The neighborhood

Lately, there has been a quiet in the daytime that comes from all the little kids that spent the summer riding their scooters and bikes up and down these sidewalks finally returning to school. And I usually am one of those people who thinks kids get too short of a summer, but I was so glad to see them gone.
There is no way to say it nicely, these kids? My neighbor's children? THEY ARE RUDE.
It started when I left my windows open one day. I looked up from cleaning to see about 10 little faces smushed up on my window screens and then the chatter started:
wow, you have nice stuff.
Is she your daughter?
What your name?
Can I come in and play your guitar?

The next afternoon, when Pappa Starbucks came home, they followed him to our door, I suppose expecting to be invited in. The youngest boy, about 3, began ringing our doorbell over and over until Pappa Starbucks blurted out a 'HEY! Stop.'
Then, after he came inside they stood there, staring in again. One of the older girls OPENED our door and out went the dog- happily, eagerly. Squealing ensued.
When Pappa Starbucks, exasperated at this point, retrieved him, he was met with:
IS SHE Yer WIFE? How come she's WHITE? Is that her baby? Does she have a daddy? You ain't as black as my daddy. Why is you with a white woman? My mamma says white women--

he told them that he had to go.

Yesterday I left the windows open again for most of the day, and in the afternoon I had them open when the kids all came home. They must have smelled them from their house because here they came, climbing on our doorstep, shimmying up onto our window ledges, jumping from the neighbor's stoop to ours.
It's my BIRTHDAY!!! One of them yelled.Did you get me a present?
I said no, but Happy Birthday to him.
Can we come in?
I said no.
Our Mammas aren't home and we bored. Can we come in and play with your baby?
I said absolutely not, that children shouldn't go into stranger's houses. I said that they shouldn't talk to stranger's either unless their mom said it was OK.
Well....our Uncle will be here in a while we will ask him.

I simultaneously feel heartbroken for them being all alone and angry at their parent/s for not protecting them. It is one thing to let your kids play outside, and another to leave them outside under the care of another child (the oldest girl is about 9) until an adult arrives an hour or two later.

It breaks my heart and sets my jaw, but I don't know what to do.

Sweet berry pie

Little berry today upon whopping her head on the wall instead of the pillow:
*hands over face* "OH! beBABY!!" *blows kisses to herself*

Loving this.

Random posting monday

self interviewing questions because I cannot think of anything to say, except: nightmares=crap and I just want some decent sleep.

1. What is your favorite smell?
Mmmm...chocolate..or Lemon meringue pie...or,or clean laundry dried in the sunshine.

2. Did you/would you/are you co-sleep(ing)?

Oh yes oh yes oh yes. When little berry was born, I was convinced she would be one of those crib babies. We had it ALL READY. In fact, I was in labor and freaking out, rewashing her bumper at 2am....but then that night we brought her home (remember, I had her at a birth center, we came home 3 hours after delivery) and Pappa Starbucks had his mother over. BIG MISTAKE!!! I was, and still am, angry about that. I had a natural childbirth specifically because it meant I could go home and have my baby to myself!!!
Anyway, we brought her to bed with us and she's been there since. It was wonderful in Europe when we were traveling. Pappa Starbucks hates it and has recently began sleeping in the guest room which is OK because we are all happy at last. Don't even get me started on the 'marriage bed' right now.


5. What's your favourite colour?

Yellow. I remember being a kid and loving green, like forest green, and thinking "I will never love anything as much as I love this deep forest green it is just so beautiful!!" but of course that was my brain on childhood, so it didn't stick.

How do you feel about saving money, things, etc?

I'm a big saver.I am a thrift-store shopper and a coupon clipper and we really do save money. With that being said, we don't have much in savings. The economy wiped us out several months ago and we haven't exactly found our feet yet, also, we just did the math and Pappa Starbucks spends approximately $1200 a year at Starbucks. Which makes me ill. He is not a saver, so our methods are often at odds.

What do you like most about the current season?

Oh, pickles! I LOVE FALL. I have the most vivid memories of fall leaves blowing around, changing into deep colors, the smell, the feel of the air, fall is just spectacular. I guess mostly I love the feel of the air, how I can breathe in big lungfuls (nice after such a hot summer) and never feel overheated. Of course, it's 96degrees today so that may not be a constant!

Most recent dream?

I've been having nightmares lately, truly disturbing dreams where my family is in danger of being eaten by a grizzly bear that we can't escape or that I fall in front of a train and I am holding my baby. I don't like dreams very much!

Exercise Nine

In the summer, the house grows hot, so hot
With steaming, stewing pressurized tomatoes
Deep sea green cucumbers in their baths
slowly turning to pickles in the winter.
Okra waiting patiently in a basket for
a turn at the sink,
Green beans sitting on the porch being plucked
away at until their boiling is due.
Once it's July, the whole kitchen floods
with mason jars, clear jars
quarts, half cups, pints all stacked in boxes
My mother assigns me with millions of them
and a single sharp brillo pad in the yard
Plunging my small hands into the jars
I scrub and scrub eager to hand them off to
my mother for approval. This is the task
hated most, readying the old glass banks
for prizes I would choose to never open.
Sometimes, I sneak away and bring back feathers
or plunge my toes instead into the cold hose water.

A genuine breastfeeding baby doll:

A friend of mine just came back from NYC and stayed with us for a few days before starting back to college. She and I were talking about my renewed desire to nurse until Little Berry weans herself- whenever that may be, something Pappa Starbucks is horribly against but don't get me started.
Anyway, she mentioned this doll she had seen in the city. I give you the new hip doll

that I am buying at least one of my nieces for Christmas, if only because they aren't allowed to sit in the room (seriously) while I nurse.
That teensy part on the box is a flower that ties on and the baby latches onto (magnetically I suppose):

What strikes me as funny is that Cuppycake already does this with her babies, brings them to me and tucks them in my shirt, that is. The flower part seems like it could cause some confusion. And God help those girls who will grow up thinking those first days of nursing will be "that" easy.

Photos snatched from Google images