Ah Shucks!

Remember that old adage "The best laid plans of mice and men"? Well, I'm thinking here right now that it is pretty much the same in meaning as the mere mention of Murphy and his stupid law. Or, at least where blogger is concerned they are pretty much one and the same thing.

My plan tonight for my post was to put up a couple of photos of my grandchildren, taken recently when the older grandson was here one evening and he was being quite the little clown at that time. We got a couple of really cute pictures of him, as well as of the baby, both sporting this goofy wig that belongs to their Uncle Clate. However, try as I did to put the pictures on this post, Blogger apparently didn't like my choices or some such because they would attempt to load but were taking way longer to do that than I cared to wait. Sitting here, staring at the screen while the little logo goes round and round and says "Blogger is loading you photo" for ten minutes is just a little much for my patience level.

So I pitched that idea out the window and decided I'd have to go with just straight text.

And that's not really a good thing tonight because without the pictures, I really don't have a story. Now, isn't that just the pits though?

I usually don't do my blog post until late at night -about this time - mainly because during the day, there tend to be too many interruptions. I forget my train of thought easily enough without having to stop every five minutes or so to call out to Maya to "get out of Gram's room" or "Get out of that cupboard" (or the kitchen, or bathroom) -whatever area she's busy exploring. And trust me, Maya exploring around the house isn't usually all that good a deal -for the adults here at any rate. From her perspective, I suppose it's fine and dandy but she generally can manage to find something to get into that I really don't want to pick up later on.

Like the other day for a choice example. She was moving quickly (her norm) from one area to another and I heard her head towards the kitchen but by the time I heard her going in that direction and looked out there, it was too late. Quick as all get out, she had managed to open the cupboard below the sink, grab a bottle of "Mr. Clean" and when I glanced out there, she was poised over the sink, dumping what ever amount of the lemony-pine scented cleanser happened to have been in the bottle down the drain and just cackling big-time all the while she was doing that. Ok, that really wasn't a terrible trick there as it didn't result in a big mess to clean up. Gave the whole downstairs a really nice, clean smell to it too, it did. That was my day to consider myself lucky I guess. Usually, her trips to the kitchen often are because she has spotted that I have put dishes in the dishpan to soak and she loves to find something - anything will do - to dip in the dishpan and then, slosh the soapy water all about the kitchen floor.

The bathroom is one area we try to keep her out of though - mainly because no matter where things are placed in there, she usually seems to have a great sense of direction to find the stuff you DON'T want her to get into. One of her favorite things to snag in the bathroom is her big sister's makeup, which she dearly loves to mess with and then, present her sweet little self to the rest of the family with eyeshadow, liner, lipstick - whatever she can get her hands on - smeared all over her little face. She also has a big fixation with getting into the baby wipes too and bring a handful of those little wet tissue-type things out here into the living room and wipe down whatever happens to be handy. One thing she definitely doesn't do while exploring in the bathroom though is to consider using the facility for what it is intended to be used for. The mere mention to her of going in there for her to sit on the potty gets and immediate response of "Okay, okay. All done. All done." And that is usually the truth too - she's already "all done." Drat it all anyway!

Which reminds me inevitably of the days thirty some years ago when her uncle was about her age - actually, he was two, going on three, (she's going to be four come October) and I was about at my wit's end trying to potty train him. My ex used to tell me I was too easy on him because I would sit him on the potty chair, park it in front of the tv right after he'd had his breakfast between 8 and 9 a.m. and you could come by the house at virtually any hour then throughout the day and the boy would still be sitting there! (And that potty would be as empty at 5 p.m. as it was at 9 a.m. that day too.)

One day though, for some reason or other, old Dad was going to be home all day and I had a bunch of errands I had to run, so he had decided to prove his theory to me that I was too easy on the kid -letting him sit there, toys around him, tv on - and he would show me by having the kid all trained by the time I returned home.

Off I went, leaving Frank to work his wonders with the boy. When I got back several hours later, I asked how things had gone and he informed me he'd turned the tv off, taken all the toys away from him, moved the potty chair into the hallway, closed all the bedroom doors too so there was nothing to be seen there that would divert his attention away from the task at hand. Ok, so how'd that work for you then, I'd inquired of him and he informed me then "Well, the little so-and-so just sat there then and played with himself."

That was the first and last time Dad volunteered to teach the boy something that he thought he could get a point across to the kid better than my methods did.

Well, there was one other time when he tried to show the kid exactly what do to, how to use the commode, etc., but it's a tad bit too graphic to put into words in a blog so we'll pass on that story.
(It didn't work either, I might add.)

Today, the neighbor two doors over who was a beautician and who occasionally will come over and trim everyone's hair in the household was scheduled to have just such an event here. The son-in-law went first, the the 15-year-old, as well as a girlfriend of the 15-year-old who was visiting here yesterday and today. I got my mop snipped as did Mandy and the whole time, we were all trying to convince Maya that it sure would be great if she'd allow "Miss Karen" to trim her hair too. No way, Jose! She wasn't buying any of our arguments with her about how nice it would make her look, etc. Even when her mother was getting her hair trimmed and Maya commented "Mommy's getting the fashion with the hair" and we tried to appeal to her own vain side, she wasn't about to allow anyone to come near her with a pair of scissors!

Anyone got any suggestions on how to convince a child that age but with the other issues Maya has (autism) that a haircut is painless and a good thing? Feel free to toss your ideas out as who knows, someone else may come up with a good solution there for us.

Tomorrow and Friday, I'm going to have to do some extra cooking - it's the small family reunion weekend coming up. Because so few family members are going to be able to attend, I cancelled the reservations we had to use a little local parklet for the weekend and we will be getting together here at my home. But, since there will only be about 11-12 of us in all - that's including my kids and grandkids here -I won't be cooking near as much as I normally would be doing for our family reunion. Mandy has made arrangements to borrow a picnic table and a couple extra lawn chairs -provided the weather cooperates and we can have our lunch and supper out in the yard. If not, well my house is large enough to accommodate that many people here easily enough.

For me, this weekend will be a pretty bittersweet time as I think this will most likely be the end of the line for this family reunion. This will be the 58th reunion of my mother's father's family and over that 58 year period, I have only ever missed two of those reunions. It's always kind of been, for me, like having Christmas in late July with relatives all over the place but now, the family is so spread out across the country, too many of the younger generations are interested in keeping it alive and the older ones, of my generation, unfortunately are experiencing a lot of health problems and are no longer able to make the trip in for the event.

But a 58 year run isn't a bad thing you know. I'd love to be able to see it continue but really, it isn't feasible any longer to do that. Just the economics of gas prices, plus a motel room, added to the food costs, and before you know it, you've got a healthy chunk of cash going out there. Maybe after those few cousins who are coming here this weekend and my kids and I discuss this a bit, we might consider a continuation but to only have it every other year or perhaps every fifth year although with the interest levels what they are as well as the health concerns, I don't see that as being any better an idea than trying to keep it going every year either.

Those few of us who have hung in there with it over the years though will still try to find a way somehow where we can get together at least once a year. And, if now and again, some others of the family can join us, so much the better.

I'm trying to go into this weekend with the most positive attitude - no tears, ya know - I can possibly muster up so cross your fingers and hope for the best, will ya?