Gift Recommendations

I have one, and I need one. If you have the answer, and need another, leave a comment!

Have: The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora ($11 on Amazon). This retelling of the story has an African Prince in search of his Princess from among the North African nations. Selam! Jambo, Habari! Iska Waran! Dd and her preschool class love the illustrations, and the fact that they have a couple more ways to say "Hello" to visitors. A great gift for your little girl.

Need: Another idea for a soldier recently deployed to Iraq. We're putting a carepackage together on Christmas day for my cousin. We've gotten him the Mobile Foodie kit from flight101. It includes minitins of spices, a little wasabi, and a tiny tabasco. What else? When our loved one in the Navy was deployed, we sent her PowerBars (which the Post Office misunderstood not as "food" but as electronics, delaying delivery. Complete your declaration carefully . . .) We've heard others requested socks and pajama pants. But I hear that there is a Wal-Mart near base. Is that true? Should that affect what goes in a carepackage?

A Shot in the Heart

For anyone who thinks attachment issues ever really end:
Miss I's surgery was more than a week ago, and she's been feeling much better, but she's also been crying . . . and screaming . . . and waking during the night. She's refused her favorite babysitter's attention on a visit, and asked a friend of mine to take this dictation: "Dear Momma, I want S. to go home" while I was in the room but S. was (intending to be) playing with her.
But nothing compares to the manifestness of the expression of her anxiety in preschool. I've even been staying in preschool to ease the transition, which is how I know.
Her teacher brought out the play doctor's kit in part because so many of the children were curious about her surgery and hospitals and this would deflect attention from Miss I's surgery specifically and perhaps give her a space to explore her feelings. Explore she did. Miss I took the role of doctor, had her teacher K become the patient. When she gave K a pretend shot in the arm, she leaned in, and with menace, said "Now you're never ever ever ever gonna see your Momma again." K said brightly, "I know my Momma always comes for me," to which Miss I replied in a sing-song voice with mock disbelief "O-Kaaaaaaay."

If you delivered for FedEx, and it was THIS close to Christmas, and you were delivering a really big box that said BIKE with a big pink picture to match, would you ring the doorbell picture side out?!
I opened the door, Miss I directly behind me. "IT WAS A SECRET!" I said, in shock. "Well it isn't anymore," he replied, affectlessly.

Something I Never Thought I Would Have to Say

"You can wrestle with your brother, or you can watch the Nutcracker, but you can't wrestle with your brother at the Nutcracker."

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

Fine Print Continued

My dear friend asked in the comments to the last post about the guardianship papers issue:
Dh dropped us off and I signed in while he parked the car. The first nurse to see us asked Miss I "Who did you bring with you?" and when she answered "Mommy!" that seemed good enough. Later the anesthesia PA said, "I assume one of you is not the natural parent of this child." I discreetly handed him a bc copy, but he said "Oh, I don't need that." "Funny," I said, "Your pre-op paperwork says it will be required." This came as a surprise to him!

Miss I is doing very well. We're finally in a room -- it took a long time to be assigned one -- and she's just gone to sleep.
She's a fighter, and she tried to fight off the anesthesia just out of the OR, so she was "out of sorts" . . . So out of sorts that she punched me in the face (she has no memory of this). After a bit more sedative and a long sleep, she was fine. It wasn't until her brother arrived that she tried to eat and drink, and ultimately, smiled. She sat on his lap for awhile (a comical sight, as she's very tall and only about seven pounds lighter) and he reassured her that he'd take care of her at home too. I'm so proud of both of them.

Miss I's hair was beautifully braided in small, loose braids. They were so beautiful that she decided to save some of them. So she snipped two from the front at preschool today, and stored one in her bin.
Before I unbraided, I was terrified that I'd find she'd given herself a mullet, but it isn't too bad. It will mean no ponytails for awhile, lots of flat twists, and maybe extensions :)