Special Snowflake Stories

[otterwoman]

My friend thought her 13 month old had started sleeping later in the morning this summer. (Waking up at 8 as opposed to 4 every morning.)

Turns out he was still waking up hungry at 4, but her oldest daughter (11-ish?) heard him before he'd get loud enough for my friend to hear and would get up and make him some hot cereal and feed him down in the kitchen, clean up the dishes, then take him back to bed and rub his back until he went to sleep.

Friend asked her daughter why she never said anything and got the reply "Its OUR special time! There's five of us so BabyBrother and I don't get much time just me and him."

That is incredibly sweet.  And Mommy gets more sleep.

A friend of the family was fighting breast cancer and was incredibly tired as a result of the treatments.  Because her husband worked nights, she was the one to get up with the kids and get them on the bus to school.  One morning, she woke quite late, looked at the clock and panicked.  Her daughter, about 9 at the time, had gotten herself and her younger brother up, breakfast in and lunches made and off to school.  She left a note along the lines of:  Thought we'd let you sleep.  Had cereal for breakfast, packed us lunches (no junk food either).  Love you.  See you after school.

Friend cried.

Your friend isn't the only one...I'm tearing up. That is so sweet.

[Dr. F.]

My friend thought her 13 month old had started sleeping later in the morning this summer. (Waking up at 8 as opposed to 4 every morning.)

Turns out he was still waking up hungry at 4, but her oldest daughter (11-ish?) heard him before he'd get loud enough for my friend to hear and would get up and make him some hot cereal and feed him down in the kitchen, clean up the dishes, then take him back to bed and rub his back until he went to sleep.

Friend asked her daughter why she never said anything and got the reply "Its OUR special time! There's five of us so BabyBrother and I don't get much time just me and him."

That is incredibly sweet.  And Mommy gets more sleep.

A friend of the family was fighting breast cancer and was incredibly tired as a result of the treatments.  Because her husband worked nights, she was the one to get up with the kids and get them on the bus to school.  One morning, she woke quite late, looked at the clock and panicked.  Her daughter, about 9 at the time, had gotten herself and her younger brother up, breakfast in and lunches made and off to school.  She left a note along the lines of:  Thought we'd let you sleep.  Had cereal for breakfast, packed us lunches (no junk food either).  Love you.  See you after school.

Friend cried.

Your friend isn't the only one...I'm tearing up. That is so sweet.

This. I'm crying over the last several stories. I hope they all turned out well.

[snowdragon]

My friend thought her 13 month old had started sleeping later in the morning this summer. (Waking up at 8 as opposed to 4 every morning.)

Turns out he was still waking up hungry at 4, but her oldest daughter (11-ish?) heard him before he'd get loud enough for my friend to hear and would get up and make him some hot cereal and feed him down in the kitchen, clean up the dishes, then take him back to bed and rub his back until he went to sleep.

Friend asked her daughter why she never said anything and got the reply "Its OUR special time! There's five of us so BabyBrother and I don't get much time just me and him."

That is incredibly sweet.  And Mommy gets more sleep.

A friend of the family was fighting breast cancer and was incredibly tired as a result of the treatments.  Because her husband worked nights, she was the one to get up with the kids and get them on the bus to school.  One morning, she woke quite late, looked at the clock and panicked.  Her daughter, about 9 at the time, had gotten herself and her younger brother up, breakfast in and lunches made and off to school.  She left a note along the lines of:  Thought we'd let you sleep.  Had cereal for breakfast, packed us lunches (no junk food either).  Love you.  See you after school.

Friend cried.

Your friend isn't the only one...I'm tearing up. That is so sweet.

Me too. Thank you for sharing that, I needed to hear something like that this week

[gramma dishes]

Those last few stories are about a whole different kind of Special Snowflakes.  Those are the beautiful, original one of a kind perfectly formed crystals that sparkle in the light and brighten the night.
 

[Morrigan]

@Twik


And another special (but unseen) snowflake:  Someone apparently owed a great deal on their library card and therefore were barred from taking out the three DVDs they wanted.  SO, they took them into the ladies' restroom, pried open the locked cases...and then took something sharp and carved a tic tac toe board into the back of each one.  I guess "If I can't have it, no one can have it."  Why they didn't steal them like any of our normal patrons do is beyond me.

A few months ago, we had a DVD thief in my own library (I'm a ref librarian).  Locked cases were found in the women's bathroom broke & cut apart.  All in all, over 40 DVDs were stolen (in 3 different shifts) before we caught the thief.

[snowdragon]

For some reason, people still think that, even though the ground is covered with snow and/or black ice, going the speed limit is not going to endanger anyone's life. *headdesk* This is why I despise living in a place where bad weather is uncommon enough that people act in an insane manner on the roads.

Extra special points to the person who was practically on top of my mom's bumper last week when we were trying to get to a funeral, because apparently going 5 - 10 miles an hour on a 30 mph road that's covered by packed - down snow is completely unheard of by this jerk. 

Double points to the SS who put his high beams on left them there because I would not do the speed limit on a curvy hilly section of road in Elma, NY today....you know that the fact that the roads are snow covered ice out there didn't matter he need to get to the church ( where he pulled off) that much sooner. Really even going 30 in a 45 zone it got scarey as the wind whipped the snow across the road.Even as experienced as I am I was NOT going faster than I felt safe doing and the high beams only made it worse

[TootsNYC]

Double points to the SS who put his high beams on left them there because I would not do the speed limit on a curvy hilly section of road in Elma, NY today....you know that the fact that the roads are snow covered ice out there didn't matter he need to get to the church ( where he pulled off) that much sooner. Really even going 30 in a 45 zone it got scarey as the wind whipped the snow across the road.Even as experienced as I am I was NOT going faster than I felt safe doing and the high beams only made it worse

For those people, I pull over. I don't care that it's "letting them win"--I want them AWAY from me.

[Rohanna]

I was at hockey today for my son (4), and the baby started fussing- make him a bottle and he starts to go into lala-land. Now this kid sleeps through *anything*- the parents cheering, the zamboni, the buzzer, ref whistles... But this one Mum sitting right behind me? She was LOUD... and she was yelling about every 10 seconds. No big deal, it's a game not a nursery- if she's excited that's her business.

 Wee man was grumbling and waking up from the air-raid siren level volume behind me, so I quietly stood up rocking him gently and switched over to the other side of my husband and FIL- didn't say anything, look, grumble, glare... My FIL asked why I switched and I just said "Oh, baby seems more comfy here" (he's rather deaf, and I didn't want him repeating something loudly and embarressing someone).

So her loudness wasn't really the SS part IMO- though it was definately a bit OTT for a 4 year olds scrub game, but the rest of the game I could her her *loudly* huffing and grumbling that "why was I trying to get a baby to sleep, how ridiculous was that- he'll never sleep in here, I didn't need to "storm off", she could yell if she wanted too". Then when the game was over she stormed past me hitting me with her coat,  and *glared*. Baby didn't care- he was calmly sleeping through someone ringing a cowbell beside us. Honestly- I don't care if you make noise- but I don't see why he shouldn't sleep if he wants to, and if all it takes is me moving a few feet, then I don't see why I shouldn't.

[christmascarol]

My favourite SS when I was teaching:

The male college student who didn't attend most of the course because he'd broken his leg.  I spent weeks making sure that he had not only the course material but working notes as well, so he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.  And checking back with his friend whether there were any questions, which there weren't.  It was a lot of extra work but I wanted him to be able to pass.

He made it in for the exam, on crutches.  He wrote on the exam paper, "I cannot answer any of these questions, so I will tell you how I broke my leg instead."  And he did, for six pages.  He failed the exam.

[Emmy]

I almost hit someone once, for similar reasons.  It was night, he was walking on the side of the road, and he was wearing dark jeans and a black hoodie.  He even had black sneakers on.  I had just enough time to shriek and slam on the breaks, and he started banging on the passenger side window and yelling at me.  I didn't stick around to hear all he had to say.

Because it is your fault that you couldn't see him.    When I was a teenager, my dad had a similar experience.  A man, dressed in black, was riding a bike.  The bike was dark and there were no reflectors on it.  My dad almost hit him as he turned in the driveway and he yelled an obscenity.  I really think my dad should have let it go, but he turned around, followed the guy and yelled at him.  Of course I was still in the car and just wanted to go home.  He yelled obscenities back and my dad followed him for a bit then turned around and went home.  If this guy had a death wish, it really is his own problem and his own fault if he gets hit by a car.

[kherbert05]

Double points to the SS who put his high beams on left them there because I would not do the speed limit on a curvy hilly section of road in Elma, NY today....you know that the fact that the roads are snow covered ice out there didn't matter he need to get to the church ( where he pulled off) that much sooner. Really even going 30 in a 45 zone it got scarey as the wind whipped the snow across the road.Even as experienced as I am I was NOT going faster than I felt safe doing and the high beams only made it worse

For those people, I pull over. I don't care that it's "letting them win"--I want them AWAY from me.

I do also that is why I like that most Texas HW have huge shoulders I can pull off on and let the jerks pass. Other places people don't have that option. The shoulder is not paved and I suspect dangerous to pull onto in bad weather.

[Shoo]

Double points to the SS who put his high beams on left them there because I would not do the speed limit on a curvy hilly section of road in Elma, NY today....you know that the fact that the roads are snow covered ice out there didn't matter he need to get to the church ( where he pulled off) that much sooner. Really even going 30 in a 45 zone it got scarey as the wind whipped the snow across the road.Even as experienced as I am I was NOT going faster than I felt safe doing and the high beams only made it worse

For those people, I pull over. I don't care that it's "letting them win"--I want them AWAY from me.

Same here.  I get over as far as I can to let them pass me.  Way less stressful.

[darling]

Double points to the SS who put his high beams on left them there because I would not do the speed limit on a curvy hilly section of road in Elma, NY today....you know that the fact that the roads are snow covered ice out there didn't matter he need to get to the church ( where he pulled off) that much sooner. Really even going 30 in a 45 zone it got scarey as the wind whipped the snow across the road.Even as experienced as I am I was NOT going faster than I felt safe doing and the high beams only made it worse

For those people, I pull over. I don't care that it's "letting them win"--I want them AWAY from me.

Same here.  I get over as far as I can to let them pass me.  Way less stressful.

In weather like the op described, it is too dangerous to try to pull over. That's why people like the high beam guy are soooooooo annoying!

[Kimblee]

My friend thought her 13 month old had started sleeping later in the morning this summer. (Waking up at 8 as opposed to 4 every morning.)

Turns out he was still waking up hungry at 4, but her oldest daughter (11-ish?) heard him before he'd get loud enough for my friend to hear and would get up and make him some hot cereal and feed him down in the kitchen, clean up the dishes, then take him back to bed and rub his back until he went to sleep.

Friend asked her daughter why she never said anything and got the reply "Its OUR special time! There's five of us so BabyBrother and I don't get much time just me and him."

That is the sweetest story!

What a darling, sweet girl.  I bet that her mother is so proud!

Oh yes. She snuck down and snapped some pictures a diffrent night to go into their scrapbooks.

And FTR: Even in the light of day, all of my friend's kids seem like their growing into fine young people. They're the most polite (but sometimes shockingly observant) kids I know.

[artk2002]

I was at hockey today for my son (4), and the baby started fussing- make him a bottle and he starts to go into lala-land. Now this kid sleeps through *anything*- the parents cheering, the zamboni, the buzzer, ref whistles... But this one Mum sitting right behind me? She was LOUD... and she was yelling about every 10 seconds. No big deal, it's a game not a nursery- if she's excited that's her business.

 Wee man was grumbling and waking up from the air-raid siren level volume behind me, so I quietly stood up rocking him gently and switched over to the other side of my husband and FIL- didn't say anything, look, grumble, glare... My FIL asked why I switched and I just said "Oh, baby seems more comfy here" (he's rather deaf, and I didn't want him repeating something loudly and embarressing someone).

So her loudness wasn't really the SS part IMO- though it was definately a bit OTT for a 4 year olds scrub game, but the rest of the game I could her her *loudly* huffing and grumbling that "why was I trying to get a baby to sleep, how ridiculous was that- he'll never sleep in here, I didn't need to "storm off", she could yell if she wanted too". Then when the game was over she stormed past me hitting me with her coat,  and *glared*. Baby didn't care- he was calmly sleeping through someone ringing a cowbell beside us. Honestly- I don't care if you make noise- but I don't see why he shouldn't sleep if he wants to, and if all it takes is me moving a few feet, then I don't see why I shouldn't.

O/T but I had to laugh at this one. When my eldest son was small, we had L.A. Kings season seats and would often take him to the games. He would fall asleep around the time of the national anthems(s) and be blissfully unaware throughout the game. It got to the point where I could sing "O Canada" as a lullaby at home!