Winterize?

It’s that time of year where we “winterize” our homes.  I really had no idea what this meant.  Close the windows?  Get out the blankets?  Turn off the swamp cooler and turn on the heater?  This all seems pretty logical and certainly not noteworthy of a specific term such as “winterize”.  Unfortunately, I know better now.  To “winterize” your swamp cooler is a little more than just turning it off.

Last winter, I did just that.  I turned it off.  With my keen homeowner’s senses, I picked up the first problem right away.  When you walked through our hallway (where the swamp cooler is located) it was freaky cold!  Aaah!  That big, square, boxlike, canvas cover?  Where is that?  In no time, we found it, and shut off the cool draft coming straight through the ceiling.  All is well.  Winterize?  Just a bunch of men making something sound so much harder than it really is right?

Winter went fine.  No problems.  We stayed warm.  We baked.  We slept peacefully beneath all the down comforters.  And then we began to yearn for spring.  And spring came.  And summer.

Obviously, we remembered that we had covered the swamp cooler.  Piece of cake.  Just take the cover off and we are good to go!  I’m sitting at work when I get this frantic phone call.  My daughter is screaming, “The bathroom is full of water!”  I’m trying to understand.  “What?  What do you mean?  Which bathroom?  Where is the water coming from?”  She then explains, although still screaming, “There is water pouring out from the ceiling fan in the upstairs bathroom!  I don’t know when it started, but the bathroom is flooded with water!  And it keeps on coming!”  Naturally I jump in the car to rush home.  I get another call, “The water is coming through the ceiling lights in the kitchen!”  “What the?”

Those of you who “winterize” and know what it means to “winterize” understand that I never drained the water from the copper piping of the swamp cooler.  The copper pipes burst when the water inside froze during the winter.  Aaah... frozen pipes?  Summer came and my daughter turned on the pump of the swamp cooler and the water flowed from the broken pipes, filled our attic, flowed right through the ceiling fan in our bathroom, and then made its way to the kitchen ceiling lights.

Yeah… “winterize”… it means something.

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Yeah... He's All Right

There is somuchmore to dating when you have siblings. 

There’s the younger sister (a little too young to date just yet) who answers the door… and stares at the cute boy with her eyes glazed over… so completely dumbfounded that she can not speak.  She requires being guided out of the room with the instruction, “He’s not hear for you honey.” 

There’s an even younger sister who asks if he knows how to “poop in the potty”.

And a brother who when answering the door can’t remember the name of the boy… and after running through a list of previous suitors that would rattle the self esteem of any young man… none of us can remember this boy’s name! 

Or to keep it simple, you can have the little brother who just shows up naked to answer the door!

As the youngest sibling and now of age to date… it can be overwhelming… and heart touching to see how your brothers and sisters react to it.  The inquiry, interrogation, judgment, and background checks.  And this is mild compared to the examination and possible strip search of the boy who thinks he might date her.

First, what will she wear?  As her Mom, of course I want her covered and dressing modestly but, gratefully, I’ve never had to worry about this issue.  I have been blessed with children who do dress appropriately, but you would never know this by the scrutiny placed on what the youngest wears.  Never had there been a worry about her clothing until now… dating…and they would prefer she dress in long johns and turtleneck… underneath sweatpants and a hoody!

Second, they’re thinking, “Who has the audacity to think they can take her out?”  She was recently asked to the Homecoming dance.  As the news spread to her siblings, the first question out of every single one of their mouths was “Who is he?”  Her 18 year old brother, who recently graduated from the same high school and who knows the boys, pursued with “What’s his name?” and then “What’s his last name?”   I guess were judging entire families now as part of their investigation.

I smile at how blessed she is… and I smile because I know she loves it.  I’m sure it is not every sibling who places such high standards and demands on the dating of their little sister.  In fact, her sisters and brothers all plan to be there when she is picked up by this boy.  I hope they don’t make him cry.

And just as sure as I think we’ve heard from all of her siblings, I remember that we hadn’t heard from the oldest brother until the phone rings.  It’s him.  He wanted to let me know that he had looked up the boy on Facebook… the ultimate investigation apparently.

He says “Mom, I recognize the kid.  Yeah… he’s all right.”  Thank goodness.

Due Tomorrow

It’s time for bed, and your child asks if you have a poster board for a school project.  To which you reply, “I’ll pick up one tomorrow”.  And then your child gives you the all too familiar, “But it’s due tomorrow.”

I have seven children so we have experienced “due tomorrow” a lot.  But no matter how inconvenient it is, or how frustrating it can be, those nights have always turned out to be some of the best memories that we still laugh about today.

We’ve had to run to the library, in our pajamas, with hopes of gathering enough information for a report… due tomorrow.  We’ve had the whole family up half the night in the backyard trying to make a catapult… due tomorrow.  We have had a son write an entire semester worth of poems in one night!  We have even done a complete science fair project the night before.  After trying to make my daughter understand that you can not just whip together a science fair project… after dinner… for the next morning…she won!  No lesson about the consequences of procrastination there.

I have often contemplated that I could make a fortune carrying project, report, and science fair supplies in my home.  Just stop on buy and pick up that poster board, glue stick, or report cover.  Come on buy to print those color pictures!  Pick up two live plants which have been growing with rock music playing in the background, and two plants that have been growing with classical music playing.  Sold complete with a science fair board!  Open 24 hours!  I would clean up!

My youngest and I had a “due tomorrow” moment last night.  A project that she had known about for the past two weeks had to be completed… tonight.  It was a sort of getting to know you theme.  She had to find a way to display items that would describe her values, goals, wants, and needs.  It included a one page paper explaining each of the items.  In an effort to be creative (and not have to run to the store) I had a bag from our favorite chocolate store, which does describe her wants.  She began pinning and taping things that were all about her.  She had her name tag from Baskin Robbins showing where she worked.  A playbill to show how she loved theatre.  Ticket stubs from her favorite concerts.

I finished cleaning the kitchen and was off to bed.  I had just laid down when she asked me to please come proof read her paper.  Exhausted and blurry eyed I came out to the computer and started reading.  My name is… I work at Baskin Robbins… I value my religion… my goals include going to college… I want to pursue theatre… And… I need my Mom.  Tears came to my eyes as I saw taped to the middle of the bag was a picture of me.  I need my Mom.

You raise your kids to be able to be independent and take care of themselves one day, but if you’re a Mom, there is nothing sweeter than…  I need my Mom. 

On my list of needs?  I need her too.

Once again, our night of panic, because it is due tomorrow, turns out to be somuchmore than a project.