Category Archives: The good life

War and flowers

By Stasha | Published May 17, 2012

Driving to the farm today. Passing the statue downtown and the flags on the pole.

Little J: Mommy tell me again who those persons on the black flag are.

Me: It represents prisoners of war.

Little J: I forgot, why do bad guy take them?

Me: In war both sides capture soldiers so they can use them in negotiations.

Little J: What is negotions?

Me: Negotiations. It is when you have something and you make the other side do things you want them to in exchange for what you have. Like me offering you cookies for dessert if you eat your dinner.

Little J: I see. So how do you negotiate with prisoners?

Me: They release our soldiers if we meet their demands. Like give them back a territory we are fighting for or return some of their soldiers.

Little J: Why do people fight in war?

Me: Because they cannot agree on things. Like who should be in charge or who does the land belong to.

Little J: Why do we fight about land? There is so much of it.

Me: There is usually something special about that land. It might be rich with oil or coal. Or things grow on it.

Little J: Like carrots? Or berries? Maybe blueberries or raspberries or blackberries? Or maybe daisies?

Me: I don’t think there has been a war about daisies yet son. But I think it is silly to fight, no matter what the reason.

Little J: Why do people fight?

Me: Because they don’t agree about something. Just like you and I don’t, lots of times. But unlike us, they cannot let go and fight for so long they start wars.

Little J: That’s silly. I really think they should change. Will people change?

Me: Not sure. I hope so. But it takes time. Maybe some day, maybe never. That’s life.

Little J: I thought life is a highway?

And just like that my boy made me laugh to tears.
I hope all you grown ups out there are listening and stop fighting about daisies.

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Before anything and everything

By Stasha | Published May 3, 2012

I remember as a kid bugging my grandpa to no end: what was there before the Earth? Before the solar system? Before the gasses? Before…

I think my endless quest to find out about the moon and the stars and milky way too largely caused his hypertension. He finally caved in and let me use his 12 shiny, leather bound Encyclopedia books that were limited editions printed specially for his work. I loved how they looked and smelled. How heavy they were and how I could find everything I ever wanted to know about.

My son is not even four and a half. I really don’t know much about kids and milestones. But I sure am not prepared for the what was there before there was anything talk. Mostly because I got so distracted by all the information in the Encyclopedia I forgot to ever look up the definite answer.

Anyhow the kid is volcano mad. He watches a documentary every chance he gets. Which is really defeating the whole purpose of TV. Many women have said that they have come to terms with TV watching kids because it is in fact educational. I am calling it right here, right now. Bull! We plonk our kids in front of the tube so we can take a shower, have a cup of coffee while it is still warm and catch up on social media. So if my son is watching a documentary about underwater volcanos none of these happen. Because every two minutes he shouts over his shoulder: mommy, why does lava cool off when it touches the water? mommy, why is our gas in the house not making our stove erupt? mommy why can we not breath through ash? Mommy…

You get the picture. The worst part? I really don’t know most of these things! Have I forgotten? I must have known at some point in my life or I would not have graduated, right? And so I spend my time online googling volcano facts.

But this morning, out of the blue he asked me why people were not extinct if they die. Followed by where we all came from and the inevitable tracing all the way back to gasses and explosions and what was there before there was anything?

I am still recovering. I just wanted to write this to say sorry to my grandpa. You were everything to me and I know that as much as you wanted me to succeed, learn and be the best I can be, sometimes you just wanted to do your cross puzzle in peace and quiet. I miss you so much. And I wish you could be here to take over sometimes and teach Little J how to read those Encyclopedias. Fast!

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Alison’s baby bash

By Stasha | Published April 25, 2012

Welcome to the one of a kind, super duper fabulous online baby shower.
 

 
We are gathered here, dear bloggers, friends and all around great people, to celebrate soon to arrive new baby boy of the one and only Alison from Mama wants this.

Reason is simple really. We all adore Alison. If we could drop everything and hop on the plane right now to see her, spend the afternoon in Malaysia throwing her a cupcake eating, gossip talking and tea sipping baby shower, we would. But there are not enough daily flights to Kuala Lumpur to take us all there, so we are doing this bloggy style ( not to be confused with…never mind).

This party is so monumental it is happening in three time zones. Ado The Momalog is hosting a LINK YOUR FAVORITE BABY PHOTO AND QUOTE bit of the party. Erica, the creator and curator of Yeah Write is hosting the GUESS THE BABY SCRUMPLET’S BIRTH DATE, WEIGHT AND LENGHT bit of the party. And right here we are pinning something or somebody down for Alison and Scrumplet.
 
Seeing how PINTEREST is the theme on my blog, let me start by sharing my find for Alison.

This is my gift to you dear friend. You have been my longest bloggy buddy, my first guest list maker and an all around modern pen pal. I know you are Pinterest mad and we have created a board for you which I will fill up with every pin that is linked to this party. I will then post it for you on Friday to see.

The little pin I know will come in handy with the new baby is:

 

A simple and candid photo idea you can even take with your phone after the scrumplet is born. I know posed baby photography is becoming very popular but I think simple moments caught are the ones with real impact.
 
Your turn: find something you wish to gift to Alison and add it in your post. Add this cute button

and link it below. I will make sure Alison hears about her gift. Promise.

You can also post a photo of you as a baby or one of your babies, then add a little quote like this:

Little J baby
that links to Ado.
 
And if you place your guess on Scrumplet like this:

Arrival date May 2nd 2012 . Weight 3.74 kg and Lenght 51cm.
Possibly the cutest baby ever born on the right side of Planet Earth.

 
you enter your odds at Erica’s too!
 
Now that my friends is how it is done.
 
Happy Birth Day little Scrumplet, we cannot wait to ‘meet’ you!
 
Very official rules: All are invited. It helps if you know Alison, but it is never too late to become her fan. You may join all three, two or just one of us in this celebration. No hard feelings if you skip pinning and go straight to guessing weight. Oh and play nice and check other bloggers gifts. It’s karmically correct and how things are done at posh baby showers anyway. You may follow the Alison’s baby bash board on Pinterest too. For those of you not on Pinterest, please add an image of your find to the post and I will pin it for you.



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