Thursday, December 30, 2021


The little guy loves the movie Wall-E and I found this robot Wall-E for him for Christmas.  Technically, it was a gift for poppa, from Jack.  Poppa was kind enough and patient enough to put it together for him.

It remains bloody cold here, -33C tonight, but I'm stubborn and don't want to stay home just because it's cold.  Yesterday we went to the mall for a walk indoors, to burn off some energy, and I saw what I call sundogs;  technically it's a 22° halo, which I didn't even know was a thing.  You see them in the winter when it's really cold and the sun is low on the horizon.


Today I took Jack to an indoor playground which he likes.  We were there about ten minutes when he tripped and fell, and banged his face hard on a picnic table.  He's got quite a large, swollen area right beside his right eye and a small, abraded area.  I asked the staff to fill out an incident report and let the social worker know what had happened.  I was feeling like a crappy grandmother until one of the parents there told me about his parents opening the front door and banging into his daughter, leaving the mark of the deadbolt on her forehead.  It wouldn't have bothered me so much except children's services is still involved in his care and this is how everything started with his mom and a black eye.

Tomorrow we're going swimming, I think.  I have to convince myself to put my bathing suit on and go out in public.  Jack doesn't care what I look like, just me.  He was funny the other day when he noticed one of my tattoos on my backside.  He pointed and said, "What dat?"  If I chicken out of the swimming, we'll go wander around West Edmonton Mall and burn off the energy.

Christmas holidays have been kind of a blur this year, with everything blowing up it seems.  I still haven't cooked my Christmas turkey yet, maybe this weekend.  I'm working hard on just taking one day at a time but I miss making plans.  It's not just Jack and what's going to happen with him, but covid, climate change, and the world in general.  

Right now I'm thankful that I have a magic bag to take to bed with me and a good book to read.





13 comments:

  1. One of my kiddoes would put anything and everything in her mouth. She has her stomach pumped 3x when the hospital was obligated to report to childrens services. We had a great worker. She suggested we put a muzzle on the little imp! Ya gotta roll with it eh?

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  2. I've seen a sun dog once and it was science fiction like. So was the thunder snow I experienced only one time. I didn't know what it was and thought it was the end of the world. Those temps are FRIGID. I will stop complaining about our low in the teens. My heat pump can't keep up even with the furnace back up. :( Did you have covid or was your test negative? I'm feeling down about the state of the world too; not much to look forward to these days except bad news.

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  3. My youngest had her shoulder dislocated when her oldest sibling was swinger her around. I had to take her to the doctor with a dislocated shoulder. How can one feel shame when they haven't done anything. I did though!

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  4. My daughter used to scream (with delight) "daddy please, daddy no, daddy stop!" for a while when daddy put food on her plate and that brought concerned neighbours to our door. Took some explaining.

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  5. I'm so glad you're feeling somewhat better now, but I had to laugh about the "incident report" at the play centre. Haven't we all been there (but I understand why you did it of course)! The day before my son's school photo someone caught him in the eye with a snowball and he had a massive black eye! And for a short period around the age of two he would headbutt the wall if he was frustrated too. Now THAT worried me because it looked like something more serious might have been going on. Oh and that "sundog" picture is just stunning!

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  6. Oh, poor Jack! And poor you! These are the things that keep parents (and grandparents) awake at night, aren't they? Well, a few of the things...
    Did I miss something? What's a "magic bag"?
    Meanwhile, Happy New Year's for what it's worth. I'd love to give you a good hug to take with you into 2022.

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  7. Capturing a shot of that sundog ... Wow! Well done!
    Poor Jack ... I think we have all wondered if our kids would survive childhood what with all the bangs and scrapes they endured! You had to file an incident report just to cover your own behind!
    Here's hoping 2022 will be the start of such positive, happy and healthy beginnings for you, Poppa, and Jack!

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  8. It was smart to get that incident report. Love the sundog! I hope you have a great New Year's Day!

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  9. That's a great sun dog. I don't think we're far enough north for them.
    From 2007 on, we arranged our lives to avoid temperature extremes, we were very successful at it until 2019. Our cold is not like your cold, but it is requiring a new wardrobe!

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  10. Wow! A 22 degree halo! Such a sweet photo of Jack with Wall-E. All the best to you, the Big Guy and Jack in the coming year.

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  11. Oh dear! Smart thinking to get that accident report done. As for Jack's question, "What dat?" - why didn't you tell the truth: "It's Justin Trudeau riding a dolphin over Niagara Falls with a speech bubble coming out of his mouth saying "I'm a Potato!"

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  12. You were wise to get the incident report. Everything is so complicated, isn't it?

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  13. I know it must have been nerve wracking for Jack to fall like that, but this happens with children all the time. All will be well, I promise. Besides, the bruise will likely been gone by his next contact with the social worker, with any luck.

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