Aidan’s Book Corner

A while back, I wrote a post called Grace about my nephew Mark, born with anencephaly and my niece Colby, born with Trisomy-18. When babies like Mark and Colby become a part of your life, you grieve; in your grieving, you look for ways to honor their brief lives.

My sister-in-law Melissa just told me about a great thing that has begun at the hospital where Colby was born: Aidan’s Book Corner.

Aidan’s mom is Maggie. Aidan and Colby were born the same week at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis. He passed away at 8 days from a massive brain bleed.

Maggie and Melissa began going to grief support meetings at the hospital in March 2010 and became very close.

They went through grief training and are both now volunteers at the hospital in the Open Arms bereavement department. Aidan’s Book Corner is something Maggie started to honor her son because they read to him in the hospital everyday. New books are collected, and there is a cart that someone takes around the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for parents to choose a special book to keep for their baby. Barnes and Noble is now also involved and people are able to donate books directly at the a few of the local stores.

Maggie and Melissa and everyone involved in Aidan’s Book Corner are working to create a National Aidan’s Book Corner Day and have chosen February 1 for the date.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say International. Canada and Australia, I’m looking at you!

Here’s where you come in:

Donate a brand new children’s book to your local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Please Tweet it, pass it on, email it, or facebook it. We want this to be an amazing day across the country, where parents in the NICU will feel a little support from the heart of someone who cares.

Every single act of kindness has monumental impact when your baby is in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Don’t underestimate the power of a small, good thing; this is a great way to honor the lives of Aidan, Colby, Mark, and the countless other babies who shared with us a brief and beautiful grace.

The Best Idea He Ever Had

Monday is pizza lunch day at the elementary school, the only school without a cafeteria where one could buy lunch in a pinch. . . if, say, one overslept or forgot to get lunch meat, or just couldn’t fricking deal with the prospect of making that many goddamn sandwiches again. Therefore, Monday has long been our throw-money-at-the-kids-and-let-them eat-crap-at-school day.

When school started up again after the holidays, CC issued a mandate: each of the four kids who have not yet graduated will be responsible for making school lunches one day each week.

Monday plus 4 kids making lunches each one day a week translates into both of us getting a whole extra thirty minutes’ sleep in the morning. That’s almost better than sex.

Almost.

It had to be a rule laid down by him. I never would have been able to make it stick. First off, they wouldn’t have believed me. Then, when they realized that I meant business, they would have been stuffing fistfuls of dry cereal (if there was any left) into sandwich bags and hurling them at each other on the way out the door going, “Here’s your lunch!”.

But now, the night before their allotted day, they make the sandwiches. They gather the snacks. They label the bags and put the cold things in the fridge. There have been some interesting but predictable occurrences. Like the lunchmaker gets the most coveted snacks. And how the day that we were nearly out of bread, #4 equally dispersed the hateful heels from two loaves of bread so that everyone got only one, and no one got stuck with two. Except for herself; she was exempted from heels and got the last two regular pieces of bread. She left one heel for CC and I to share for toast.

Last night #2 came into the living room full of angst.

#2: I would like to state for the record that I HATE that wheat bread for sandwiches!

Me: That’s what you said when I bought white bread! What do you want?

#2: Well, I like that OTHER white bread!

CC: I bought a loaf of that- it’s on the counter!

#2: I KNOW! That’s why I used it for my sandwich.

Me: And you used the hateful wheat bread for everyone else’s sandwich?

#2: Well, yeah. That way there will be more of the good white bread for my sandwiches later.

Me: When has that concept ever worked at any time for anything in this family?

#2: We’re out of goldfish.

My favorite part of this whole thing, maybe even better than the extra sleep, is what they’re writing on each other’s lunch bags.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious but we didn’t see it coming: My darling baby brother, Fart Face, Booger.

But #5, having Friday as his lunch-making day, has the entire week to think up retaliations for what his sisters write on his bag.

The girls underestimated him. My favorite last week was Don’t forget your ointment!

Wordless One & Done

Hey. It's One & Done Sunday. — Hey. It’s One & Done Sunday.

Here are your links:

There’s a lot to be said for feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Go Jules Go writes about posting a video clip of her singing on her blog: Hitting The Right Note Please do click on the clink in the post of her singing- it made me really happy.

Renée A. Schuls-Jacobson wrote this really cool and disturbing piece that stuck with me. Not a Tale for Children.

Darla always makes me laugh: Top Fifteen Signs You’re Old– She’s a Maineiac

Another badass post from Melissa Stetton on Pretty Bored: Bikini Auditions, Ugh.

I loved this post too– it’s funny-yet-poignant-but-not-in-a-way-that-makes-you-want-to-strangle-kittens-or-kick-babies: Life- The Yelp Reviews on Byronic Man. I gotta work on my own review.

Happy Sunday.