2011

No hoping here.  Where I live in Georgia the grid is fragile.  Hope the outage is short. Between siphoning the truck and a couple cans have at least 25 gallons of gas for the generator.  With prudent use that will power the furnace, refrigerator and a few lights for several days.  Bigger concern is damage from falling branches and trees.

Not sure what the etiquette is for this but I'm once again looking for a writing partner.

even in my best day, that was never the case!  

Hey Ann Arbor resident here! Hit me up for a hang out or chat! I lean more toward caretaker than baby, and need more AB friends! 

“Lila, come, we are going to the playground,” Lukas demanded as she had finished lunch at Monica's table.  “But I promised that I would play with Mia when we are done with our meal.”  “Who is Mia?” The little boy complained about her denial and about how his new friend found new playmates at school so easily.   “Mia is my new classmate.” Lila explained proudly. Then it suddenly hit her. She had not asked Mia where she lived, nor did they mention any time when they would meet each other.  “But I don't even know where she lives.” the little girl confessed.   “Oh, she lives at a farm just some hundred meters down the road,” Alex explained. “You know her Lukas, she was with you when you were in the first year of kindergarten, don't you remember?” Lukas sadly shook his head. Now where Lila was staying with them she was immediately off playing with the older kids. “But why don’t you wana play with me” Lilas eyes now saw the struggling feeling of the little preschooler. But what could she do? She promised to go over to Mia.  “But I wanted to head to the playground with Lila, explore the forest, or play doggy-doggy.” he moaned further. “Maybe we could all play together, I mean if Mia wants too?” Lila suggested as  “But ... ” Likas stumbled before he realized that the invitation would now include him as well and that he would be playing with the big kids today.    “No buts my little brother. I am sure Mia will let you join, she was in Preschool with you when he was three. I can bring you there before I do my homework,” Alex announced.   “WAIT,” Alex’s mum stopped them from running off. “It's not too far?”  Monica wanted to know and was pleased as her oldest daughter nodded in approval.   “I still have to go over some rules before I let you go over.” She just went down to look Lila directly in her eyes. “You do not go down to the lake without a responsible adult accompanying you. So just with me, Paul, or Alex, ok?”  Lila nodded. “You are back at five in the afternoon at the latest, and you always tell some grown-up where you are going.”  “You and Lukas stay together. He knows the village and where you are allowed to go, and you are probably a little more mature and know what is dangerous and what is not. When you need a fresh diaper, you come back, ok?” Lila nodded again. For once, she already felt somewhat strange staying over at Mia's house alone. But the rules her parents gave her always made her complicated life a little simpler.  Alex took her by the hand while she was holding Lukas.  “I will just bring them over,” she said to her mum as they left the house. It was a five-minute walk up the rural road, and soon Alex knocked on the door  A woman opened, and she saw her classmate Mia hurrying to the door.   “Hi Mia” Alex greeted her.  She needed a moment until she noticed Lukas and Lila standing behind the tall teeny. “Hi Lila, she yelled excitedly and hugged her. And you are Lukas, aren't you?“  “I brought Lila over to play, and Lukas wanted to ask if he could come too.” “Sure,” her new classmate said.  “You could show them all our animals,” her mum suggested.  “But Mum... Lila might not like that.” she said doubtfully.  “I would like to see them.” the little girl confessed. “I lived in town the last few years, and we did not have any animals because we were on trips a lot. Not even a cat or a dog.”  “Hmmm, we have eleven cows, and they currently have 5 little ones,” Mia reported. “And we have a dog too. His name is Milo.”   Lila nodded, looking forward to seeing all the animals. “Do you want to come too, Lukas?” The boy nodded even if he was not too fond of animals as the childlike small teenager, but at least he was with her, and he could play with the big school kids. Definitely, that was cool.  “Come with me,” she ran some meters down before she opened a gate and led them through a dark corridor into the stable.   ‘Muuuh’ was the first thing she heard as they entered the dusty room. The light that came through the tiny old windows tainted the room in a yellowish tone.  “They can go out on the meadows, but in the summer heat they also like to hide inside.”, Mia explained as two cows came inside and walked in their direction. With their heads slowly swinging, they appeared at least twice as high as the little kids. For a fearful second, Lila was glad that there was still a wooden fence between them and the big animals.  Despite the fact the cows won't harm her, she had quite some respect from the giants of the pasture.   “You know that I cannot feed you here,” Mia yelled at the animal that tried to get their head and their big pinkish tongue through the holes in the wooden fence. “Muuli ... come over here,” Lukas instantly called them, holding a big patch of fresh grass in his hand. But their tongues seemed to be waiting for something else. “They are not hungry, daddy just brought them a fresh truckload of hay. However, they always want that.” she explained to them by showing them a bucket of small pressed grain.  “Mummy always says those are sweets for the cows. And we use it to convince them to do something that they don't want.” “Like coming when the veterinarian is here.”  Mia took two handfuls of them and put them in our open hands. Immediately, the big animal's attention shifted. Our hands had become the center of their desire. “You have to feed them with your flat hand, they will lick everything up,” she explained.  She stretched her fingers, and her hand became like a plate while one of the cows scooped up all the grayish food with its tongue.  “I already know,” Lukas said, holding his hand to the next one, while Lila was still fearful.  She had never done that before, and she had never been so close to them. And from the backseat of their car and on the bottles of milk, they did not seem so big. Her heart was pounding as she was the only one, still with food in her hand. With all the excitement and respect of the big living beings, she noticed the dire need to go to the bathroom.  Lila was wondering what Mia would say, if she just peed in her diapers. Would she make fun of her as her old classmates did?  Running back to Monica would make it even more obvious that she did not just hop over to the loo when she needed to go. She wished Mia would not care at all about her babyish toilet habits.  But there was no way back to all the stressful events and constant search for a clean toilet. No. Like on her vacation, and like she did on the last day, she just relaxed. She felt the warmth spreading and somehow was reminded of the feeling of safety and being loved by her parents.  And while her need passed nobody was the wiser about what she was doing.  “They will not bite you.” Mia noticed that her friend's hand was still full of pressed grain. Lila left quite a distance between her and the wooden fence and opened her hand. “You need to come closer.” Mia came and put her arm on Lila's shoulder and helped her to hold her hand out for the big cows. And for a second you could even believe that Lila was the younger one.  The pinkish tongue swept over her hand, and all the grain was gone.  “They have a funny tongue,” Lila said, astonished. “It is so sticky and kind of rough.” “Sure, they need it this way to eat grass.” she explained again, sounding like their teacher. Like she wanted to make sure that she got everything, the cow licked over her hand. Lila saw in the cow's eyes, actually, even with the big horns, they did not look so dangerous at all. She wondered if she could stroke her fur. Would she like that? Slowly she moved her hand and touched the big head with her fingers and started to pat her between her big dark eyes.  The big animal started to stretch her head against her small fingers. “She likes that,” Lila cheered. With a needy ‘Muhhh,’ the big cow asked for more and wanted to reach out for the little girl's hand. “I think she likes you,” a male voice told them from behind. It was an adult holding a hay fork in his hands. He was wearing a greenish working overall and a gray hat that protected him from the sun.  “Hi, Daddy,” Mia said while she was hugging him.  “Daddy, these are my new classmates, Lila and Lukas.” she explained while Lila was already a little overwhelmed with all the new adults she met today.  “Nice to meet you, Lila and Lukas.” “Hello,” Lukas replied while Lila was again motionless like a rock. “Lila is pretty shy. She just came from another school,” she added as she could not say a word. “You don't need to be afraid.” He tried to cheer Lila up. “Do you want to help me bring the cows outside? I need to clean their stables.”  “Oh sure, Lukas and Lila, come with me, I could use your help.” Mia demanded “But your little friends must not cross the electric fence,” he quickly added.  “We will stay outside,” she promised and took the bucket of cow sweets. She headed outside while she was followed by the big animals. “Take a handful of the grain, we will feed them over there, then they cannot run back to the stable before Daddy closes the gate,” she explained to us, trainees in agriculture.  This time, Lila was eager to feed the big animals on her own. She now saw that they would not harm her, and she really liked the feeling of their tongue on her hand. She even climbed up the wooden planks that created the fence of the meadow ### “But now Lila has to be the patient, and I can be the doctor,” Mia demanded an hour later when the kids were having fun with the doctor's case.  Lukas had quite some fun while he was examining Mia with her toy stethoscope and measuring her blood pressure with a toy, indicating another number whenever you press the small air pump that would normally be used to fill the armband.  “Hmmm, but you get one last injection to make you better,” he insisted.  “Stop, I really want to be a doctor now. You were having fun for the last fifteen minutes, now it's my turn.” Mia insisted. Lukas made a face like we had ten days of rain and no fun at all.  “You can examine me,” Lila offered, without thinking a lot about it. Mia seemed glad to get up after she was treated for boredomitis and anxieria.  Every treatment was quite similar, after Lukas noted down the diagnosis, she got an injection and had to cuddle her favorite stuffed animal before Lila the nurse had to put a blanket over her so she could get a good night's sleep.  “So, how can I help you?” Mia asked with a loving smile and the confidence of an old and experienced pediatrician.   “I think I got the flu.” Lila complained about the illness and its symptoms. “Oh, the flu ... I will have to hear your lungs when you breathe.” she explained, already taking the plastic stethoscope in her ears.  “Lukas, you have to place a blanket on her legs so that she is not feeling too cold.“ Lila regretted her choice. Her diaper was hidden under her pants. After all the fun that they had, it was pretty heavy and bulky between her legs. Hopefully, Mia would not discover it when she was doing her doctor's work. She took the blanket Lukas brought her up over her belly, just to make sure her babyish underwear was well hidden underneath.  “Lila, you need to lift your shirt,” her young friend demanded, “I need to hear that your lungs does not sound weird, and I cannot do that through the fabric.” Sheepishly, she lifted her shirt, careful so as not to show the waistband of her diaper.  Mia took the stethoscope and placed it on her belly.  “Let's have a look,” she said. While Lila could just pray that she would not discover her diaper, which was just some centimeters away.   “That's not her lungs!” Lukas explained the obvious.   The young doctor blushed a little before she quickly moved it up on her chest.  “Can you take a deep breath for me?”  She sounded at least like an assistant physician right after she left her university. With a smile, she noticed that Lila indeed took a deep breath like she was really at her pediatrician.   “Now I need to check your back,” she asked as if she had done that a lot of times in her young life.   Lila was glad that she could lower her shirt while she sat up before she felt Mia's hand lifting her shirt on her back. Clearly, she could feel how her classmate's hand touched the crinkly plastic edge of her diaper. Before her friend suddenly stopped for a few seconds as she noticed what Lila was wearing.  Now she knows, the truth ran down her back like iced water. She already praised herself for some mean and cold comments on her potty training issues. She closed her eyes as if she could hide. “No, I don't hear anything strange in your lungs, so you just have to stay in bed and relax. I will give you some pills, so that you will feel better,” she suddenly advised and handed Lila a bonbon from her school start surprise.  Had she just ignored the obvious fact that she needed her babyish underwear? Did she already know, or was it something that is obvious to older kids, while younger ones do not pay enough attention to the boring details to notice it? Lila did not know, but nor did she dare to ask. It just felt good that she could lay back and lift the blanket up to her chest, knowing that her secret was well covered again.   For a brief moment, she remembered how easy her life had become once Alex knew she did not go potty on the loo. But at the same time, she heard her old classmates laugh at her.  She wished all the people in the world would be as relaxed about diapers as her family and her teenage friend, so that she could just forget about her worries and about using the potty.  “You also have a fever.” She heard her school friend and saw that she held the plastic imitation of a thermometer in her hand.  “Oh, then she will need an injection as well," decided her nurse Lukas and took the plastic syringe filled with air up to the top. “AUA,” Lila played along as her preschool friend placed it on her arm. “Wooo ... Wooo”, the three kids were stopped by Milo, their dog, who was barking. He had rested in a cool place next to their door, watching them with a wild, loving, motherly glance. But now Lila noticed the sharp sounds of his paws as he came closer.  “No Milo, she is my friend, not yours,” Mia tried to intervene against the big shepherd dog.  But the fluffy giant did not listen. He came closer and before Lila could turn around, she noticed his wet tongue licking her face as if she was her little doggy puppy.  “Stop it Milo!” Mia shouted angrily.  Unwillingly, he stopped while Lila tried her face with the blanket. She saw the big dark loving eyes of the pet.  “Since he had lost his puppies, he is really affectionate to smaller kids.”, Mia explained to them, ignoring that her teenage friend was in fact older than herself. “He even starts to protect me sometimes.” Lila nodded and could not be angry at the big shepherd dog, who was so big that he could actually put her head on the blanket next to her. No, in fact, the teenage kid liked to play with him. “I don't want to be sick anymore," Lila confessed. “Can't we go out with him and play?” “But we just started to play”, Lukas moaned, putting the syringe back in the red doctor's box.  We could go for a walk with him. Maybe we will find some animals that need our help to get better. Mia suggested and tried to combine the fantasy hospital play with Lila's need to go outside with the doggy Milo. He could carry one of these bottles to drink, like the dogs in the Swiss alps. Lila agreed to her school friend's idea. “Isn't it a small barrel?” “Hmm yes, but we do not have a barrel to carry for him, do we? “ Mia was shaking her head.  “But we could bring some juice in a bottle so that we can help someone.” Lukas came up with the obvious solution. Milo nodded with his big furry head as if he understood and once more licked over Lila's face. “No Milo!” Mia said with a stern voice, “We are coming with you, you don't have to persuade us.” Lila's friends were just getting up and headed downstairs, while she felt her now quite heavy diaper in her crotch. Had she waited too long to run home and ask for a change?  She really missed her mum, who always cared for her on her trip and made sure she was changed before something like that could happen. But now she was on her own and while she knew that she just had to go to Alex or Monica for a change, she deeply started to miss someone caring for her. When she headed down the stairs, she noticed she had started to waddle a little due to the bulk between her legs. Could she just sneak away and run home to get changed? Would her friend wonder where she was going? Could she just leave Lukas here for some time?  All the adult rules were starting to petrify her. She still did not want to tell Mia where she had to go, and especially not why. But at the same time, her diaper change was really urgent. They exited the house, and Lila could now see the way that led down to the house of Alex's parents. “I think I have to run home quickly.” She tried to suggest, without directing her friend's  attention to her potty habits. “Oh, we just want to run down to the playground.” “But I have to,” Lila mumbled, unsure how she could react. She felt that her tummy was already grumbling and urged her to go to the toilet. She would soon mess herself in front of her friends if she did not leave now. Could she just run away, back to Alex and Monica, back to her temporary home?  “I am sorry, I really have to go,” she added shyly, feeling that she was on her way to lose the battle against her body. She turned around and did not even notice how she accelerated, running down the road. She moved so quickly trying to make it back home, and for the first meters, she was pretty hopeful that she would make it to the toilet in time.   “Wait, Lila! We should stay together,” Lukas complained, while the big dog was following her effortlessly. Milo also seemed to keep her safe on the side of the road. Monica's house was already in sight when another painful need to go hit her. It became clear to her that she waited too long. If she stopped and tried to hold in, maybe she could hold it for another minute, but with her moving so fast, she noticed she could not hold it any longer.  Still eager to make it back home, she could not stop, and she still was confident that messing herself would not be too bad if someone was there to help her clean it up. But she also was afraid that Mia would laugh at her if she just pooped her diaper without trying to make it to the toilet.  She reached the door and rushed in when she noticed her poopy smell and the strange squishy feeling at her bum. Had she actually already lost her battle?   Disappointed, she got desperate and noticed a tear was running down her face. She felt Milos' furry head as he cuddled on her side when the now futile attempt to hold it failed and the rest of her warm mess filled the back of her diaper.     ================================= Wait, a Bonus Chapter is possible if you take your time to write a comment.  If at least 3 comments are posted this weekend, I have an extra part that I will post.  Otherwise, this chapter will come next Friday * Questions for comments  What do you think will happen next? Will Mia find out about Lila's potty habits?  Can children in your country play so carefree? Or is it too dangerous that they go out alone where you live?  The freedom that is shown here is the freedom that kids have in Central Europe, especially in rural areas.