Passages

1. On April 18th we threw a retirement party for the Pixie's beloved Tigger. We'd been talking to our girl about it for about a month....aided by my mother, who finally told the Pixie that Tigger was so fragile she could no longer repair any holes. (And thank you Mom, for working your magic on him so many times!) I'd brought up the topic of retirement about a month prior to that day. It helped that both of her grandfathers are retired and so she had a basic understanding of the concept. When Tig developed a wee tiny hole that she found on the morning of the 18th I pounced. I suggested retirement, she agreed, and by the end of the day I had pulled together a party. We had pizza, cake, ice cream, and balloons, and the family I babysit for stayed to help us celebrate. We told stories about Tigger and then sang "Happy Retirement To You." I then moved him to a place of honor on the mantle so that the Pixie could see him. Every few days she does talk about him, wishing she could sleep with him again, but by and large my girl is ok. I am rather glad we were able to retire Tigger before he fell apart, which I'm sure would have been extremely traumatic. In a few more weeks I'll quietly take him from the mantle, wash him one last time and tuck him away into the Pixie's special treasures box.

2. In what can only be described as "Kristin's Allergies Strike Again" I have decided that I'm going to have to give up my Mommy's Night Off. My weekly Oasis began almost 8 years ago - a small spot of quiet time to myself that was negotiated when our eldest was about 5 months old and the realities of stay-at-home motherhood had begun to truly sink in. As you might suspect, I typically spend my night off holed up in a coffee shop with my knitting and either an audiobook or some podcasts. (Used to spend it at the book store until they started closing too early for me.) This leads directly to the problem. It's hard enough to find a coffee shop that carries very plain green tea or white tea - the only hot drinks I'm allowed. Finding decaf is asking for a miracle akin to the Wedding at Cana. After only 3ish hours of fitful dozing at best last night I have to face facts. I just can't handle that kind of caffeine that late in the day, and so I'm going to have to come up with Plan B for my alone time.