Shannon Yee

It has been declared that today is Passive Voice Day. These simple joys aren’t being missed. Indeed, fun is being had by all (linguists and other grammar nerds).

After my little guy hit his head on the corner of the coffee table and got a few stitches on his forehead, we resumed our normal routine of life including some gymnastics. I never imagined that it would happen that he could get hurt at gymnastics. We spend A LOT of time at the gym and with all the mats and pads around, we’ve only ever had minor injuries and even those have been very rare. Of course, just a few minutes after arriving at the gym, the kids were playing two of them bumped heads. Thaddeus was one of them and the loud scream and blood were good signs that this was not a simple little bonk on the head. He hit his head exactly on his stitches and bust them all out. I just kept saying “What are the chances?”

Well, after we got the big kids to Grandma’s house, Thad and I returned to urgent care, where this time there was a decent wait and he did great except for a few fretful outbursts of “NO! No more stitches. No stitches!” When we saw the doctor, she was kind and patient and said several times that odds are this will happen again and that we’ll be back in there getting stitches again in a few days… So, his head is not just glued with some steri-strips over top and we have made it a whole 24 hours without a return to urgent care!

Sometimes I need some help to figure out just what is the right thing to do. So, I will generally try to talk to some people who might be knowledgable and consequently helpful to me. Or, I might read books or search online for some expert advice.

This week, I needed some help decided the best course of action. In this case it was pretty urgent and I didn’t have time to read any books, but I did have some time to call and seek insight from my friends and my doctor. But, after all the input from others, I still didn’t know what to do. It was then that I FINALLY realized that the One who has all the answers in my friend and I could and should pray about this! It seems so obvious now and I am ashamed that it took me over an hour to realize that while I had prayed about the situation, I hadn’t asked for wisdom from God.

Now, I needed wisdom to know where to take Thaddeus, my little guy with a gash in his head from a collision with the corner of our coffee table. The small hole in his head was not life threatening in any way, but seemed deep enough and thick enough that he could possibly need stitches to fix it up nicely or just some steri-strips. So, I hemmed and hawed about whether I should take him to our doctor that night (the earliest I could get an appt) or go to urgent care in the afternoon (more immediately). Finally, when I prayed I asked God to just tell me clearly, so I could know for sure what the best thing was for Thaddy. I said, “I wish I would just clearly hear a voice telling me ‘Take him to urgent care!’ or ‘Take him to the doctor!’” Generally this is not a method I would recommend for prayer, but in my desperation, I simply cried out to my best friend and the One who knows and controls everything.

Well, I prayed as I drove to pick Eila up from school and after I told Eila what was going on (not even 5 minutes later), she said very loudly and forcefully: “Take him to urgent care!” I mentioned at this point that I had just prayed for God to tell me clearly if I should do that and she said, “I told you: Take him to urgent care!!” Then, Josiah joined in and I would have to be a complete fool not to recognize God speaking through my children and answering my prayer loud and clear. I may have been foolish to not ask God sooner, but I am no fool, so I dropped Eila at the gym and headed to urgent care. Amazingly, there was not one other person at urgent care. We had a great doctor with no wait and great care. She decided that he definitely should get stitches since his cut was still bleeding lightly and was very patient with a nervous little boy while she fixed him up. We left with a very happy boy who said “I don’t like stitches, but I like stickers!”

Well, maybe book review is a bit ambitious of a title for this post. At any rate, I just finished a worthwhile reading of Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter and found it very interesting. It was not quite as preachy as I originally expected it to be. There is definitely a bias in her writing, but I guess I shouldn’t have completely judged the book by its title. This book was full of research, references and historical information about trends and toys where girls are concerned. I really appreciated that the author freely admits that the questions she poses and ponders are ones that we all sort of know the correct textbook answer to, but that answer cannot really play out in real life – ie. life as a mother is complicated. I found it a very quick and informative read, which also helped me to remind me and make me more aware of the impact of the media and peers on my daughter.

This weekend, a few of my sisters and I met up in Chicago for a bit of shopping and eating. We did a manage to squeeze in a little time to talk and walk as well, but that’s about it. And, it was a blast. Shopping with my little sisters is so much fun and really the only time that have time to scour the sale racks or the energy to try on all the possible fabulous finds. I also love eating good food especially with great people and we did more than a little of that…

Getting to and from the windy city, I took the train and highly recommend it to anyone traveling alone. I had oodles of time to read, study, take notes, think, plan, dream in relative peace and quiet as the train chugged along. The monetary cost was very comparable to driving, but the benefits for a weary woman were priceless. Plus, it was fun for the kids to have an excuse to go to the real train station.

Josiah had such a good time with Daddy, he has asked me to return to Chicago next weekend as well. I just might.

Eila has been complaining on and off for several months about stomach aches at school. Mostly after lunch, but sometimes in the morning too. At first, we thought it was nerves. Then we wondered if it might be something else, so we took her to the doctor, who said she is fine and that lots of young kids complain and it’s usually anxiety. Well, we were wondering if she might be having some indigestion or maybe something she is eating is upsetting her stomach. Our doctor recommended trying to eliminate some common problem foods (first gluten, then milk, then both, then eggs, soy, etc.) and see how she feels.

So, I thought that making stir fry would be one of the meals that we ate that was already gluten-free, but then I realized that the oyster sauce and the hoisin sauce that I usually use in my sauce both contain wheat flour. This recipe that I made up turned out to be better anyway.

Easy Stir Fry Recipe
3 T. peanut or vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t. grated ginger root
1/2 small onion, diced
8 oz. firm tofu, cubed
2 packages frozen stir-fry veggies
1/2 c. chopped toasted cashews

sauce:
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. sherry
2 T. honey
3 T. soy sauce (gluten-free)
1 T. corn starch
pinch white pepper

1. Mix sauce together in measuring cup or small bowl; set aside.
2. Heat large pan or wok over high heat and add 1 T. oil, when hot add aromatics (garlic, ginger and onion) and quickly cook them until fragrant then remove from pan and add to sauce mixture.
3. Add 1 T. oil (if needed) to pan and heat until just smoking. Add tofu and fry until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside (on paper towel-lined plate).
4. Use final 1 T. oil in pan, reheating until smoking. Add vegetables and stir frequently until heated through.
5. Add sauce and tofu to veggies and simmer 3-5 minutes until thickened. Add cashews and serve over rice.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of mourning with those who mourn. But, tonight I am rejoicing with those who rejoice. I hope you will join me too!

Here is the good news.

Pain hurts. Seeing those you love in pain is itself painful, and it’s even worse when you cannot do anything to ease their pain. I don’t like to sit by and not help when help is needed. But sometimes there is nothing that I can do to help and even my prayers feel weak and wasted.

There are too many hurts in this world that I cannot fix and cannot help make better.

I know that God is big and mighty and good. I know that one day He will take away all the pain, but right now it hurts.

Sometimes I know we are doing too much and need to slow down. I know that we aren’t eating as well as we should and aren’t getting enough sleep and yet we just keep going and plod on as if all is fine. Until, we are forced to stop and stay home and relax. When all of us are struck together, we have no choice but to cuddle up, read lots of books, watch a few movies, take naps together and spend hours laying or sitting around playing, talking, singing, doing laundry. While relaxation is not bad, I would rather not be forced into anything and hope that I finally have learned to look at all the warning signs and take corrective action before it’s too late.

It seems like everywhere I look, people (and blogs and other blogs) are suggesting that listing what you’re thankful for is a really good idea. So, I think I will.

Here are some things I’m thankful for today:
-Naps all together in a warm bed on a cold afternoon
-Eila getting her stride circle: success after lots of hard work
-Brian being well last night and not complaining about the clean-up he did
-Boxes full of books to read and time to read some
-Quiet in the evening; time to myself