June 20, 2012

Sing and Sign and Play	A Simple Slice
Raffi is amazing. Let's face it, in much the same way as old-school episodes of Sesame Street, his songs are iconic of everything good about childhood. A whole song dedicated to the peanut butter sandwich? That's gold. I love Raffi. I grew up on his songs and now am raising BC on them. We listen to a bit of Raffi almost everyday. I prop him (BC, not Raffi, for the grammatically snooty) up on my knees and we sing and sign and play along.  Baby Beluga, The Sharing Song, Shake Your Sillies Out, and my personal favorite, Down By the Bay are but some of the many treasures we find. Works wonders on a fussy baby.  Of course, should that and everything else fail, there's always the Baby Silencer app for my iPhone. Don't judge me! You'd use it too, if only to see if it works.  ~M P. S. It does.	One of the things I’ve been saying to my friends is “I am loving blogging!“ I really am! There are several reasons I am passionate about this journey.  First, Everyday I am forcing myself to stop and reflect which puts me in a “count my blessings” kind of mood; the creative side of me, normally neglected at this stage of babyhood, is being fed and nurtured a little; I’m connecting a slice of my life with friends and family; finally I’ve become a storyteller with my children again. Not only do they want to hear what I have to say but they are asking great questions which facilitates great discussion and connection. Just a slice of my life I’m sharing for connection. Of course I pondered this thought over breakfast, which consisted of a slice of blackberry pie.  Hey, some of you have donuts for breakfast and before you get too excited you should know it is a gluten free pie with not nearly as much sugar as my Mamaw would have put in it.   I know because I used to help her make them.  She made the best pie crust out there and after she and I would go handpick the berries we would mix up all the ingredients, which included a lot of sugar.  Mmmmmm.  It was at these times when I would see that spark in my Mamaw’s eyes.  She loved sharing stories about her childhood and my mom when she was a girl.  She often said I was just like her (which I absolutely loved hearing whether it was true or not).  She loved sharing stories with me over pie baking and I loved hearing every one of them.  So that is why we took those blackberries we got at Apple Works the day before and made a pie and told stories.   Well that and for the next few mornings I will be having a very yummy breakfast!!! ~A