Two Good to Be True

Monday, March 26, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I've been thinking a lot about the Trayvon Martin case and I am shaken to my core. I've always been a pretty compassionate person, but when you become a mother, I think, you become especially sensitive to all things involving children. When I hear about something terrible involving a child now I become sad and angry. For a split second that child becomes my child and something rises up in me because I imagine what if that had been Ryan and Evan.

Such is the case with Trayvon Martin.

This is our family's little blog. I'm not (nor do I want to be) one of the popular mommy bloggers who get thousands of hits per day and too many comments to read. I'm just 2Peasmama who wants to update her family and friends scattered all across everywhere with pictures and updates about two of the most adorable boys in the world. But, I want to write about this today because I want to remember Trayvon Martin and I want to learn from this case because I am left with a question. How do I keep my two black boys safe in this world?

"He doesn't look right."
"He's definitely up to something."
"He's on drugs."
"He's a black male."

These were some of the words of George Zimmerman, then man who shot Trayvon Martin to death as he attempted to walk back to the house where he was staying. It turns out that Trayvon was just a 17 year old kid with a pack of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea who was trying to make it back home to watch a basketball game. He was none of the things that he was perceived to be. According to those who knew him, he was a good kid. Had never been in trouble with the law, and had never even been in a fight at school. He had a mom and dad who loved him. And now he's dead. So far, the man responsible has not even been arrested.

This case did something to me. I am outraged and sad. And I'm scared. Scared that words like these:
"He doesn't look right."
"He's definitely up to something."
"He's on drugs."
may one day be said about my children just because they're:
"...a black male."

And there isn't anything I can do about it.

We can raise our boys right, have a two parent household, take them to church, teach them to say yes m'am and no sir, teach them how to say please and thank you, teach them that they must be respectful to all people, provide them a good life, send them to private school, live in a gated community and they can still be taken away from us because of someone's perception of them solely based upon the color of their skin.

If my boys were older I would tell them about Trayvon Martin, but I'm not sure what I would tell them to do or not to do so that the same thing doesn't happen to them. I feel helpless.

I wanted to do something about this. So I did and I will continue to do so. I've spoken to someone in the Mayor's office of Sanford, FL., I've left a message with the mayor, and I've spoken with someone in the police department down there. I have no problems calling again and again and again until justice is served. I've signed two petitions demanding the arrest of George Zimmerman and if I find any more I'll sign those too. Trayvon Martin was not my son, but he could have been. And I stand with his mother Sabrina, if only symbolically, and I want the world to know that it is NOT okay to kill our babies.

I pray for the Ryan and Evan each and every night that no hurt, harm, or danger will come their way. And that's pretty much all I can do.

May God bless the family of Trayvon Martin and may justice be served.

Walking for Babies

The March of Dimes Walk is on Saturday May 5th in Fairfield this year. Team 2 Peas will be there walking in celebration of Evan and Ryan's life and in memory of those who are gone too soon because they were born too soon or too sick. I hope that you can join us this year and/or provide your financial support.

Could it be? Almost 3!

It's so hard to believe that my babies will soon be three. Time has gone by so swiftly and they are growing and changing so quickly. I've always heard that this is the case, but it never really means anything to you until you have children of your own. I'll say it again, time be still.

Ryan is getting so big! He's a hearty eater, but he's not very adventurous with food. He prefers to eat the same things over and over. He learned how to pedal his tricycle and he new favorite thing to do is to ride up and down our driveway. He's very careful not to go into the street, though. I'm glad to report that he's coming out of his shell! He's getting more friendly with everyone and he's not as shy as he used to be. He's also becoming assertive~ a lot more assertive. Unfortunately, this translates into getting more physical with Evan. I can tell when he's about to strike because he says, "Yooou stop!" Which is followed by a smack! He hits Evan all the time now, and most days I feel like referee with these two! It's exhausting. Ry still loves to read and sing. He can identify most, if not all, the alphabets and he is doing really well in speech. I'm not sure if I every blogged about this, but he sees a speech therapist once a week. He's always had a really good vocabulary, but we've been working on him expanding his utterances (speaking in longer sentences) and he's doing really well. He's a huggable, sweet, and affectionate little boy. He greets me with a "Good morning, Mommy. I'm so glad to see you" each morning. He tells us he loves us, and gives the biggest tightest hugs.

Evan is still a firecracker! He is very outgoing and independent. He's smart and perceptive; he catches on to things quickly. Since the weather has been warmer he loves to play outside and the Peas have made friends with the kids on our street. They've been over our house playing twice this week. Evan, of course, has no idea that he's the youngest of the crew. He thinks he's a big boy just like his friends. He loves to try new foods and is a really good eater. He's still on the smaller side, but we don't worry about it because he has a good appetite and he's healthy. He's quite opinionated about almost everything these days. From what he eats, to what he wears he'll let us know what he wants. This usually translates into conversations like this: Me: "Evan, let's go _________(insert whatever I want him to do). Evan: "No, I don't want to ___________(insert whatever I want him to do!) He loves to build things with his blocks and his stacking cups. He'll say to me, "Come on, Mommy. Let's build." Which of course means that I have to stop whatever I'm going and watch him build something, and then cheer when he's done!

So, overall life has been really good and we are blessed. We've had our share of colds and "daycare crud" here and there, but nothing major. I've been planning the boys' birthday pasty for awhile now, but I'm doing something different this year. I've handed over the reins to a very talented party planner that I found on Pinterest. She's planning a cars and trucks themed party for my Peas' third birthday party that I think they'll love. Evan told me this morning that he wants balloons at his party, so I guess we'll have to make that happen!