Metaphors for Life

This past week's Focus52 prompt was nurture. I noticed it earlier this week and had the stereotypical inspiration to get a photo of me snuggling with one of my kids.  I'm rarely in photos so it seemed like a good opportunity to put myself in front of the camera. But I never got around to it. And then something else happened. Yesterday my son walked into the kitchen and said, "Mom, you should come take a picture."







My baby girl learned to ride her bike.  Not only was she riding her bike, she was effortlessly riding her bike. I watched my husband helping her and once again, I marveled at how easily he does this. He knows the right things to say and just how much support he needs to give.  He teaches them how to keep themselves balanced but what to do when they do start to fall. As I sat there watching him work his magic, I realized that *this* is nurture.







I think if we can somehow prepare them for life, as well as he prepared them to ride those bikes, we'll be in good shape.

Tomato Sandwich

Tomato Sandwich, originally uploaded by hezro.

Today as I was toasting bread for my tomato sandwich, I thought of my Uncle Don. I always think of my Uncle Don when I toast bread because he's the person who pointed out to me that you can usually push up on the little toaster knob thing-a-ma-jobey (as demonstrated below) to easily get your toast out. This is a pretty cool trick and I actually think a lot of people don't realize you can do that with your toaster. Having said, I'm sure my Uncle Don would not have expected this to be the thing that would stick in someone's head about him. Of course this isn't the ONLY thing that makes me think of my uncle but it is one of the things. Uncle Don is a family doctor (I've called him with many a medical question over the years) and a really smart guy and he's funny (not to mention very nice). So yeah, it's quite random that TOAST is one of the main things that makes me think of Uncle Don.

Toaster, originally uploaded by hezro.

The sandwich I was making today is one of my summer favorites. I'm not necessarily a huge mayonnaise lover but this is the one sandwich where nothing else compares: toasted wheat bread, a thin amount of Hellmann's mayo, sweet tomatoes and a dash of salt. Yum.

Another irony is that I've always attributed these sandwiches to my grandfather (Uncle Don's dad - and my dad's dad). For years I thought I was copying a favorite of my grandfather's. But then a few years ago I discovered that this isn't actually how my grandfather ate his tomato sandwiches. I think he put margarine on his. *shudder* But despite my faulty memory, they still make me think of my Grandpa and I like that.

Today I sat out on our screened porch with my girls and ate my delicious tomato sandwiches. The girls all hate tomatoes so they had egg salad sandwiches. But how amazing does that sandwich look?! Apparently even Kiersten - the most notorious tomato hater of all - could see that it looked delicious so she asked for a bite. And guess what? She liked it and asked for a sandwich of her own. And then Annika wanted one too. And both of them gobbled down their entire sandwiches.

Tomato Haters, originally uploaded by hezro.

So thank you Uncle Don and Grandpa for helping my girls appreciate tomatoes, even if for only one afternoon.

J & K

The other day my mother-in-law sent a stack of school photos of D and my sister-in-law when they were in school.  Sitting at the top of the stack was this photo.



I found myself staring at that photo...and I wasn't seeing my sister-in-law, I was seeing my four year-old.  Yes, yes, this is a photo of my sister-in-law at ten but I'm telling you, now that I've made the connection, I fully expect this is what my four year-old to look like when she's ten. I showed my husband and he immediately saw it too.  And in all fairness, he has said that before. One time he came home from work and she was wearing her hair in a way that I hadn't done it before.  He visibly reacted when he saw her. He said it was like a blast from his past and that he was seeing his big sister the way he remembered her from his childhood.

This morning I've been scrounging around through pictures of K to try to show you what I mean and I guess this is the best I can do. And actually K doesn't quite look like herself in this photo, but it was the only recent photo I could find where she's looking towards the camera and smiling with her mouth open. In real life I think she actually looks *more* like her auntie than this first photo shows. (Though I think the eyes are pretty similar in the photos.)  I'm betting that now that I've pointed it out, those of you who know these two girls will see it too.







(Hopefully Auntie J didn't mind me posting that adorable photo of her on my blog.  What's that they say? It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.  ??)