more calories woo hoo!' walk---we were running so late that I had to drive. This annoys me. I feel ridiculous. The weather is great for a walk, everyone benefits, and we live close to the school. And yet, here we were, driving, in order to not b...

It must be said that my girls are no longer babies. They are getting big, developing their own lives. Cases in point... Boston, October 2007, Museum of Science A child pointed to Persistence and said, "Baby!" Said child appeared about Persistence's age, and was at the time being carried by his mother. Persistence, on the other independent hand, was walking about of her own volition (her usual state). Persistence shrieked in fury and yelled back to the child, "I NOT BABY! YOU BABY!" and ran off, mortally offended. She could be heard muttering for the next hour, "I not baby!" And was quite pissy about it all. Coastal Texas, October 2007, Elementary School Patience begged me to come lunch with her at school on Thursday, so Persistence and I went. I had grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk in buckets. A big deal. This is Fine Kid Dining. She was waiting for me and happily leapt up to join me at the guest lunch table, a big table in the center of th...