lillypad crafts

so shane is staying at home with her while ilya is playing and the centaurs just barely manage a win. so ilya is talking to media after the game and right in the middle of his interview he gets a call from shane. and he knows shane is probably watching and would not call him unless it was absolutely important like “someone is hurt or dying important” so he immediately answers and is all tense like “shane is everything okay what’s going on”

on the other line he hears his daughter say “hi papa!” and he immediately melts, but he’s also suspicious because she has had a habit of stealing phones recently. and he’s like “hello sweetheart where is dad? you are supposed to be in bed by now…” and he’s still in the middle of the interview and the mic is picking up their conversation and she’s like “daddy sleepy. see!” and she must have held the phone up to shane’s face because ilya can faintly hear shane’s snoring and his heart is exploding imagine sleepy shane and their daughter. ilya is trying to pull it together and is about to say “and does dad know you are calling me…” but she interrupts and says “are you gonna come read me clifford bedtime story papa🥺?” and he’s like “no my love i’m sorry, papa is still working and you will be sleeping by the time i get home. but daddy or grandma can read clifford to you, where is your grandma?” (yuna is staying to help with their daughter while shane is sick) and she doesn’t answer and is like “daddy doesn’t do clifford voice, i want papa read me cliffordbedtimestory >:(” and he’s like “i know i am sorry i cannot read to you tonight, but i will be there when you wake up tomorrow and we will read together and have a nice breakfast!”and she’s say “ok, daddy says i have ice cream for breakfast tomorrow and it’s okay!”

and ilya is just laughing and the interviewers are still holding their mics out to him and everyone is laughing too and he replies “i do not think he said that but nice try, i can make you pancakes tomorrow for breakfast” and she goes “blueberry?” and he’s like “yes now give the phone to daddy and wake him up so i can talk to him” and she’s like “ok!” and there’s rustling through his phone and then shane’s voice comes on all confused like “hello?” and then he starts to wake up and is like “oh my god ilya? shit i mean shoot- sorry she wanted me to read to her while i was watching the game and i must have dozed off- and ilya just goes “shane look at the tv” and shane looks up to see ilya on screen smiling like an idiot with the phone to his ear. and shane goes “did you seriously pick up in the middle of an interview oh my god,how long has this call been” and ilya is like “you never call during work i thought it was an emergency but i like this is much better” and shane’s like “well hang up so you can do your job!”

and ilya is like “i have to say goodnight to my daughter first, she is very insistent on this” and shane is like “okay but make it quick she was supposed to be in bed an hour ago” and ilya is on the phone with her again saying “goodnight solnyshko, i love you very much, i am sending you a goodnight kiss right now so you can have sweet dreams. now listen to your dad and go to bed, i will see you in the morning”

their daughter says “okay papa, ya tebya lubu” and ilya says “ya tebya lyublyu, now lets me say goodnight to dad.”

and shane snatches back the phone and is like “ok goodnight hang up now 🙄” and ilya is like “aren’t you forgetting something…” and shane just huffs into the phone and is like “i love you” and ilya says “i love you too sleepyhead i’ll be home soon.” and shane is like “sooner if you stop talking and hang up!” and ilya goes “no you hang up first” and shane is like “shut up, i’m not doing this. love you. bye” and ilya goes “byeeee” with a bunch of kisses into the phone then hangs up. he is still smiling ear to ear in front of all the journalist and he’s like sorry what was the question?

Under the soft light of the doorway, a mother finds moments to rest while never straying far from the two tiny lives she has brought into the world. Sometimes she watches from above, listening and keeping guard, and other times she curls around them, holding them close against her warmth. In these early days they sleep, stretch, and search for comfort, knowing only the safety of their mother and the small home that shelters them. It is a simple scene, but one filled with devotion, instinct, and the quiet beginning of two new little lives growing under her care.

Because under the post about giving minors the right to medically consent, people are spreading a ton of misinformation on this - largely because they just do not question the stuff they just assume are "normal". Which here is: "kids are all afraid of needles and therefore if we let them consent or not to medical proceedures, they would just not consent and not get vaccinations, because needles hurt".

And, look. Here is the thing: no, needles do not actually hurt a whole lot. And while, yes, certain procedures that involve being stabbed by a needle hurt more if you are younger for a bunch of reasons... that is actually not the main reason children fear needles. Because, again: the pain is not that bad. And most kids, especially young kids, whose motor skills are still developing, usually will have a bunch more hurting scratches, bruises and the like at any given moment than there will be pain from the needle.

No, from what research can tell, the main reason kids are afraid of needles, is more that for many of them needle procedures are very traumatizing. And that is largely because of the consent issue.

Imagine you are a person who is still pretty darn new to that whole human thing. So for one, yes, your brain is actually not that great in understanding what pain is dangerous and what pain is a safe limit of pain. So yes, someone intentionally hurting you (like with a needle) is really kinda scary. But then there is also the thing where this person hurting you is not telling you why they are doing. The people who you normally trust with keeping you safe (your family) is betraying you, by just holding you down and scolding you for crying over it. Or maybe it is not your family, but some strange nurse who is holding you. And while you are scared, because someone is intentionally hurting you, while someone else is restricting you, the adults around you are telling you, that your emotional reaction to this is actually bad and you are wrong for reacting that way. They might in fact lie to you and tell you that something that is insanely scary to you is "not that bad", instead of just understanding that it is super scary to you. And that is then what you start to expect whenever you see a doctor prepare a needle: people holding you down, hurting you without reason, and telling you that you are wrong for being upset, actively gaslighting you.

We have research on this. And this research is pretty clear: most kids are actually somewhat okay with needles, if you inform them why you are doing it, allow for them to have their emotions, talk to them about their emotions, and allow for them to set at least some conditions.

And frankly, I hate how many people just accept the framing of "kids are naturally afraid of this because it hurts". Like, folks, I know y'all are fucking Americans and that in your culture it is kinda normalized to like put kids into like some sort of fortified hamsterball to stop them from like doing typical kids stuff. But... let me tell you: if you do not do that, kids will actually very regularly engage in dangerous play that they know will often end up in injuries that are going to hurt. And, no, they are not to dumb to understand that. The kids know that this is what might happen because of their play. They actually just take the risk. Yes, they will cry if they get hurt, because - again - their nervous system is still calibrating how it relates to pain. But they will likely do that thing again and again. I can tell you: I fell down a tree so often during my childhood, and I still climbed it. Again and again. So did most kids I knew. Like, fuck, we lived next to a forest. We played "Tarzan", and tried to go along paths without touching the ground. And we fell. A lot. And we still did it.

look up “child life specialists”

— the profession is fully dedicated to supporting kids and families in the health care setting, and a significant portion of that is educating kids (in a way they can understand, developmentally) and making plans With them to make the experience easier!

And there is SO MUCH research out there! If you explain to kids what’s going on, they need less anesthesia, get better quicker, and have less medical trauma— which leads to a willingness to accept preventative care in the future!

- Ilya’s first sunburn, which is Very Bad. His are all cheeks all flushed and he’s walking funny and hissing through his teeth as he pushes on the reddened skin as it turns yellow. He yelps any time Shane tries to touch it, which is all the time because it’s funny and also because he likes touching Ilya.

- Shane catches a little sunfish off the end of the dock and puts it in a bucket full of water and Ilya sits in a Slavic squat in front of that bucket for hours on the dock watching the fish swim around. He’s sticking his hand in there to try and touch it and making embarrassing noises and jerking his hand away when he does manage to brush a finger along the scales. Until Shane tells him it needs to be released at some point and then Ilya is insisting on being the one to do it.

- Utterly failing at water skiing, with Shane trying to give tips while David drives the boat. Full on face of water, sputtering eating-shit so many times but insisting on going again, because Shane can do it so Ilya will do it too.

- Not tying up his shorts tight enough the first time David takes them tubing (despite his calm demeanour, once David has a tube behind his boat he drives like a maniac) and Ilya almost loses his shorts, white booty out. Shane can’t help but smack his ass and cackle as Ilya tries desperately to hold onto the tube handle with one hand and his shorts (that are around his knees) with the other while they continue to fly across the water.

- Ilya trying to dive off the dock in a life jacket because Shane told him it was impossible and now of course he has to try.

- Ilya in a life jacket in general.

- Ilya with a mosquito bite. Itching itching itching while Shane slaps at his hands and tells him to stop. It’s gets all red and raised bump, and Ilya’s kind of self conscious but he still can’t stop scratching and cursing mosquitos as he does. But then Shane’s pressing a careful thumbnail into an X over the bite and Ilya’s fascinated by another way he can be close to Shane.

- Ilya on the dock, on his stomach watching a spider eat a bug in its web for an undetermined amount of time. He’s narrating for Shane with a slightly disgusted but fascinated tinge to his voice who is suntanning beside him, sunglasses on.

- Ilya in the marsh trying to catch a frog after David explains how Shane used to do it all the time. He’s finally got one, calling Shane’s name with so much excitement and a frog cupped between his hands. Of course it’s the largest fugliest frog in the marsh so then they’re both crouched down, staring into Ilya cupped palms arguing about whether or not the frog is cute (Ilya says it is, Shane says it’s ugly)

- Ilya with a leech from the marsh stuck onto his ankle. He’s actually Losing His Shit about this one. freaky, disgusting, Canadian blood sucker. Why the fuck would they even have these things in the lake. Shane has to pull it off. Obviously he lets Ilya chase him around the property throwing his ankle towards Shane screaming “get it off, Shane! Get it off!” before he has Ilya sit on a sun chair and performs leech surgery on his ankle while Ilya whimpers (non-sexily).