oooof

Took the Sprout's and Pip to Wild Mountain Water Park.....

Went through 16oz of sunblock, and still ended up burned.....

Had my heart broken by an offhand comment made by Pip ("no, my family is too busy to notice if I don't come home. Dad is getting his driver's license back today, so they are all out celebrating.").......

Found out that swim diapers are not designed to contain liquid deposits, only solids.....

Forgot the bread for the sandwiches; improvised with soda crackers found in the van.....

Remorselessly decapitated 3 wood ticks.....

Discovered that Little Sprout is as big of a control freak as Barefoot Mommy......

Sat in 6 inches of water for approximately 4 hours......

Took a few really lousy pictures on one of those terribly overpriced disposable cameras after realising that I forgot my camera at home......

Got bit by a Sprout with the strongest jaw in the world......TWO TIMES......

Observed that when the word "sunscreen" is mentioned, preteen little sprouts suddenly become deaf and need to be somewhere else urgently.....

Gave up my Saturday hours at Job#2 (thank goodness).......

Purchased a dresser, armoire, love seat and toddler bed for the new house.....

Bathed one extremely uncooperative Little Sprout........

(ETA) Got word that Mr. Barefoot is now full blown diabetic......

(Also ETA) Had to literally beg Big Sprout to let me put aloe on her horrible, horrible case of sunburn.......


Can I take a nap now?

The Heartbreak Kid

Or:
Pip, continued...


I should have seen it coming. I should have been prepared. Hindsight truly is 20/20.

But who would have thought that Pip's folks really would have let her down so bad this season?

I understand not having the cash for gifts. I really do. I don't even think that gifts are the best part of the holiday season. I much prefer to just spend time with loved ones. Still, in order to value that kind of a holiday, you have to be taught that the commercial aspects of the season are not the main thing. Big Sprout may have big dreams of all the great things she wants for x-mas, but she is always delighted with whatever we can manage and we make darn sure that the season is magical for her in other ways.

No child should be as disappointed as Pip was when she came over today. It broke my heart to hear that Santa "didn't bring much at all".

Being the sucker I am, I headed to the store and binged on the 50% off stuff at Wally World. So Pip was belatedly gifted with some totally frivolous, fun, and girly things from her Barefoot friends.

I just wish I would have been ready for it before she even got here. I wish I could have her with us all the time so that I could teach her about how special family can be, how fun it can be to just cuddle up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn, a bag of Twizzlers, and Rudolph on the TV. I want to take her for drives and show her the beautiful lights that people put up every year. I want to take her skating. I want to show her about catching "ice fish" and dodging the "snow sharks". I want to show her that it isn't about $$, it's about love.

I wonder if she knows about love. I wonder if anyone has ever told her how special she is. I wonder if anyone has ever taken time to really see her. Do they play games with her? Listen to her talk about her day?

I just don't know.

Ummm...Yeah, NO!!!

Well, I got word from a very reliable source that Pip's folks smoke pot in front of the kids.

Big Sprout will no longer be allowed over there. Of course Pip can come here, but there is NO WAY I am letting Big Sprout hang out over there anymore.

My poor Sprout is so naive, she probably has no idea what is going on. I don't know if they have done it while she was there, and I sure hope not, but really. I figure if you wanna get high that is your own business, but doing it in front of your kids? That is just wrong!

No wonder kids these days are all messed up in the head.

Ornament Day in Words

So, yesterday was the official ornament day here at the Barefoot House (I gotta come up with a cool name for home). Pip arrived at 5:30, and right away the girls started in with decorating.
First up were some ball ornaments I picked up at the thrift store for $2. I gave the girls glittler-glue pens and they dotted and swirled to their hearts content. Then, I let them fill clear ball ornaments (thrift store, $1) with fake snow (thrift store, $.50).
My dad got in the act, since he has an absolute PASSION for homemade ornaments, and purchased wooden ornaments for the girls to color and some plaster ornaments to paint. The wooden ones were 4 for a doller (complete with pens and glitter) and the plaster were 60 cents a piece.
I also have misc. Christmas cards for them to cut into shapes and hang from ribbon and beads and pipe cleaners (chenille stems, if you are cool like that) for them to make wreaths and candy cane ornaments.

The girls had a blast with their little crafts, and since they only finished the ball ornaments Pip will be back throughout this week and next to finish them all up.

I sent Pip home with over a dozen ornaments yesterday, and she has at least a dozen left here to do yet. They are definitely not magazine worthy, but they are cute and the girls had so much fun making them.



PS: Pip came over so late because she has a TUTOR! Yay, Pip's Mom! Now Pip can learn to read.

Ornament Day

To be continued over the next week, since the girls didn't finish half of the ornaments.

Pop Cans and Cigarette Packs

Pip was over yesterday for a little bit. She sat, looking at my tree, listening to Big Sprout excitedly chatter about all the decorations and how I let her decorate her own tree in her room. They were both ignoring me (which is great), and I am not even sure they knew I was around. I overheard Pip tell Big Sprout that her decorations this year would be pop cans and cigarette packs, because they don't have any holiday decorations. She said her mom was hoping to get some this Friday after getting paid.

I could have cried.

Pip, continued...

Big Sprout's new friend, Pip, has turned out to be a pretty sweet little gal. I still have to watch them a little more closely than I would like, because Pip is older and has friends that are older than SHE is. Sometimes they want to do things I just don't think Big Sprout is old enough for.

I really like Pip, and as I piece together more about her home situation, I am realizing how wrong it was for me to judge her on where she lives.

Yesterday, she even opened my eyes to something that I had never really believed before. She broke my heart doing it.

You see, Pip is in the 4th grade and she can't read.

I have heard all the stats on how so many kids graduate from school without ever learning basic skills they will need to survive in the world, but I had never believed it way down deep. I mean really, how can you get through school without knowing how to read? Or add? Or tell one state from another on a map?

Big Sprout isn't a genius, but she is very smart. She is always in the top 25% of her class, which is comfortable for me. She isn't so advanced that she gets bored, but she doesn't really struggle either. I like things this way, and am very grateful.

Yesterday, Big Sprout came home with Pip in tow. This has become the norm over the last couple of weeks. Big Sprout asked if I would be willing to help Pip with her homework, and of course I agreed. Pip explained that she was supposed to read me a story, and then I would sign that she had read it. I gave her the go-ahead, and the next few minutes were pure torture. I watched her struggle to sound out "bird", "play", "some", and countless other words Big Sprout has known since kindergarten. I struggled desperately to not correct her every time she mis-read a word (almost all of them). My heart broke.

When I read the attached note from her teacher (I gotta read THAT before I sign anything, you know), it explained that the story was to be (ideally) read in 1 minute or less with no mistakes by the end of the week.

It took Pip almost 5 to read me the story, and it was impossible to understand what she was reading.

I love to read, and some of my best moments are spent with a book in my hand. It pains me to think that Pip will probably never enjoy reading the way I do.

I can accept that, though. DH is plenty smart (sometimes), and he really doesn't enjoy reading. Different strokes, and all that.

But SHE CAN'T READ! Think of all the things you need to read in a day. Restaurant menus, road signs, memos from the boss. Speaking of bosses, what kind of job will she be able to get if she doesn't overcome this?

So I have been wondering about if and how to help her. I don't want to poke my nose in where it doesn't belong, but I can't stand to see her struggle SO HARD to accomplish something so necessary.

I just want what's right.

Judge Not?

I am usually the first to say that it is wrong to judge people before you get to know them. I truly believe that you can't tell what kind of heart a person has by how they look.

And yet.....

Big Sprout has a new friend, I will call her Pip. Pip lives in an apt building not too far from us that has a terrible reputation. Remember I have lived in this area almost all my life, and this building is BAD. Drugs, drinking, theft, child neglect (and I am sure abuse), the whole nine. I can't say that Pip's family is like this, I haven't met any of them. It could just be that the price was right and they didn't know or care about the rep of the building. Pip always looks a little dirty and her clothes are a little raggy, but does that mean she is a bad kid? She is quiet around me, but she hasn't known me long and it could be that she is shy. I don't know.

Yesterday Big Sprout invited Pip along to piano and then awana club. I wasn't happy about it, but only because it was last minute and I was feeling rushed anyway. Besides, what kid wants to watch their friend get a piano lesson? Anyway, I gave in and let Pip come along. I thought that if nothing else it would give me an opportunity to observe a little and find out if this was a friendship I would allow.
I was NOT going to take this child without some contact with her folks, though, so I wrote them a note with my phone number and asking permission to take their daughter for the evening. I told them where we were going and when I expected to be back. The response? A small slip of paper on it with a phone number. That was it.

So I took the girls with me, and I have to say that Pip did really well. She was polite and warmed up considerably the longer she spent time with me. She was sweet to Little Sprout and REALLY liked AWANA club. She chattered away on the way home about how she was going to ask her mom if she could join AWANAs and go with us every week.

So here I am, torn. My first instinct is not to trust this child, just because of the environment that she comes from. Yet she seems to be an okay kid. I hate the thought that I could be a judgemental b*tch, but the fact is that I just may be. I worry that I don't know anything about her parents. They seem to let her run a lot more than I let Big Sprout. I worry that she will be a bad influence on Big Sprout. On the other hand, if it is just that her folks don't have a lot of cash, who am I to say that makes them bad people? Just because they live in a building notorious for not-so-great tenants, does that mean that they follow the pattern? Would it not be better for me to open my home to her and give her a safe and fun place to come? Is it fair that I am so cautious with her just because her family doesn't live like mine?

So far I am just letting things progress and keeping a close eye on everything. I am hoping that time will show whether this little girl will be good or bad for Big Sprout. I am hoping that nothing bad happens.

I hate this