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Column
By
Rochelle Beckstine
The Jackson Herald
December 13, 2000
Stubborn child
She kicked my bladder all the way to the doctor. It's a 30-minute
drive in traffic and I'd had a glass of juice, a glass of milk
and a glass of water with breakfast. She knew it. I've noticed
that she seems to like to use a full bladder for a punching bag.
I think she's thinking it's encroaching upon her space and she
knows if she keeps hitting it, eventually it will diminish.
So, 30 minutes of traffic, my child kicking me the entire way,
I reach the doctor's office a few minutes past my appointment.
After a trip to the bathroom, I go in to have my second ultrasound.
Does she move then? No. The screen flips on and she is blissfully
snoozing now that she has all her space back. Her hands are raised
completely above her head as if in a "stickup." Her
feet are on either side of her face, her knees bent slightly
away from her body. It was a clear position for determining we
were having a little girl, I'll at least give her credit for
that. But her father and I were both wanting to see her in action
since we'd been feeling her kick for several weeks.
She and I had started a game the first day I felt her move. She
kicked and I couldn't believe it. I thought I must have imagined
it, so I nudged the kick back. She kicked again and I nudged.
We went back and forth on and off all day and now it's a daily
routine. However, when I don't want to play, say at 11 p.m. when
I am in bed, she gradually increases the strength of her kick
until my husband can feel her on the outside. This has led me
to believe two things about my child. She wants things her way
and she wants them on her schedule. (I can't think of where she
might possibly have gotten that trait.)
By the time I went in for the ultrasound I already felt that
my life had been completely flipped upside down. The little booger
was giving me backaches and leg aches, high blood pressure and
numerous other things my husband hears about on a daily basis.
That's why I wanted to know if she was a boy or a girl. I wanted
to ascribe a name to the little being changing my life so completely.
I had also hoped to take with me some cute picture of her moving
around in there for when she's lying on my nerve and my leg has
lost feeling or when she's kicking my bladder and I'm 30 minutes
from a bathroom.
So there I lie on the recliner in the doctor's office and she
sleeps. The ultrasound tech said she was healthy (which made
up for the weight I'd put on). The tech and I tried to get her
to move once we'd seen everything we could from the front. She
pushed and prodded. No dice. I poked and nudged. Nothing. At
one point, after 20 minutes of poking (no exaggeration, I have
it on video and it records time), her little hand swiped at us
a few times and pushed me as if to say, "Leave me alone,
I'm sleeping here." The tech joked that this was a preview
of what "Picture Day" would be like for years to come.
Eric and I laughed. She asked where our child got her stubborn
streak. I answered diplomatically that she probably got a little
of it from the both of us. Just before the tech turned the ultrasound
off, she kicked me once for good measure and then went back to
sleep.
So, I've learned so far that she wants things her way and on
her schedule. She's stubborn. Playful, too. Does uncooperative
fall under stubborn? It sounds like she's going to be a little
hellion. She'll wrap her Daddy, her uncles and her Grandpas around
her little finger. She's going to throw tantrums in grocery stores
and everyone will look at me as if to say, can't you control
your child? She probably won't want to share her toys with her
cousins. My mother is sure to spoil her, being that it's her
first grandchild. (She's already bought up the baby department
at Super Wal-Mart.) By 10, I'm sure she'll have told me she hates
me at least 20 times. She'll write on the walls in permanent
marker. She'll fall and bloody her knees and run for Mommy to
kiss it and make it better. I can't wait for Piper Alayna to
get here.
Rochelle Beckstine is a reporter for Mainstreet Newspapers.
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Column
By
Tim Thomas
The Jackson Herald
December 13, 2000
 Go
Tigers! and other notes
Readers, take note. As a Jefferson alumnus, this is likely the
only time the above phrase will ever be typed by this reporter's
fingers.
In all sincerity, three big cheers for the Commerce Tiger football
team, and best of luck in this week's championship game. Here's
hoping you keep the hardware in Commerce. It'd be a shame to
have the GHSA truck the trophy all the way up here, only to have
it ride back down I-85 to Buford.
It's not often that teams in our area get to play for a state
title, and Steve Savage and crew should be congratulated on a
superb season regardless of Friday's outcome. The team has amassed
an impressive record, especially when one considers the difficulty
of their schedule.
What's more impressive is the fact that Commerce downed Lincoln
County the crown prince of class A football twice
in one season, something that's never been done before.
Prediction: Commerce 41, Buford 17.
Further congratulations to the Tigers for
what must have been an oustanding second-half performance in
the Georgia Dome last week. Listening to the first half on the
car radio Saturday morning, it seemed that Commerce had met their
match.
The offense was nonexistent, and the defense struggled as well.
For a time, it looked as if the biggest play of the game for
Commerce might be Monté Williams' blocked punt.
Oh, to have been a fly on the locker room wall during halftime
. . .
While we're passing out congratulations, let's
not bypass Jefferson junior Lee Dubose, who reached the 1,000-point
career mark during Saturday's region basektball win over Wesleyan.
Accomplishing such a feat is a rarity in itself, much less with
nearly two full seasons left to play before graduation.
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that there
are so many college football bowl games? Boston College and Arizona
State? Give me a break.
Here's an interesting statistic: of the 25 bowl games, eight
feature teams with combined losses of nine or more, and two have
teams that together lost 10 games.
Excuse me, but a 6-5 record does not make a quality team, unless
those losses were to Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, Miami
and Oregon State.
Kudos to Jim Donnan on his decision to return
to coach the Bulldogs for the Oahu Bowl. Come to think of it,
I'd probably return for a chance to spend an all-expenses-paid
week in Hawaii.
Take note again, dear readers, as this is the first time in some
20 years that I'll be rooting for Georgia. It'll probably be
that long before it happens again, too.
More football: Look for the Mainstreet Newspapers
Pigskin Picker Bowl Spectacular in next week's sports section.
Tim Thomas is a reporter for The Jackson
Herald. He may be reached at 367-2348, or via email at SpeckCh@aol.com.
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Jackson County Opinion Index |
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