MommyCoddle

the ivy that is poison

I took one for the team last week. I attacked a fence row teeming with poison ivy.

My husband reacts violently to the littlest exposure, breaking out in red, oozing welts that usually land him in the walk-in clinic begging for a shot of steroids. So in one overly-productive day last week, I took on the project, saint that I am.

It is said that pride cometh before the fall, and I have to admit to being a teensy bit arrogant about my seeming immunity to poison ivy.

"I've touched it with my bare hands and never gotten a single bump."
"I just don't get poison ivy. Ever."
"I have no memories of ever having poison ivy anywhere."
"I don't need to wash up. I don't get poison ivy, remember??"

Hello, pride. Good to meet you.

I have poison ivy.

In odd places.

On the underside of my nose.
Around my waist. (I guess I was wearing my falling down jeans that day?)
On the front sides of my shoulders. (was I hiking up my short sleeves?)
In the middle of my shins. (hmmm. i was wearing long pants)
Along the side of my neck.

And then of course, the typical forearm–elbow to wrist– outbreak as well.

Emma looked at me yesterday and said, "Mom. You know you should really do something about all that poison ivy before the wedding on Friday."

Yeah, great, Emma. Thanks.

So while I'm not covered in oozing welts, I'm left with a body pocked with small bumps and patches of raised, itchy red skin. It could be worse. I'm telling myself how fun it is to discover where the next patch will break out. And I'm seriously considering a wardrobe change for next weekend's big family wedding. Turtleneck and long pants, anyone?

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The winner of the Little Alouette Giveaway is:

Michelle who said:

I want to WIN! I live in Ohio as well.

Michelle: please send me an email (in the about molly page) with your shipping info, and I"ll pass it on to Amy!

I took one for the team last week. I attacked a fence row teeming with poison ivy.

My husband reacts violently to the littlest exposure, breaking out in red, oozing welts that usually land him in the walk-in clinic begging for a shot of legal steroids. So in one overly-productive day last week, I took on the project, saint that I am.

It is said that pride cometh before the fall, and I have to admit to being a teensy bit arrogant about my seeming immunity to poison ivy.

“I’ve touched it with my bare hands and never gotten a single bump.”
“I just don’t get poison ivy. Ever.”
“I have no memories of ever having poison ivy anywhere.”
“I don’t need to wash up. I don’t get poison ivy, remember??”

Hello, pride. Good to meet you.

I have poison ivy.

In odd places.

And then of course, the typical forearm–elbow to wrist– outbreak as well.

Emma looked at me yesterday and said, “Mom. You know you should really do something about all that poison ivy before the wedding on Friday.”

Yeah, great, Emma. Thanks.

So while I’m not covered in oozing welts, I’m left with a body pocked with small bumps and patches of raised, itchy red skin. It could be worse. I’m telling myself how fun it is to discover where the next patch will break out. And I’m seriously considering a wardrobe change for next weekend’s big family wedding. Turtleneck and long pants, anyone?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The winner of the Little Alouette Giveaway is:

Michelle who said:

I want to WIN! I live in Ohio as well.

Michelle: please send me an email (in the about molly page) with your shipping info, and I”ll pass it on to Amy!

34 Comments

Show & Tell : Little Alouette

Amy is one of those blogging friends who seems to have been part of my "neighborhood" for as long as I can remember. I couldn't put a finger on the point when she and I became blogging pals, but I'm so glad we have. Not only is she a complete sweetheart, she and her husband are the genius team behind one of my favorite shops, Little Alouette.

My children have the privilege of having a set of Little Alouette shakey blocks in our collection. They are one of those toys that are equally fun to play with and look at. There is something about the sweetness and beauty of wooden toys that can never be duplicated in the world of plastic. And LittleAlouette toys have a simplicity and style that I love. They are classics.

A few months ago, Little Alouette was one of etsy's featured sellers. As I was reading the article this morning to be sure I had all my facts straight about Amy 🙂 , I had to share a few words from the write-up because it is a good story:

Over a decade ago a handsome British boy and an Ohio lass met and
fell madly in love at first site in a sleepy university town. The boy
was a classically trained master carpenter and the girl a writer with a
bit of wanderlust. They worked together creatively through the years on
many projects involving woodworking as they restored and remodeled
homes together. The boy taught his love about trees on their land in
the country and how to use power tools and the girl read poems to him
while they worked. They started a journey of following their bliss and
eventually brought two wee ones into the world and began creating
wooden toys for them. They decided to share these wee wooden toys with
the world and Little Alouette was born over hot steaming mugs of cocoa
in the winter of 2007.

We are Joe and Amy Sharp of Worthington, Ohio.

And I love their words about their creative process:

Each product is made by hand and usually all the wood is surrounded by
cups of tea, laughing children, and disco music so each product will
come to you infused with love and bliss! We use locally sourced Ohio
timber and only finish our products with certified organic flax seed
oil.

Seriously. I've been telling my husband that if I can't have a bandsaw, then I'll just settle for a jigsaw. Reading about Joe and Amy's process makes me think I need to put it on my birthday list again this year.

If you haven't been introduced to LittleAlouette be sure to take a few moments to check out their shop. And after my Lotta Jansdotter giveaway last week, I know a lot of you are shopping for baby gifts–for yourself or for people you know. And if you are "people I know" and you're having a baby soon…don't look, unless you want to spoil the surprise.

And guess what? Amy has graciously offered to give one mommycoddle reader one of her Harper the Hippo teethers! yay. You know the drill, leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway. I'll announce the random winner on Sunday!

Happy Weekend, friends!

We are Joe and Amy Sharp of Worthington, Ohio.

And I love their words about their creative process:

Happy Weekend, friends!

73 Comments

crafting with children / MOTHERHOOD / simple questions

ONE simple question, no. 7

Sometimes it's hard to be five. Especially when your older sister is off gallivanting and swimming and having who knows what kind of fun with a friend, and you're stuck at home with your boring old mom, and your little sister who repeats everything you say and fights you for the tree swing.

This is when the mantra begins, "What can I do that's FUN?!?"

If you asked my mother, I'm sure she'd back me up on the fact that I tended to be the perpetually bored child. Especially on Sundays. But my boredom, if I recall correctly, usually led to good things like puttering down at the stream or walking around the house with a tape recorder–reading the newspaper and writing my own radio ads–many of which involved a flushing of the toilet and lots of hushed giggling in the background.

I believe boredom is a good thing for children to experience. Because it often leads to amazing bouts of creativity.

However, it only seems like karma that Mary would be asking me the same question I'm sure I hounded my mom with for many, many years and many, many lazy Sunday afternoons.

Yesterday, I saved the day with painting en plein air. It did the trick and got us through a tough patch of boredom until Dan got home from work and Emma returned from her playdate. (only to drown her sister in stories of how much fun she had. Thanks, Em.)

But I believe it is good for a parent to have a boredom busting arsenal.

So here's my simple question for today:

How do you answer the "What can I do for fun?" question? What activities are in your boredom busting arsenal? What ideas do you throw out to your children in hopes that they'll latch on to one? Between all of you creative mamas, I think it will be a great resource for all of us to share our ideas.

Here's to a boredom-induced, creative summer!