Starlight Turf War

Traveling with a child can be a lot of fun. A lot of work, but worth it when you see that your kid is having fun at the pool, on various new adventures, at fun restaurants.

But if you're traveling with a 4-year-old and only have one bed, even if it IS a king bed, be prepared to NOT sleep very well.

While said 4-year-old is excited to get the whole middle part of the bed to herself, once asleep, that middle part no longer exists, and the entire bed becomes hers.

All night long, I am kicked like a soccer ball. At one point, I hear whining and whimpering only to find out that my pillow is no longer my own - somebody wants hers AND mine.

Later, it's on to the infamous "H" formation - Daddy and Mommy are parallel to each other, and 4-year-old is the middle, horizontal part.

All night long, it doesn't matter how I shift, how I toss and turn. Somebody is right there, right next to me, claiming as many inches of my bed space as her own.

So last night at 4 AM, in the midst of my restless night of sleep, all I could think of was that classic Leonard Bernstein turf war music:

Oh, just imagine the possibilities!

I love the Olympic commercial entitled "To Their Moms, They'll Always Be Kids."

Every time I see it, I think of all the possibilities . . .

I love the Olympics, both Winter and Summer (especially the Summer, being an equestrienne myself, but both Winter and Summer Olympics are awesome).

Of course, being February 2010, we're in the midst of the Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. So I'm definitely excited about it. So excited, I got Olivia to watch Apolo Ohno win silver in short track speed skating the other night. She was actually pretty fascinated and said she wanted to skate that fast on the ice and wear "the Beautiful Flag" on her uniform, too. She also liked women's freestyle skiing (skiing the moguls, aka "the sleeping bears"); when she saw Hannah Kearney of the United States skiing for the gold, Olivia exclaimed "Holy cow! She is doing so good! I want to do that, too!"

How fun is it to hear a young person so excited about something like this, right?!

So when I see this commercial, I think of the future and wonder if I'll be like that woman in the commercial, holding my breath as Livie competes in the Winter Olympics as a speed skater, skier, or maybe a figure skater. Or maybe in the Summer Olympics as an equestrian eventer, jumper, or dressage rider (any one of which I would have LOVED doing, as an equestrienne myself - though as a very young person, I was most drawn to the excitement of the Eventing competition, with the thrill of Cross Country and Stadium jumping).

I think of friends' and acquaintances' children in this commercial, as well. And if any one of our children is in the Olympics in the future, that woman in the commercial will be all of us rolled into one, hoping for that "small child" to be okay first and foremost, hoping against all injury, and do his or her best as a true sportsman and Olympian as he or she competes. I think of Kelly as that blonde skier in braids being interviewed. I think of Lisa's young Jack signing autographs . . . Tommy as the hockey goalie . . .  Amy's Nick as the "shaving" boy in the locker room . . . Nick or Ally as the ski jumper. And I would be as proud of them as I would be of Olivia. 

And of course, if Olivia does compete and wins a gold, I'll hope she's heeded my advice and remembers the words to our "Beautiful Song," our national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," belting it out proudly. Because I'll be in the stands holding my hand over my heart, singing it at the top of my lungs, very proud of Olivia and her teammates and coaches, and all the hard work it took for them to get to the podium. And proud that she'd represent her country in such a fine manner.


Here it is, one of my favorite Olympic commercials: