Obesity Epidemic

Mr. Long-Suffering and I took the kids to an indoor waterpark last weekend. It was a lot of fun. There was a swim up bar for the parents and fun stuff for the kids too, I guess.

Before we went, I did a mini-fashion show and asked Mr. Long-Suffering to help me pick out one of my bathing suits. I wanted to wear one that made me look like I was the mother of only one child. I think I succeeded. (That reminds me of an Apu quote from the Simpsons "Oh Squishy Lady, you have not had eight babies.") Most of the moms were wearing suits with a little skirt or shorts and the tankini was quite popular. I wore a tankini with shorts. There was one mom who wore her coverup right into the water and took it off only when she was most of the way in, then when she was done swimming, covered up immediately. It was a shame too because if I had had her body, I'd be showing it off all the time. I'd be washing the car in teh driveway in cut-offs, and gardening in a tank top. She looked good. Dang good. She was wearing a legit bikini and had no unsightly bumps, a flat tummy, and nicely rounded, perky you-know-whats. Show it off, Lady! Be proud!

I'm always amazed by how many people have tatoos. And how many women have large tatoos across their lower backs. Wow. It had to be at least half of the adults in there. Maybe it's a generational thing. I only know two people my age who have tatoos so maybe it's just a not-my-friends kind of thing. Not complaining, just surprised. (Full disclosure, I don't like pain, so a tatoo is probably not in my future...ditto additional piercings beyong the one hole per ear I currently have.)

The kids ran and swam so much that they didn't even notice the time change and slept something like 14 hours on Sunday night. It's my new theory on surviving the Spring Ahead: total exhaustion.

There was also an indoor amusement park (complete with carnies). So, Chip got a chance to go on the Tilt-A-Whirl. He wasn't such a fan of that. I had a good time. Bobo rode the carousel.

Speaking of carousels, The Hollies were inducted into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. (They had a song called "On a Carousel" in addition to the song "Carrie Anne" after which I was named by my hippie teenage parents. I've always had a soft spot for The Hollies.)

Speaking of Bobo, I have scheduled his next two encounters with the medical professionals. He gets a hearing test in about two weeks and then two weeks after that, he gets the M-CHAT with his pediatrician. I did the M-CHAT online and had Mr. Long-Suffering do it too (complete with follow up interview questions). You either have to fail three regular questions or any one critical question. When I did it, Bobo failed on four regular questions. When Mr. Long-Suffering did it, he failed Bobo on three regular questions.

That doesn't mean he has autism, but it probably means he'll be referred for either additional testing or additional services or testing. At this point, I just want him to get some speech therapy, start talking, and move past this. In talking with SarcastiCarrie's resident Pharmacist Banjo, she mentioned that I did not talk until about 2 years. My own mother (whose birthday is today...shout out!) confirmed this. He's quite interactive and makes excellent eye contact, so really, it's just the Silent Bob aspect that has all of us concerned. We're making an effort to ask him to point at what he wants and to point at things and tell him what they are. I guess we should have been doing this all along, but he's a second child and well, I guess I was just a little lazy. So, the laziness is over and the proper parenting has begun.