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July 21, 2004
Okay, I am back, moved, and on-line again. Halleluiah! Time for some quick catch up (and I do mean quick, sorry if this entry comes out rushed but things really have been crazy around here)…
Anyhoo, going back to July 4th, we did end up going down to the Cape where my mom has her usual Forth of July Party and her hubby throws his annual illegal fireworks display which, despite it’s illicit nature, really is quite spectacular and draws a significant turnout. We also got to meet my mom’s new puppy, a gorgeous little English Cocker named Luna (this does mean, however, that when everyone is visiting—my grandmother, my brother and his girlfriend, and Jamie and I—there will be SEVEN dogs!!!!) This year Jamie’s parents came for the fireworks for the first time, which is a feat since they are usually pretty reclusive and unwilling to break out of their usual routine. All the same, they do only live 10 minutes from my mom’s and their usual routine is to do nothing so we have been bugging them for years to come. I expect it was only to see more of Ella that they did come, but they had a lovely time.
I’m not quite as sure if Ella had a lovely time. As I have written in the past, she’s not crazy about large groups of people, especially if they are largely unfamiliar to her yet eager to engage her, as many of these folks were. She did her best to be game though, I will give her credit for that. After a busy day and a somewhat stressful party I was fully intending to have her in bed, hopefully soundly asleep, well before the fireworks started. As she goes down around 8 and Mike usually starts at 9 I didn’t think this would be a problem until Jamie piped up that he thought that Ella should be able to stay up for the fireworks. I think he was particularly vocal and non-heeding of my judgment (that she go to bed) since his parents were there, so, when Ella heard him and also insisted that she wanted to stay up I warily conceded. I then, however, had to launch into a full flung effort to get her ready for the loud sounds and unusual sights so she would hopefully not be overwhelmed and afraid. As she is usually very upset by sudden loud noises I focused on getting her used to this idea, talking about how there would be a little spark and then --- BOOM!!!! It seemed to be going well and soon Ella and I could gleefully act out the scenario, shouting together at the end.
Darkness fell, we all sat down, and Ella was excitingly singing a fireworks song she had made up (Fireworks-a paterksa, Fireworks-a paterks-a). She handled the bottle rockets okay but as soon as the first big boom hit her face dissolved and she let out a scream like nobody’s business, sobbing loudly “I want to go to bed now”. I tried to keep the “I told you so expression” off my face as I grumpily handed her off to Jamie but fear it was inevitable. Ug. All the same, to this day she insists that she enjoyed the fireworks but just wanted to go to bed. Maybe next year….
THE MOVE
Ug. How could I even begin to think that just because we (1) were moving less then ½ a mile down the street (2) had moved at least 10 carloads of boxes in the preceding week (3) had a slew of friends and relatives helping—that this move would possibly go smoothly, even easily. Word to the wise—there is no such thing as a smooth, easy move. It was a long, hard day but I will say by the end of the day everything was moved and we were able to lay our mattresses down among the chaos, although the first few nights were a little shaky for all. Now, nearly two weeks later we are about 75% out of boxes and all of the rooms are starting to take shape. It seems like in one way or another this move has been monopolizing my life for quite a while and I know it will be all I can remember when I look back on this Spring/Summer. I do love the house, though, which is a very good thing since my mantra for the last few weeks has been “never again”. I may eat my words one day but unless something major comes up I hope the next time I move it is into our retirement community!!!!
I do have to say, however that all things considered Ella has been a trooper through all of this. We were fortunate to be close enough to take lots of advance trips to the new house and of course she didn’t have to change her schedule too much but still the general upheaval of the move had me anxious about her reaction. Once she found out she could bring her toys and her bed though, she didn’t really seem to have any problems. A plethora of relatives watched her while we moved on Saturday and she was game through all of it. Her room is actually a little smaller then her old room but that is fine since her old room was larger then she needed. All the same, though, fitting her old furniture into the new space has been a challenge. We decided not to re-set up the bed frame and instead just put the mattress on the floor. That way when I get rid of the bed guard there should be minimal damage from any spills.
School Update
Throughout this whole move school has been keeping me hopping too. I thought that since the two courses I was going to be taking over the summer were Maternity and Pediatrics that I might have some sort of an advantage over my classmates. Well, maybe I do a little but they are still really tough courses and, with each being only six weeks long there is something due nearly every week, either a paper or a test in addition to tons and tons of reading (one week we had THIRTEEN chapters). Well, I only have three more weeks to go and then I get a scant three week ‘summer’ vacation and then we are into September. Ahhh! Where did my summer go!?!?
I really enjoyed the maternity clinical rotation (when we are in the hospital working with patients) but was most looking forward to Pediatrics, since that is where I am hoping to specialize. I have to say, though, that now I am 1/2 way through the rotation and I’m not sure how I feel about it. One of my biggest problems working on the adult wards is dealing with people who have serious, costly medical problems that are largely their own fault due to previous lifestyle decisions they have made. While this certainly isn’t the case in Pediatrics, instead I am working with tiny helpless children and many of them are dealing with illnesses that not only aren’t their faults, but can be at least partially accountable by the actions of their parents, either through negligent practices while pregnant, abuse through neglect, or physical abuse. Many of these children have illnesses that will plague them for life as well as leave them developmentally behind their peers. It is just so sad to me since these innocent souls seem to have never had the chance at life that they could have and should have. And then, of course, are the many children that simply land in the hospital due to bad luck. These kids leave me feeling like I have dodged a million bullets to have ended up with a healthy thriving girl at home and leave me fearful to ever get pregnant again. It certainly is an incredibly thought provoking experience, I will say that. And I still haven’t ruled out pediatrics in the long term, but it has given me much more to think about and to consider. Which is a good thing, of course.
Upcoming in August in our annual family vacation. My grandmother is sponsoring the whole family on a cruise to Bermuda. I have been many times in the past and it is defiantly my favorite cruise destination, so beautiful, clean, great shopping, what more could one ask for? I am very excited to see some of my cousins that I largely only see once a year during these trips and, of course, to give Ella the opportunity to bond more with her family too. This is also the first year she will be old enough to go to some of the kids programs so that is a nice little bonus too!!
Bonnie’s Book Reviews
Under the Tuscan Sun – Not much of a plot but such beautiful, almost lyrical descriptions of the Italian countryside and food that it is like a poem. Very relaxing book to read.
As always, thanks for reading.
Bonnie
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