MORE Stitches!!

Aack. It happened again. Wednesday night, Hillary fell and hit her head on Suzanna's toy box, resulting in a cut on her forehead that required a trip to Urgent Care and five stitches. She was brave and still isn't bothered by them. In fact, Hillary was rather proud to have the same number of stitches that Suzanna had gotten the week before.

And it just figures that Abigail, the next morning, said, "Hey, I don't have any stitches!" No, dear, and let's keep it that way!

Stitches

What is up with our daughters, cuts, and stitches?!

A couple months ago, my wife, Susan, had to take our three-year-old, Hillary, to the doctor when a sister threw something that cut Hillary just below the nose. The doctor used a glue-like substance to hold the cut shut, but Hillary has a little scar above her lip from that incident. We're supposed to keep her out of the sun this summer to avoid tanning the scar and making it more noticeable.

Today, our seven-year-old, Suzanna, fell while playing on the playground at school and cut her forehead just above her left eyebrow. Susan took her to the doctor, who had to use five stitches to close the gash. This one will definitely scar. Fortunately, the scar looks like it will be hidden in Suzanna's eyebrow. In the meantime, Suzanna can't show many expressions lest the stitches should burst (which happened in the doctor's office), so she's looking pretty sober tonight.

Thank God for good doctors and small injuries. Just the same, I'd prefer that nothing painful ever happen to my daughters. I hope our five-year-old, Abigail, isn't next . . .

Chocolate Overload

My wife and I took the Sunday crossword puzzle to a new Starbucks location this morning where I tried the Chantico, their super-chocolatey new hot chocolate drink. At first, I wondered why it was in such a small cup compared to my wife's cheaper coffee drink. Then I took a sip and wondered if the tiny cup wasn't perhaps twice as large as necessary! I love chocolate, but even I couldn't finish the drink by myself. I enlisted the aid of my three small children, who were more than happy to share. It's a tasty drink, but it's for sipping, not for gulping, that's for certain.

Water, Water Everywhere

(Okay, juniors, the title of this post is an allusion [one of your vocabulary words] to some work of literature. Do you know to what it alludes? Can you research it and get back to me?)

One thing I was not planning to spend five hours doing last night is clean up the flooded laundry/storage room in our basement. I got home for supper to my wife, who said, "Um, come here a sec; I have to show you something." Something was puddles of water under the laundry sink, the clothes washer, and along each wall of the L-shaped room.

We went through many towels and put the Shop-Vac to good use. Fortunately, many of the items we store in that room were in plastic storage containers. Unfortunately, not everything was. So wet cardboard boxes were unloaded and thrown, and our family room and living room are now strewn with items set out to dry. Some rather large, and heavy, items of furniture and storage shelves required moving, too, which was no treat.

Good news: everything's getting dry now, and we think we've identified the source of the problem. Bad news: that's five hours of my life I won't get back.

April and May's Thought-Provoking Question(s)

(This one's an important enough question to merit TWO months, methinks.)

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

Yes, April is National Poetry Month. It's a time to celebrate the beauty and power of the often-overlooked literary gem, the poem.

I'll admit: when I was in high school, and even my first years of college, I didn't "get" poetry. It was only once I started teaching English that I gave poetry the chance that it deserved to win me over. And since my change of attitude, many of my students have been inspired to create meaningful simplicity in verse.

This month's question(s): In honor of the month, what is your favorite poem? Or, who is your favorite poet? Share the favorite poem, or a poem by your favorite bard, and tell why it/he/she is your favorite.

I'll start. Here's a poem that I like by former poet laureate of the United States Billy Collins. I like it because it expresses the struggle I sometimes have with students who aren't able to enjoy a poem because they're too intent on studying it. Enjoy!


Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.