Please don't grow. Please don't go.

My friend from home not only changed my hair color, but also my kid-feeding tactics. She used a little playful reverse psychology on my children, and it works brilliantly. We plead with our kids not to eat something healthy because it will make them grow. We tell them that we want them to stay little babies and not to grow big or run fast or jump high. They gladly accept the challenge and beg for more when they are finished. Adaline says, "Here comes the grow..." and takes a bite. It even passed the broccoli test with Arthur (although he vomited it after he ate it). Instead of spending all of my time telling them that they must eat X more bites, I simply ask them to stop eating so many bites. I highly recommend the please-don't-grow method to all frustrated feeders out there.

I had my first medical "emergency" since living in the city. I have been curious about how it would look in a place where we have no car and the hospital is a 20 minute walk away. (My friend came only 1 cm from delivering her baby on the sidewalk during her walk to the hospital!) My situation wasn't nearly as dramatic, but stilled proved the difficulties of emergencies here. I had/have an obvious bladder infection...I'll spare you the details...the most pertinent thing to know is that you urinate FREQUENTLY. The walk home from the doctor was one of the most miserable times in my life. It would be a 30 minute walk without all of the snow and ice. All I could think the whole time was, "please don't go, please don't go." I barely made it to the playground bathrooms half the way home. I wondered what someone would do in that situation who didn't know all of the playground bathrooms in the neighborhood. Thank God for those growing kids!