In memory

Dear friends, I received the following letter today from a blogfriend, C.E., who walked with me in the Komen Race for the Cure two years ago, during my chemotherapy treatment.  It meant so much to me that day, and the memory still makes me smile.  But her letter didn’t.  Please read it, and leave your comments for C.E. for the loss of her friend.

Dear Susan,

My friend Simcha Esther (Shari) Gershan just lost her battle with cancer last night at the end of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our year.  She made a documentary about her life, and was planning on attending the film’s premiere on October 22. Unfortunately she will not be there (but of course, will in spirit).

Perhaps your readers who live in the NY area would be interested in attending this event and learning from this inspiring woman.

Thanks,

Your loyal reader

CE

Tylenol Recall

A press release this week announced that Tylenol has recalled some batches of its chidren’s and infant liquid pain relievers, made between April 2008 and June 2008.  The good news is that the issue, a contaminated inactive ingredient that did not make it into the final product, is not one likely to cause serious harm, according to the manufacturer.  The company also has clearly released specific lot numbers that may be affected, so that concerned mothers and fathers can check bottles that they may still have at home.

What I can’t get over, a day after I first heard about this, is why the announcement is being made 17 months after manufacture of this product.  What IF the children’s medicine had been affected, and caused illness?  What about all the children and infants who had been given the medicine by well-intentioned parents in the meantime?

Clearly, I need to understand FDA and product safety standards better, because I just can’t let this go.  Why did it take so long to announce a potential contaminant in children’s medication?

Science for kids … and moms

Two interesting links today.  The first is a list of 100 tools to encourage your kids in science.  The second is a list of ten female science bloggers worth checking out.  The list was compiled by someone I don’t know … but the ones I know are great, and the others look interesting.

I’m writing today, holed up in my little garret while my husband (home on AWS, his day off) watches the kids and the world moves on without me.  Big deadline Wednesday — a draft of the first three chapters are due.  Yippee!

Counting

My kids are growing up.

Widget is big enough to play board games now, and our afternoons are filled with cute little cries of “Sorry!” and “I’m going to send you home!”  He counts the spaces out himself, and he’s learning to weigh which piece to move for the best outcome — a key skill that he’ll need for future decision making.

Little Bear is learning to count.  For six months, he’s been avidly “counting” using his favorite two numbers.  He points to a series of items and very seriously and solemnly counts, “6, 1, 6, 1, 6, 1.”  Now his brain is ready to translate that into real numbers.  We’ve been counting along with him, and just two days ago he finally did it.  He pointed at a toy with spots on it and counted, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.”  Well, there were only 10, but I figure that’s close enough.  I mean, he’s been doing “3, 2, 1, blast off!” with his toy rockets for months, but that’s not counting, is it?  It’s more of a celebration.

…

Tonight we’re starting a new book of fairy tales, a book that I loved to pieces when I was a child.  (Really to pieces.  It’s barely bound anymore.)  This will be their first exposure to some of the classics that have been so Disney-fied in our world, but told in the old-fashioned ways.  I’ve got Grimm’s book to start as well, and I think we’re ready.

But still, I’m hesitant to start any story that begins “After their mother died….”

I mean, how do I explain that to my kids?  I can’t really say, “Oh, but she was very sick,” because I was very sick.  I can’t just say, “That will never happen to YOUR mom,”  because it might.  And that’s not something I want to talk about when I’m well.

And do I really want to talk about wicked stepsisters?

Ugh.  I was so looking forward to the book of fairy tales.