Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover

Beware of the books you buy your children!! Publications International, Ltd. is the largest maker of traditional children's books that also combine electronic interactivity. According to their website, they are the fifth largest publisher of children's books. Our family owns several of these types of books. I made a recent discovery, and I will never, ever purchase one of these books again. Please refrain from purchasing these books, and return any and all books made by this publisher that you may receive as gifts.

We received this book, Elmo in Grouchland. After my son's bedtime recently, I snuck this book from his room. I dislike the songs, and was ready to get rid of the book.
My grip slipped on the electronic green pad. The adhesive glue loosened, and the electronic pad fell off. The last page of the Elmo book was mounted to the cardboard cover. Behind the Elmo electronic pad, appeared to be a children's Bible story book. Definitely, the book was recycled.

I called Publications International, Ltd. to register my complaint. I spoke with someone who handles customer inquiries, and asked if their company recycles books. The representative was surprised. He assured me they did not. I explained all that had happened. He put me on a hold, and offered to send me a new book when he came back on the line. I didn't want a new book. I asked to speak with someone who handles product discrepancies or consumer relations. Bottom line: Why was this book made from a recycled Bible story book? Finally, the representative forwarded my complaint to the corporate office, and supposedly they will contact me within 24 hours. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, check your children's books published by Publications International, Ltd. If you find problems with your books please contact their corporate office at 847-676-3470.

GG is here!

Monday night GG flew in from Phoenix just to see her great grandsons in Hawaii. She is Hubby's grandmother, but her five great grandchildren call her GG, short for Great Grandma. She jumped right in with my two boys. She loves reading Son1 tons of stories, and he insists on sitting on top of her.
She treated us to a train ride on the Pineapple Express and we fed the carp at the Dole Plantation. If you haven't done that, and you have kids, that is a MUST DO. Ew...those fish are big and fat and slither up out of the water like hungry crocodiles for fish food. Ew! We stopped in Haleiwa afterward and GG spoiled us at our favorite homemade ice cream shop. Son2 had his very first ice cream...it was called Tahiti something. It was a vanilla ice cream. Oh that was so comical! Son2 cried, screamed, and squirmed each time the spoon was out of his mouth. He LOVED ice cream!Another day we headed out to the Ko'Olina lagoons for a swim and a beach picnic. We took turns hanging onto Son2 in the water.
GG and Son1 floated out in the calm water, and sometimes the gentle waves would push them onto the shore.
We had a bungie cord that was tied around the float to corral Son1 toward us. He loved every minute of the water, just like his big brother did when he was a baby. It was so nice that GG, the two boys, and I could all be in the water at the same time! GG is pretty active, but we just had to get her one thing, a walking stick. Now, GG refuses to use a cane, because she really doesn't need one. She had her knee replaced, and a walking stick just gives her better leverage every now and then on longer walks or hikes. Hubby just wanted me to go out and get an aluminum cane, and GG about came unglued. So Son1 and I ran around looking for a walking stick. GG has several of these in different states. She keeps one in California at her daughter's house, one in Colorado at another daughter's house, and one in Arizona where she lives, so she doesn't have to fly with a walking stick. She doesn't even use it every day, just on longer walks. Finally, the lady in the garden shop at Wal Mart suggested going to our local Hawaiian hardware store chain, City Mill. I explained to the man that my husband's grandmother needed a walking stick, and I needed a rounded piece of wood. He escorted Son1 and me to the back of the store, and waved us to a bin of bamboo sticks. He gave me this freaky look that suggested I might not actually want these sticks. PERFECT! Now, I ended up with a bamboo stick over six feet tall, but I figured Hubby could always cut it. I grabbed the stick for $3.69 and headed back toward the center of the store, where I asked another associate if they knew where I explained the project with the bamboo stick. I explained I needed a rubber bottom next. He looked at me with a cross between a puzzled look and an intrigued look. He led me to a section of rubber feet, and handed me a package. We squeezed a rubber foot over the bamboo, and it fit! Success for an additional $3.99! Once we got home, Hubby used his saw to cut down the stick, and wrapped the top with some duct tape. Now GG is set for some longer distances!

She will be here through the end of the month. Son1 is on Spring Break so we are able to spend all day together exploring the island this coming week, too!

Hugging Hubby

A few nights ago I was putting away dishes in the kitchen, when Hubby came up behind me, and hugged me. I turned to him, and hugged him back, I mean, really, really bear hugged him back, the way we only hug each other and our children. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you, too," I shared, "but that's not why I was hugging you like that." He stood about a foot in front of me and just looked at me, somewhat puzzled. I excitedly went on to explain something I had read in A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis. The book is taken from his personal journal after his wife's death. "Oh no, this is going to make me sad, isn't it?" I assured him it would not.

C.S. Lewis writes, "The earthly beloved, even in this life incessantly triumphs over your mere idea of her. And you want her to; you want her with all her resistances, all her faults, all her unexpectedness...And this, not an image or a memory, is what we are to love still, after she is dead."

These words gave me great pause. Hmm. When I read this my mind went other places than identifying with C.S. Lewis's grief. I pondered thoughts of human intimacy and our earthly relationships. When Hubby is traveling, sometimes I close my eyes and squeeze them shut and imagine his arms around me, holding me tight. There is nothing like having him absolutely present in front of me. I can think about it all I want, imagine it, wish for it, but there is nothing like his human physical presence or hug. I cannot substitute it with a thought or a memory. But when it actually happens, my body remembers the all too familiar feeling of being embraced by my husband. And the same thing happens with my boys. Over the last few months I have willed myself to remember what it felt like to hold Son1 as a baby. I know it happened, I know I enjoyed it, I know I have pictures. But there is no substitute for being physically present in that exact moment. I have willed myself to remember how it happened that he took his first steps, the excitement when he started to use a string of words to speak, and when he ran for his shoes to go and see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood every night two Christmases ago. I imagine these things. I play the video in my head. It is not that I have forgotten. There is no substitute for being intimately involved with that other person, right there, in the very moment. Now when Son2 is imitating me, and goes into fits of giggles when he gets me to copy him, the memory of Son1 doing the very same thing comes alive to me in a very real way, a way that isn't accessible without physical human intimacy. It cannot be replicated in a picture or in a memory of the past. This week I am purposely drinking in the moments with my kids and my husband. I have no idea if I will tire of this purposefulness. I hope not. I am adoring the physical seconds, the minutes, and the days of the joys and challenges of being home with my kids, and investing in my marriage.