Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | November 14, 2013

Sam’s school has an optician come in and do eye exams on the kids if you choose to have it done. With our sad history of poor eyes, Mark and I thought it was a good idea to have her looked at. Not that we don’t think her peepers are perfect.  The kid sees everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.  The smallest little sparkle on the floor or the furthest away dog she sees. If it wasn’t for Sam, we probably couldn’t have been sure the tick on her tummy this summer was a tick. It looked like a freckle to me, and I was trying to decide if that is in fact what it was when she told me she saw his legs.  Yikes. At any rate, we had her eyes checked and the report came back that she is perfect. No signs of near or far sightedness, colorblindness, or any other issues. We keep hoping that somehow she will buck the trend and not get eyes like Mark or me. Who knows, it could happen.  None of us expected a redhead, right?

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pamelamyers | November 13, 2013

The other night while I was putting Sam to bed I was pondering our relationship. I guess we had a pretty good day but I was feeling  a little less than perfect in the mom department. There are days when I feel like all I ever do is say, “No, Sam”, “Stop it, Sam”, or just simply an exasperated, “Sam Sam SAM!” And I don’t like it. I want her to look back when she is older and think about what a great mom she had, not remember, “God, Mom yelled all the time “or “Mom was always in such a bad mood.” So, not really knowing what to expect, but being prepared to hear the worst, I asked her, “Sam, how would you describe Mommy? If someone asked you, what is your Mommy like, what would you say?” She thought about it for a minute, and then gave me three words. And only three.

Cute

Funny

Silly

These three words are not the ones that leap to mind when I think about myself. But they are pretty good words. And they reflect a Mommy that a little girl could love to be with. I’ll take it.

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pamelamyers | November 2, 2013

With all the trick or treat talk, I totally forgot that Sam had a dentist appointment a few days before Halloween. Not my happiest day, taking her to the dentist. I have posted in the past about the joy that it is (NOT) so I wasn’t looking forward to taking her for her latest appointment. I didn’t tell her in advance, I never do, but sprung it on her at home not long before we had to leave. When I told her where we had to go, she immediately burst into tears. Huge, gulping tears. I tried my best to calm Sam down, reminded her that it was not as bad as she thought it would be the last time, and yes, again resorted to bribery. I promised Sam a very special treat for her if she was a good girl and didn’t cry and let the dentist do her work. Eventually, she did calm down and promised me she would try to be brave and not cry. I always tell her if she wants to scream and cry when we get back to the car, that is ok and I will hug her and comfort her as long as she likes.

The last time we went, it was the best time thus far. They let me lie in the chair with her on top of me so I was essentially holding her the whole time.  She asked me if we would do that again and I told her we could. This time, they really wanted her to sit in the chair on her own because, now that she is 4, they want x-rays. Obviously, I can’t be there for that. It took her a long time to relax while I waited in the area of the hallway behind the exam chair. I have to give the staff credit, the woman who was in charge of the x-rays was very patient and talked and talked to Sam, but finally, I had to basically threaten to leave if Sam didn’t cooperate. Thankfully, she finally did and they managed to get two good x-rays. There are a few others they like to take, but the technician was so happy that Sam let her do the two she did, that she said it was enough this time.

While we waited for the hygienist to come in, Sam reminded me that I said she could sit on my lap. I told her we would try it this way, with her in the chair like a big girl, and I would hold her hand. I sat on a stool right next to her holding her hand and I have to say, she was so brave. She made me really proud. They completed the whole exam, the cleaning, the fluoride treatment, the flossing, the whole thing, and she didn’t make a peep. Sam picked out all of her little trinkets from the prize bin and off we went. She got a clean bill of dental health! Once again, the dentist noted that her teeth are close together so they recommend we floss, but that was it. Her teeth looked great.

Later that day, I went to her school and was the special reader for her class. When I saw the sign up sheet a few weeks ago, I purposely picked that day, knowing that having me show up in her class would be a sure thing to cheer her up on a hard day. She was all smiles while I read one of her favorite books. It turned out to be a pretty good day after all. Sam always amazes me. She is really growing up. And the biggest shock, she never once mentioned her special present that I promised to give her!

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pamelamyers | November 1, 2013

Here are some pictures from Halloween night, finally! Sam really wanted me to dress up, which I never do, but I tried to be a good sport and offered to be a cat for her. I really didn’t do much other than wear some minimal makeup and a tail, ears and bowtie I bought, but she was thrilled.

It wasn’t quite dark enough when Sam insisted on getting dressed, so we had to hang out in front of our house for a while. Sam was so worked up she was bouncing off the walls and full of hugs for her wonderful parents who were going to take her out candy gathering!

She did pose for a picture or two before insisting we head off.

Our first stop was, of course, our next door neighbors, Joe and Debbie, who are so good to her. They always have a huge Halloween display and Sam just had to go over and fix poor Mr. Skeleton who had lost his arm.

Finally it was time to go! Mark too her first down the street, then when they had covered most of our block…

…he brought her back for me so I could walk with her a while. It would be nice to go together sometime, but one of us has to stay home to give candy out ourselves. One of my first trick or treaters was Julia from her school. She lives on the block behind us and came right up with a big, “Hi, Samantha!” It was nice to see one of her classmates so happy to see her. I still worry about her being shy and making friends.

Mark and I were both surprised to find out that two of the teachers at the school where she will attend Kindergarten and first grade, Nancy and Kristen, live right on our street! Hopefully, she will have at least one of them.

After a long walk down our block, further than we had ever been before, it was time to unload the haul! Ready for the big dump!

Candy candy candy candy candy!!!!

Sam’s favorite part is looking through every piece. She asks me “Do I like this?” with everything she doesn’t recognize.

Never fear, Sam and her dad worked it all out. She discovered lots of candy she likes and had a piece or two before bed, in perfect Halloween form. She also helped me to give out candy to our last trick or treaters, which I think is very sweet of her. I really think she likes giving out candy as much as getting it herself.

The sweetest thing was today when Sam came up to me and offered me three pieces of her candy, three things I like. She said, “I have a treat for you.” When I asked her why she was giving me her candy, she told me, “To say thank you.” So I asked her what she was thanking me for and she said, “I wanted to say thank you for taking me trick or treating.” Then she picked out some candy that Mark likes and told me she was going to give it to him to say thank you when he was done working. Do we have the sweetest, most wonderful kid, or what? This came completely out of the blue. We are so lucky we have her. I couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked in her costume, but truly, our girl is more beautiful inside than out, and that is saying a lot.

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