by Heather Plett | Apr 21, 2008 | Uncategorized
My irises are coming up
There are ladybugs in abundance on the front lawn
The bocci-balls we bought at a garage sale last fall have seen their inaugural use
Nikki and Julie have healthy colour on their faces from hours of soccer practice
I rode my bike to work this morning
Maddie’s pink bike with training wheels has been around the block a few times
I singed my eyebrows lighting the barbecue on Saturday (there’s a reason why it’s Marcel’s job!)
On the swings, Maddie shouted “I can fly!”
Slurpees!
Birkenstocks with no socks
Capri pants and t-shirts
Budding trees
Eating breakfast on the front lawn watching Maddie blow bubbles
AAAaaahhhh…
IT’S SPRING!
(sorry Calgary!)
by Heather Plett | Apr 18, 2008 | Bangladesh, travel
Note: If you’re getting tired of my stories from India and Bangladesh, feel free to ignore this post. I’m doing some writing for work and thought I might as well post it here too.
The pumpkin plant grows healthy and strong, as though there were nothing out of the ordinary about its surroundings or its origin. The sun glints through the trees and touches on a healthy, round, and nearly ripe pumpkin peeking out from between the leaves.
It’s such an ordinary thing, this pumpkin plant. For a passerby, it holds no particular meaning. But as Rina Fokir points to it and tells us her story, tears well up in her eyes.
On November 14th, Rina’s 4 year old daughter Momin planted the seed that would result in this healthy pumpkin plant. It was just an ordinary day, with mother and daughter doing ordinary things. Momin’s 3 year old brother Rajib was probably playing nearby. Perhaps they were even singing. There was hope in that little seed being buried in the ground.
The next day, November 15th, at 9:30 at night, Cyclone Sidr hit their village. In the dark, Momin’s father Mamnan clung to his daughter with one hand, while trying desperately to hold onto a tree trunk with the other. A thirty foot wave washed over them, taking with it their home and everything they owned. Despite her father’s frantic attempts to save her, and Momin’s own attempt to clutch her mother’s hair, the little girl was swept away by the wave, never to be seen again.
Now, 4 months later, Rina and Mamnan try to rebuild their lives. With whatever bits and pieces of metal and wood the wave left washed up on the land, they’ve patched together a makeshift home near the empty foundation of their former home. In front of the concrete steps where their home once stood, the pumpkin plant flourishes. Every day, it reminds them of the little girl who planted it.
Weeping, Rina returns to her crooked patchwork house. She sits inside the doorway, wiping the tears from her eyes. The rest of my group wander off to visit another family, but I am left rooted to the ground like that pumpkin plant. My mother heart tears apart as I think of my own small child at home, just a few years older than Momin. My tears come as I meet Rina’s eyes.
What can I say to her? What gesture can I leave with her that shows that I am not just a voyeuristic foreigner come to take pictures of her grief? I step closer to her home and put my hand on my heart as I gaze across the remains of her old home into her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice cracking. “So sorry.” I know she can’t understand my words, but perhaps there is something in our shared motherhood that reaches across the distance of different lifestyles, different countries, and different languages and touches her broken heart.
by Heather Plett | Apr 16, 2008 | Bangladesh, travel
I was happy to learn that, at least in Bangladesh, I didn’t have to worry about arsenic in my drinking water. Ever wonder what’s in YOUR water?
by Heather Plett | Apr 15, 2008 | Uncategorized
If Mr. Ferber is right and sleep patterns have anything to do with parenting choices and abilities, then I have reason to be depressed. That would imply that our parenting skills regressed fairly dramatically from our first child to our last.
Our first child slept through the night at two weeks of age and has been doing so consistently ever since. Our second child started sleeping through the night at about 2 or 3 months of age, but then at 5 months, she regressed and started waking up again. After about 4 months of that, she got her groove back, and other than a few brief periods in toddler-hood has been a pretty consistent sleeper since.
Our third child? Well, she’s 6 years old and STILL has fairly regular periods where she wakes up every night. Last night she climbed into our bed twice (and both times, after a short cuddle, was sent back to her bed).
Come to think of it, the same thing happened with potty training – the last one took the longest and caused the most frustration. Oh – and soother-sucking too. She only gave up her soother at the age of three when we convinced her that my sister’s upcoming baby would need a soother and perhaps she could pass it on.
Now I’m REALLY getting depressed.
Apparently, I’ve forgotten everything I once knew about parenting.
by Heather Plett | Apr 14, 2008 | photos
After spending way too many hours over the weekend messing with my trip pictures, I finally have them loaded onto Flickr. (Well, actually I only loaded about a quarter of them, and yet there are probably still too many of them for anyone other than my photo-obsessed big brother.) You can find them here.
Here’s one of my favourites – I call it “Bum and Bells.”
Most pre-potty-trained toddlers run around naked and many of them wear bells like these. I’m not sure why, but I suppose it helps warn the parents if they’re wandering off into potential danger (especially since there are loads of fish ponds, rivers, and canals dotting the countryside). I guess this father didn’t mind running the risk of getting peed on.
By the way, if you’re wandering through my photos, please consider leaving some friendly comments – I’d love to know which are people’s favourites.
Note: I hope the new watermark on my Flickr photos isn’t too distracting. I don’t mind people using my pictures, but I prefer it if they ask first – hence the watermark.
