Tippy Toes and Tantrums

For the Times When You're So Firsty

The minute that I pick Rocket up from camp, he always makes his request for "something cold." Last week it was especially hot, and I felt it too because I was at the camp, taking pictures out in the hot sun. We were drained. Rocket, looking like a wilted flower, said, "Mommy, (big sigh) I'm so hydrated."

"Oh good news!"

"I'm hy-drated!"

"I get it. It's good to hear."

"I'm so firsty..."

"You mean dehydrated."

"Yes!"

It was one of those days that I regretted not getting Gatorade into the refrigerator.

My kids were born on Gatorade, Clover, quite literally. I was exactly 35 weeks pregnant to the day and the end was near, if not for the pregnancy, than for me. I couldn't pee, which along with other problems, meant my organs were closing up shop beginning with my kidneys. My doctor sent me across the street to walk, eat and drink as a last chance to get my body righted again. I got a giant Gatorade because I'd felt so dehydrated. I still couldn't pee, my ankles and feet were painfully huge, and preeclampsia was winning. Clover was born hours later via an emergency c-section.

While this isn't my favorite subject, urine was a big part of that pregnancy. I had to do a couple of 24 hour urine tests, which requires filling a gallon jug with pee collected over a day. Once, while on hospitalized bed rest, the jug was lost. How someone in a hospital misplaces a giant jug of pee is beyond me. The upside of all this pee talk was that I learned how to tell if I was hydrated or not based on color. Gatorade breaks it down easily: lemonade colored pee means hydrated, apple juice means dehydrated, Guinness means get to the hospital.

Like most, my kids love Gatorade. We always have it around, but that doesn't mean we're drinking it. It's saved for times of exertion, dehydration, or special occasions (we take it on our annual camping trip). I hate it when I see kids flop around, drinking it like a soda, yet they somehow act like they're drinking a health drink that's helping them build muscles.

The surprising thing is that Gatorade, the company, feels the same way. They became more of a beverage brand in pursuit of sales volume, losing innovation, and failing to meet the needs to true athletes. Gatorade has spent the last few years turning that around, getting back to science and meeting the needs of athletes, from teens to professionals to fitness athletes - including moms - and this goes beyond brightly colored drinks.

With the talk of sports nutrition, it all came back to pee. Kids can check their own hydration by looking at the color of their pee, unless you're lucky like me, when any trip into the kids' bathroom allows me to check hydration. Some day, I'll break down and install an automatic flushing toilet, like we're at the airport.

I took Rocket's word on his dehydration. We put the G2 Natural in the refrigerator. With no artificial colors or flavors, (and Gatorade does not use high fructose corn syrup in any of its products) G2 Natural is natural enough that it's sold at Whole Foods, making it a great option when water is not enough. And water is not always enough. When you work out hard, recovery requires more than a fluid boost. Salt and carb grams lost need to be replaced too. All athletes need carbs, fluid, and electrolytes, but in different amounts depending upon age and intensity of exercise. After exercise, everyone needs protein to help with muscle recovery. Water alone cannot do that.

The G2 Naturals has chilled, so the next time we nearly melt into a sweaty puddle, it'll be ready.

Disclosure: Gatorade sent me to Chicago in May to learn more about sports nutrition as part of their Sports Mom program. I went in skeptical, but I came out waving a G towel. All opinions are my own.

When Candy Tells You You're Old

When packing for a trip a few months ago, I was going to throw in a few gummy bears for the airplane when I thought that they were "too much." They seemed like a lot to digest, which is either a sign of extreme, system-wide laziness or I was getting old. I picked up Swedish Fish instead, which I'd never had until last year, because they seemed like a jelly in a solid form. The type of stuff my Aunt Carmella would have had in her candy jar. Next up, probably Circus Peanuts because they're soft and require little chewing.

I did come across an old favorite while in Maine: chocolate covered gummy bears. I hadn't had them in over a decade, before the cute, corner candy shop in Mendocino closed for good. Sure, they sell them in a box at Target, but I never wanted to kill my old memory of how good these tasted, until I saw them in Maine and was ready to try again.

The kids were going crazy in the car, in the worst way possible, even requiring an emergency pull over to yell after we noticed Rocket had stepped up his jackassery by taking off his seat beat. It's easier to fight with your sister when you aren't strapped into your seat, therefore he thought unbuckling was a logical choice. So when we pulled up to Yummies, we weren't certain anyone was going in or if we were going to let the kids buy anything. We cooled down and let them pick one thing. After much debate and negotiation, they picked Nerd-filled gumballs. They still haven't tried them because part of our concession to let them buy something was that they would have to wait until they were good before they got it. We're still waiting.

The chocolate gummy bears were as good as I remembered.

She's Crafty: Embroidery Fever Claims Clover

It's kind of funny and a little annoying how kids learn in spurts, and generally only when ready. I've long asked Clover if she wanted to learn to sew or knit. Her answer has always been a decisive "no." A booth at the Maker Faire was teaching people how to make simple draw string bags. Clover said she'd give it a try, but then she saw the sewing machines - and a girl her age learning to use one - and quickly changed her mind. "Sewing? Forget it."

The girl cannot turn down a dessert, which must be why her attention was caught by a woman with an ice cream cart full of ice cream plushy kits.

"I want one of those!"

"Those aren't real. They're felt. You know that, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's a kit. You'd have to make it."

"Yeah. I want it."

I couldn't say no. She barely mentioned it again until this week when she asked to make it. I dug through the bag of ignored kits I'd bought for myself at the Maker Faire to find her blue Popsicle. She made it on Sunday, with me helping here and there, but mostly acting as an adviser. At least one person finished a craft project around here.

The next day, after camp, as I turned off the car in our driveway, she said, "Mom, I'm feeling...(long pause)...I just...(heavy, rapid breathing while she held her stomach)...I feel..."

She's got to be sick. Don't throw up in my car! No, wait, maybe something happened at camp. I turned my full attention to her because clearly something big was going on.

"I feel like I need to MAKE SOMETHING! Like yesterday. (Deep breath and exhale) I want to embroider something!"

I practically ran into the house to set her up before the moment passed. Like Sunday, I had a million other things to do, but felt I needed to do this while she was interested.

She's working without a pattern, deciding to make a dog. I've tried to talk about different stitches, but she doesn't care and I'm not pushing it. This phase will probably end soon, but I love that she's learned a little bit about sewing and expressing her creativity using a thread, needle, and a 10 cent Ikea pillowcase.

Cinema Circus: Movies are the Side Show

Martha's Vineyard is gorgeous and full of things to do, including doing nothing at all, so it was a little bit of a surprise when I announced we'd be going to the community center to watch a movie one evening. "We're lucky," I tried to explain. "Usually this is a July and August thing, but this year it's starting in late June."

When we walked up and spotted the bunting and bubbles, it was clear that it wasn't a typical children's movie. Cinema Circus is better than any movie experience I've had, and countless times, Rocket has asked when we can go back.

There are a bunch of fun things for kids to do before the movies begin, and the movies themselves are a series of domestic and foreign shorts for children. There were about six shorts and all were animated, but one (I think), adding up to nearly an hour of movie time.

Dinner was available too, but there was corn in the burritos, and my California kids could not accept that. We had smoothies and organic popcorn to tide us over until a late dinner.

There was a beautiful coffee bar,

and an even more enticing dessert table. Rocket told me his stomach was hurting because it needed a chocolate tart. He barely had the strength to stay standing when I told him no.

Thankfully, there were enough distractions that he soon forgot about the chocolate.

During the entire event, Kevin was distracted by Rocket's doppelganger. Soon after arriving, I saw Rocket standing across the lawn, then I did a double take and realized it wasn't him, but a boy the same size who looked so much like him. I pointed him out to Kevin, who couldn't get over how much they looked alike. He wanted me to ask the boy's mom if I could take a picture of the two boys standing together, but I declined. ("This is your LAST CHANCE! He's in the face painting line!") We didn't need to be the circus freaks.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

So, where was I? Oh right, on vacation. I miss vacation dearly. No one expected me to cook for any meal, we stayed at a fabulous home, and we were always en route to an adventure. We had no reason to go to Martha's Vineyard, other than we'd always wanted to go, and it was a pure vacation. No family visits, no work-related events, no expectations other than to have fun. I said before we left that I knew it would be an amazing trip, but my goal was to make sure we all had fun in the moment, instead of only thinking the trip was fun once we were safely back home, settled, and reflecting on our journey. It's easy to make things look perfect in pictures, but it's harder to enjoy the moment. I was going for the moment (because I knew I'd be able to doctor up those photos at home to make everything look shiny).

I'm happy to say that it was the best vacation ever. That includes the rain in Boston, the crazy hotel room sharing for part of the trip, the squabbling, and the bug bites. I always forget that the East Coast has ferocious bugs. One night there was a pounded at the screen door that caused me to jump, but instead of a person or animal, it was a huge insect ramming itself into the screen. But, the East Coast also has fireflies, which make everything magical. One night we drove home at dusk, and as we drove down the private dirt road, I turned off the car's headlights, allowing us to enjoy the light show in front of us. Clover lists that moment as one of her many highlights from the trip. If I had been rushing or otherwise not in the moment, it wouldn't have happened. This was a successful vacation.

One of my highlights was just as unexpected. It poured during the Red Sox game, and when we got back to the hotel, we were soaked, despite our garbage bag-style ponchos. I felt sick, everyone was cold, Kevin grabbed take out for us to eat in the room, the kids were annoying before they fell asleep, I took a nap, and when I woke up, it was dark. Kevin and I sat at the little table in our room, in front of the huge window overlooking the Back Bay brownstones. We talked in whispers, I was rested, and we were both happy to be dry. It was a vacation.

I tried to say "Yes!" as much as possible on this trip. "Yes! We can go to the beach!" "Yes! You can have more quarters for the arcade games!" "Yes! You can go outside without asking!" And my kids' favorite, "Yes! You can have dessert!" It was a special occasion, not a lifestyle, so I could be as free with my yeses as possible.

Now we're back, Clover has discovered by Japanese craft books and has a huge list of creatures to make, Rocket is acting like a super moody adolescent, but, in a small way, our vacation continues. I've protected our July calender, hoping to spend most of our time at summer camp, home, cleaning, organizing, working, and regrouping. The pace is still slow. We've got nowhere to be.

There will be a little more about the trip. I took nearly 1100 photos, but edited them down to a solid 172. Those photos have to go somewhere.

Happy Fourth!

The Northeast was awash in red, white and blue for the upcoming holiday. We're back home and headed to a pool party with friends, sparklers, and hopefully a sparkling cocktail or two. USA!