A spot of bother

Katy was out of town this Saturday so Nyssa and I had to look after Leila by ourselves. I do not have any other story than that. That seems pretty newsworthy to me.

So the three of us spent the morning at our friends Darci and Zach and Oscar's house and then when Zach got worn down and needed a nap we went out to lunch. First we tried The Cafe but there was a 20 minute wait. It was only 11:10am! With a few tears, in my eyes and Nyssa's we headed off to the Stomping Grounds and had a nice lunch, even though our so-called friends Joe and Amy stood us up. at the end of the meal, as we were leaving, this sanctimonious religious lady says about Nyssa or Leila or maybe both, "A real blessing."

I was so angry.

Sweet? Cute? Lovely? Dirty? Fine, it is nice to hear compliments of your children, even from creepy people you would rather not talk to. You have to put up with it. But this wasn't a compliment. This was a dogmatic statement. Did she not think I knew they were blessings? She'd seen me all through lunch, she knew how I cared about them. No, she was not telling me that they were special, but that they had been gifted to me. That what was special about them was not themselves but their being a product of God. She wasn't telling me my children were gifts from God, she was telling me I should be a believer...like the scripture licker (I didn't even know here) she was.

But I didn't say anything. I just left the restaurant, her intrusive comment sticking in my craw. They are blessings! They are! They are!

Like all great comebacks mine came late. I was putting Leila in her car seat and mock-chastizing Nyssa for wiggling on the sidewalk, "I am not wiggling," she said. "Just dancing."

"They are blessings," I told the old biddy in my head, "But not from your God." It was so good, that I almost marched back into the restaurant and told it to her face. By almost I mean I decided to keep the comeback on hold.

Katy took Leila to her 4 month Dr's appointment today and came back to report, "Our child is undersized." Leila is now in the 36th percentile for weight. She is a cute skinny girl. You don't notice anything at first, certainly not in the picture at the left, but it you look at her forearms and thighs you realize that there is not much meat there.
But she is healthy, except for a constantly stuffy nose, and thinking about sitting up. She is also realizing that she has the ability to grab things she wants. Right now she is like a dog, trying to grab everything with her mouth. For those of you who've not seen her, she is a charming and sweet natured girl.