Sunday, September 09, 2007

Ice Cream Sundae

What fun!

We made home-made vanilla and blueberry ice cream, and invited over 4 families to share it with us... and it was so yummy and fun!

Sydney was my big ice cream helper. She did a great job of measuring the salt and checking to see if the mixer was still mixing. She stirred the blueberry sludge, and also the hot fudge sauce! Isn't 9 years old great!

The vanilla ice cream was creamy and yummy, but a little runny. I made it a couple hours before our party, hoping it would "ripen" in the freezer, but even after 2 hours in the freezer it was still very much soft-serve. Next time I'll either have to make smaller batches, or let it ripen longer.

The blueberry ice cream had great color, but it was a little chalky. I think my frozen blueberries could have been a little fresher. The blueberry batch was a much smaller batch, and the mixer kept it mixing for a looooong time. When I finally checked on it, it looked like real ice cream. It stayed frozen for a much longer time than the vanilla, which melted before you could eat your whole bowl-full.

With the 5 families we had 19 kids running around, and all in all they did great. It turns out we have a terrific yard for evening get togethers. It is shady, it is quiet, and there is lots of room to run! We'll have to do this again... I just wish I had some porch furniture, and a hammock, and some tiki lights....

**************

I need a little mom advice, please. One of my kids is often "scared". She doesn't like to go upstairs alone - and will bribe her brother or sister to go up with her if she needs something. This happens in the day time as much as after dark. She is also afraid at night, and seems to end up in my bed more often than not.

Tonight when I tucked her in bed, she asked if she could come into my room. I told her to go to sleep. Then, a few minutes ago she got up to tell me that she's already scared. I, again, told her good night! She is asleep now.

She has her own room, but I'm wondering if I should take it from her for my sewing room as an excuse to have her share a room with her sister. Do you think that would help?

Does this sound familiar, Mary? Waaa! Help! My daughter is just like me! When I was in High School I used to wake up my sister Mary, to have her walk me across the dark house to the bathroom so I could take my shower before early morning seminary. It didn't occur to me that Mary might not want to wake up, or that after walking me across the dark house, she would have to go back alone. Sorry Mary.

I am still a scaredy-cat and get scared easily when Nathan is out of town, and even sometimes when he's home. There have been plenty of times that I've made him get up to go investigate a scary sound. And just last night, we had been out having a blast at Chuck-e-Cheeze (a place I thought I loathed, but ended up enjoying myself) and came home to an empty dark house. I was tired, but before I could relax in front of the TV, I had to go check to make sure all the windows were locked and that there was no one hiding behind the shower curtain.

I don't want my little girl to be fearful like that. How do I help her? Maybe I should teach her the trick of checking behind all doors and under all beds and shelves, just to make sure no monsters are hiding....or maybe I should start scaring her to harden her.... or maybe I should just ignore it...

What do you think?

14 comments:

nikko said...

Mmm... Homemade ice cream sounds so yummy. How wonderful that you have a nice backyard. I wish ours had more shade, but what can you do...

About the scared thing. I guess it would depend for me on whether or not I thought she really was scared, or if it was a ploy to get out of something? (i.e. going to bed). I guess just talk to her about it to see what the root of the problem is and what you can do to help her out. (Night light? Sleep with a sibling?)

Mary said...

How nice to have a big yard for big gatherings! Making ice cream sounds like an adventure.

Poor scared kid. What about a night light? Oh, but if she's scared during the day....hmmm... I think you need to talk with her about this, maybe she's feeling lonely rather than really scared.

I don't have any real advice since I was your crutch when you were scared as a kid :) Maybe this is an inherited trait! Remember when we climbed Mt. Adams and we slept in those tents and you were up yelling that there was something outside the tent all night? Poor dad came running about a million times to make sure we were okay. I think you were 16 or so. haha

Super Happy Girl said...

So hungry now.
I used to be scared like that too. Still am I guess, I'll run up the stairs after I turn off the lights and don't look back (that's how the mummy gets you), and I sleep with my eye mask, so when/if I open my eyes I won't see a Japanese long dark haired girl ghost.

I'm with Nikko: A nightlight? A flashlight? Moving into a sibling's room? I think we all outgrow those childhood fears.
Ok, so I'm still a scaredy-cat, but I take it like a man/woman much or less.

Super Happy Girl said...

Oooh, Mary has some good stories.
Poor you Wendy :(
I was 16, spending the weekend at an out-of-town friend's home and I heard a lot of noises" outside the window. Of cour"se I started to cry, what else was there to do? ;)

Tori :) said...

Oooh- the sundaes sound like fun!! Yum! I wish I was your neighbor!!

Taj is the biggest scaredy cat you've ever met. I mean, he tells me he sees people standing in the room. It's like freakin' "6th Sense." I say take the room for a sewing room otherwise you'll end up with her sleeping in your bed... like Taj. Ugh.

Anonymous said...

Maybe include this issue in your family prayers morning and night so she is reassured twice a day... or have hubby dedicate the house again. I know that always made me feel safe as a child and still today.

wendy said...

Thanks for the ideas, guys...Mary, it's funny you mentioned the Mt Adams trip. I was thinking about that just the other day - I was totally unembarrassed, even though we were camping with other guys from our ward! Yikes!

I think I'm going to try: a)prayers. b)flashlight. c) a little more bedtime cuddling...

Deanne said...

Mmmmmmm.....homemade ice cream!!! You can't hardly make a bad batch, even if it is runny! :) The past few times I've made it I do it the night before. That way it's nice and hard when it comes time to serve it up. Of course that takes more thought and planning.

I second the prayers at bedtime, if it were an issue in our house that's what we'd do (that and a night light along with "get back in bed!") :)

Unknown said...

We learned the hard way about making ice cream without enough time--it was waaaaay too soft. Oh wait. Hard way. Soft ice cream. Hahahah! Now, we slate a whole lotta time to let it thicken up a bit. Blueberry sounds FANTASTIC!

Sketchy said...

I think you give her some brave awards. Sticker for every night in her own bed, Praise when she makes it up the stairs by herself. If she starts seeing herself as a brave person it will help.

Oh and I think you need to come over and bring your yummy homemade icecream!

Amanda said...

Being scared is a tough one! I was the same way. At my grandparents house I would NEVER go in the basement alone. And I would always run up the stairs just like NCS described. I have gotten better in my old age because I have forced myself to realize that I am being ridiculous. I think some people are just more sensitive to this sort of thing than others. For me it just came with time.

I think prayers, nightlights and a lot of encouragement should help. I always tell my kids (i'm so mean) before they come upstairs to mom and dad when they are scared to pray first.

Anonymous said...

She will SO take her lead from you, even if her personality is a fearful one. So, if you feel scared, you should hide it from her unless you can model a normal and healthy response like "Hmmm it is dark in here... I'm feeling a bit cautious so I'm going to remember that this home is safe and secure and that we have nothing to fear. Deep breath - yeah, I feel better already!"

Fake it until you make it. I wouldn't indulge her too much by coddling. ANother idea - cheerfully skip up the stairs with her acting sure there is nothing wrong - put on a radio and lights and say, "see - this makes it not feel so quiet and alone" and then leave saying you'll check on her in 15 minutes - and that you're just a holler away downstairs. Remain upbeat and totally appearing relaxed about her safety. Assure her that if you thought for a minute she wasn't safe upstairs or in her bed that you wouldn't put her there. But you are so proud of how she is growing up and becoming more independent and so capable.

Accentuate the positive.

OK - first time reading your blog. I'm an Army wife in Germany - I try not to give too much unsolicited parenting advice, but after having lived through two wartime deployments with kids who didn't cry and act sullen and deprived - I think I did something right by basically setting the right example for them.

As I said at the start - they take theri lead from you. My friend who has a PHD in Psychology said that if you have your own issues that you don't want to pass to your children, you have to "fake it till you make it" Don't let them see it very often unless you show them a proper response.

Good luck - you are a great mom!

awig (Armyt wife in Germany)

Anonymous said...

I need to clarify that my advice for not too much coddling, the radio and skipping, "give a holler" was for daytime playing upstairs.

Nighttime is a different story - of course the bath, comfy pj's, cuddling while reading, a couple fo songs sung together... a relaxing and calm routine. Careful about the prayers. When my dh was gone my daughter stopped praying for his safety at bedtime (did it during the day) because she didn't want to go to sleep thinking about him dying. Yup, she was 7 years old and came by this on her own. Deep thinker. So prayers were more praise and thanks at night - no asking for the hard stuff.

Bottom line - if she knows you have absolutely no reservations about her safety it will help her relax.

awig

wendy said...

AWIG - Good advice. You are absolutely right about "how goes the mom goes the kids"... I am going to have to work on faking it, though I'm doing better this TDY than I have any others this year. And your insight about the prayer is a good point. Thanks for stopping by!