The apple of my eye

I kind of have two things on my mind tonight...the first is my finished apple project...YEAH!!!! After a lot of anxiety about canning for the first time, and some worried phone calls to my sisters (Jewel, Tan, and Heather) and mother-in-law, and a few very late nights, I finally finished all the apples I want to do. Thanks for all the help and advice.

Here are some pics of canning...now that I think I have the hang of it I am sad that it is too late in the season to really do anything else....Ohh well, next year.

Also, I don't know what you guys use when you do apples but may I suggest this nifty kitchen device....(you can buy it at Williams-Sonoma for $42.00 and it is worth every pretty penny)...it peels, slices and cores the apple for you...easy as pie!! I borrowed one like this from my visiting teacher but this is definitely on my Christmas wish list this year...for sure a great investment and apparently you can use it on potatoes and pears as well. Neat.

Well, the second is my kids...Can I just say I love being a mom!! Today was one of those days that I felt like I could just burst with how much I love them...I know it sounds cheesy...

Anyway, I had an appointment for Chaim (which he wasn't allowed to come to--parents only kind of thing) up in the Northwest...I dropped him off at Emily's place at the children's hospital and if anyone knows of our struggles with nursery--I was feeling quite uncertain about whether or not he was going to be able to stay on his own...I am sure the ladies at the daycare were annoyed with me for hovering and staying so long, I could tell they just wanted me to leave, but I could see how upset he was so I didn't want to leave...I went in and calmed him down, played for a while and then snuck out, only after making sure that they knew to call me if he got upset again... My appointment was in a building across the street but it seemed soo far away...I told the receptionist that I would probably be getting a call and to please get me right away if I did...Throughout my entire class I was watching the clock, jumping every time someone walked by the room, waiting for that call to come to go and get my poor little boy.

Well, I made it through the entire class with no call...perhaps they didn't have the right phone number I thought...I was worried sick...Oscar was all loaded up in his car seat, my books and bags were all packed up and ready so I could leave as soon as they stopped talking...and I did...I was the first parent out of the room (I think the other's stayed to mingle and talk with one another a bit)...I drove back over to the hospital, and ran back to the daycare only to see my big boy happily playing and enjoying a story...I was really quite surprised....When I went in the room he stood up and ran over and hugged me and then wanted to go back and play...He could have stayed much longer...This felt like a major breakthrough at first...He has never stayed that long in nursery...I have never left him with a babysitter (except for when we had Oscar, and that was probably the hardest part of the delivery for me).

Anyway, on the drive home I started to wonder...sort of that nurture vs. nature stuff...are some of Chaim's "difficulties" him, or how I am raising him... I mean, I was expecting him to have such a hard time at the daycare without me, and I had to laugh that really, I was the one that had the hard time with it.
I wondered if maybe some of Chaim's struggles with Nursery are really in part due to my own inability to let go...and my own separation anxiety...and I felt bad for doubting his ability to be independent...and maybe I am just not giving him enough opportunities to sort of prove that he is capable of more than I may think...and I wondered if I was limiting him in other ways by not thinking him capable of it...I don't know if this makes any sense...but I think I learned more from Chaim's daycare experience than I did from the class I was in...He did great...and truth be told, so did I, I was so close to skipping my class and not doing it because I thought it would be too hard on Chaim (me). I am looking forward to my next class/daycare experience...maybe next time I will stay a little while longer and try to get to know some of the other parents a little...And maybe this program Chaim is in will end up helping me progress much more than it will him...I have great boys, I am a lucky mom.