The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

For the majority of my life people have been telling me I was a born mother. I seriously question this observation now that I am one and I even more seriously questioned it when the twins were born and it seemed as if they would never stop crying.  However, it is true that one of my great passions in life is bringing friends and family together for good food, good company and occasionally good spirits (ok, more than occasionally).  A great friend of mine once told me that one of her favorite places in all the world is my kitchen where I am known to work diligently at the stove or counter while someone sits and keeps me company.  Admittedly, my kitchen is my favorite place to be also.  It is not fancy and it is not set up for the kind of picture I am trying to create here but it is mine and it works.  I have had visions of my children, husband and I sitting together at the table that my grandmother bought shortly after her wedding enjoying dinners together. 

That was before I became a mom to three kids four and under because now I understand why Ralphie said his mother had not had a hot meal in eight years.  It is hard to confess that I feed my children dinner with the TV on while I work in the kitchen. It makes me feel like a terrible mother and causes me serious anxiety about the future of our dinner table and my children's diets.  But I also have to confess that it is one of my favorite times of the day.  It is during these times that I get to really listen to the kids' stories about school and friends,  I can get them what they need without having to interrupt my mealtime experience and I get to cook and bake happily with them in my sights.  It gives them an opportunity to ask questions about food and for me to give impromptu cooking lessons... one at a time.  After the kids go to bed, Chris and I eat dinner together alone and this is something else I very much enjoy.  It is again one of the only times we get to talk without a chorus of crying, story telling and echoes of "mom/dad" all happening at the same time.  It gives us a chance to talk about things we cannot talk about in front of innocent ears.  Don't get me wrong, we sit together for meals at least three times a week and it is so much fun when we do.  And I grudgingly say that I make it one of my goals to eat dinner together every night.  For now though, this works out perfectly. 

Of course, one of the reasons this has gone on so long is LillyAnna.  It takes me a long time to prepare her medications for the night and make sure I have everything correctly dosed.  Nowadays it also takes me quite awhile to figure out what she will be willing to eat.  In the past week, she has been eating about one meal a day and has only thrown up twice.  This is a vast improvement.  Until today, she has also been very pleasant.  Today has been a fussy day for her.  She woke up with an elevated temperature.  Meemaw noted last night that her arm lesions looked red and swollen.  I agree.  She is chewing on her fingers like a champ and when she cuts teeth her disease seems to act up. I also noticed a small new papule on her belly. We will find out in the next couple of days.  If her temperature normalizes, her lesions calm down, she is less fussy and most obviously some teeth pop through then all is good.  As Dr. R loves to remind me, she is also an eighteen month old who has typical ups and downs.  We are getting routine blood work tomorrow.  Let's hope for the best.