Yes, those tubes I so didn't want to put in my daughter's ears have become the nemesis of my life.
Just a few days after surgery she caught a cold and began pulling on her ears. I thought I was seeing things. Why would she pull on her ears with those magic plastic things in there ready to fix all our problems. I ignored it...she kept waking up at night...I just practiced getting up with a newborn again...she kept pulling on her ears. Long story short: Called ENT - they told me it couldn't be an ear infection b/c her tubes weren't draining - told me to go to my pediatrician. Go to Ped. - he looks in her ears and says "Oh, this isn't good."
Left tube is blocked! Something he sees maybe twice a year in his office. The ear drum is so infected it is about to push the tube out of her ear. Wouldn't that be just great!
So, we go home with ear drops...try those for three days...don't work...now we are trying an oral anti-biotic (what we did before the magic tubes). Still not working.
And finally got the ENT to say we should come in this week to have a look! So..the drama continues with the little plastic tubes! And my sleep? Well, lets just say I'm drinking a lot of coffee!
Jan 22, 2010
Jan 17, 2010
Do we just give leftovers?
I've been reading this book "Crazy Love...Overwhelmed by a relentless God" by Francis Chan. To say it is challenging me is an understatement.
I'm currently in the chapter titled "Serving Leftovers To A Holy God." I'm going to write just a few statements that have struck me here and then I'll comment.
"If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less then $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet? Which is more messed up - that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves 'broke' or 'poor'? We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich." (pg. 89)
Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a Scottish pastor in the nineteenth century said this..."I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day...I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity." As William Wilberforce once said, "Prosperity hardens the heart."
I read these words and others in the chapter and thought a lot about my heart and giving. Then I got to be tested.
Nate and I are planning to take a small trip with the family to Chattanooga to the aquarium and stay in a hotel for the weekend. Now once you add it up this is no small feat for a one income family but with my preschool paycheck it can be easily done in saving for one month. I got my first check of the month this past week. Not soon after Nate and I were talking about the need to give to the Haitians. He said he thought we should give what we would have spent for the weekend trip and I guess upon seeing my face he added, "think about it, we would take a trip to a hotel and eat at restaurants and go to museums for two days for the amount of money that could give so many people tents, water, food and medical care." Of course that was enough for me to hear to wake up out of my fat and lazy stupor and get on board. How easy for me to save next month and go on the trip. But how funny that even in the midst of reading this book and being challenged when it came down to it I wanted to hold tight to my money. Sure I wanted to give before to the relief effort but give so much? Give my trip this month?
This is what it talks about in the bible that we read so easily but then turn the cheek. I hear so many friends say including me, "the more you make the more it disappears." Why is that? Why do we hold so tight to what is not ours? Why is it so hard to give till it hurts but easy to throw pennies at a cause when it won't effect our way of living?
I had passed by an e-mail from a friend asking for clothes for a woman and her two kids whose house burned last week. Her husband was killed and they have nothing. Her church was collecting for her. I actually passed by the e-mail thinking I would come back to it later. Come back to helping this woman by just reading exactly what she needed and taking the time to go through my closet. While she waited with nothing for someone out there to help.
Nate saw the e-mail today and commented, "don't you have this size clothes?" I looked again at the message and my heart was struck. When Elizabeth laid down for a nap I went to my closet and started pulling out pants and sweaters and shoes and shirts all in her size that I haven't worn in years. I have a heaping pile of clothes now to give this woman because I stopped my "busy life" and thought about someone else in need. Why is it so hard sometimes? But when you do it it feels so good!
I'm not writing this to pat myself on the back. I'm writing this to admit that even I have a hard time giving till it hurts. I'm good at giving my leftovers but that is not what God wants. We who have much, much is expected! (my paraphrase)
I'm currently in the chapter titled "Serving Leftovers To A Holy God." I'm going to write just a few statements that have struck me here and then I'll comment.
"If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less then $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet? Which is more messed up - that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves 'broke' or 'poor'? We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich." (pg. 89)
Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a Scottish pastor in the nineteenth century said this..."I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day...I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity." As William Wilberforce once said, "Prosperity hardens the heart."
I read these words and others in the chapter and thought a lot about my heart and giving. Then I got to be tested.
Nate and I are planning to take a small trip with the family to Chattanooga to the aquarium and stay in a hotel for the weekend. Now once you add it up this is no small feat for a one income family but with my preschool paycheck it can be easily done in saving for one month. I got my first check of the month this past week. Not soon after Nate and I were talking about the need to give to the Haitians. He said he thought we should give what we would have spent for the weekend trip and I guess upon seeing my face he added, "think about it, we would take a trip to a hotel and eat at restaurants and go to museums for two days for the amount of money that could give so many people tents, water, food and medical care." Of course that was enough for me to hear to wake up out of my fat and lazy stupor and get on board. How easy for me to save next month and go on the trip. But how funny that even in the midst of reading this book and being challenged when it came down to it I wanted to hold tight to my money. Sure I wanted to give before to the relief effort but give so much? Give my trip this month?
This is what it talks about in the bible that we read so easily but then turn the cheek. I hear so many friends say including me, "the more you make the more it disappears." Why is that? Why do we hold so tight to what is not ours? Why is it so hard to give till it hurts but easy to throw pennies at a cause when it won't effect our way of living?
I had passed by an e-mail from a friend asking for clothes for a woman and her two kids whose house burned last week. Her husband was killed and they have nothing. Her church was collecting for her. I actually passed by the e-mail thinking I would come back to it later. Come back to helping this woman by just reading exactly what she needed and taking the time to go through my closet. While she waited with nothing for someone out there to help.
Nate saw the e-mail today and commented, "don't you have this size clothes?" I looked again at the message and my heart was struck. When Elizabeth laid down for a nap I went to my closet and started pulling out pants and sweaters and shoes and shirts all in her size that I haven't worn in years. I have a heaping pile of clothes now to give this woman because I stopped my "busy life" and thought about someone else in need. Why is it so hard sometimes? But when you do it it feels so good!
I'm not writing this to pat myself on the back. I'm writing this to admit that even I have a hard time giving till it hurts. I'm good at giving my leftovers but that is not what God wants. We who have much, much is expected! (my paraphrase)
Jan 12, 2010
tubes
Well we survived the highly anticipated tube surgery with Elizabeth. When it came down to it I was more scared of her not being able to eat food after bedtime the night before and waiting for her scheduled surgery at noon. But as is most often with Elizabeth she surprised me. Eating a Popsicle at 7am was a highlight that took her mind off any idea of food; playing at her cousin's house for an hour before checking into the hospital was also a plus!
Once we got to the hospital it all happened so fast we were walking back to our van by the time her actual surgery was scheduled to begin. She enjoyed a little KFC on the way home and then slept for the afternoon. Even getting her ear drops last night and this morning she was a perfect patient, laying down still and awaiting the cotton balls to be put in her ears. I look forward to a healthier year with my little one!
I have to write even though everyone said it would be as it was, an easy procedure, every time I find myself back in that hospital I have flashes of my two week old baby being rushed into the ER and the next 24 hours that followed in that building. I have to choke back tears as I walk down the same halls Nate and I did that whole week as we waited for her body to heal. When we were walking to meet Elizabeth after she woke up in the post op yesterday we had to walk past rows of curtains hiding families with their sick children. There were all kinds of kids waking from their surgeries that were I'm sure a lot more serious then some tubes in their ears. It made me feel very blessed that we had made it once through something scary and were now just walking through a very simple procedure where as some of those families would be staying for quite awhile as they awaited healing.
I don't know if I'll ever shake the nauseous feeling that overtakes me when my mind takes me back to those days of her unstable life but I'm thankful that every time it does I get to remind myself what a blessing it is that she is healthy now.
Once we got to the hospital it all happened so fast we were walking back to our van by the time her actual surgery was scheduled to begin. She enjoyed a little KFC on the way home and then slept for the afternoon. Even getting her ear drops last night and this morning she was a perfect patient, laying down still and awaiting the cotton balls to be put in her ears. I look forward to a healthier year with my little one!
I have to write even though everyone said it would be as it was, an easy procedure, every time I find myself back in that hospital I have flashes of my two week old baby being rushed into the ER and the next 24 hours that followed in that building. I have to choke back tears as I walk down the same halls Nate and I did that whole week as we waited for her body to heal. When we were walking to meet Elizabeth after she woke up in the post op yesterday we had to walk past rows of curtains hiding families with their sick children. There were all kinds of kids waking from their surgeries that were I'm sure a lot more serious then some tubes in their ears. It made me feel very blessed that we had made it once through something scary and were now just walking through a very simple procedure where as some of those families would be staying for quite awhile as they awaited healing.
I don't know if I'll ever shake the nauseous feeling that overtakes me when my mind takes me back to those days of her unstable life but I'm thankful that every time it does I get to remind myself what a blessing it is that she is healthy now.
Jan 7, 2010
A day of firsts...
This is what I'm calling Elizabeth's first real snow. Last winter didn't count since she was such a tiny baby. She watched it fall today and then when her brothers finally had their chance to go out and play in it before the sun fell she looked longingly out the kitchen window at them. I asked her if she wanted to go outside and she got so excited. I swear she is the most patient child I've ever had...she stood there and let me pile on the snow clothes, only crying once when she fell over because she was so stiff and her boots were too big (I had to laugh though). The snow suit she is wearing is the same one both boys wore on their first snow days too!
They didn't exactly go sledding but the boys did spend over an hour last night shopping for this sled at about 5 different stores in Murfreesboro to no avail. Nate found it this morning down the street at a local hardware store. They had fun the total of 30 minutes they stayed outside pushing each other in the backyard in it.
Elizabeth loved being outside with the big boys. I think she did like the snow and she never complained about being cold or getting wet when a big brother kept throwing snow balls at her!
A day of firsts...she rode in her forward facing car seat for the first time today. I think she was pretty excited about seeing so much on the short car ride. My baby is growing up fast!
Jan 6, 2010
A new year???
A new year...a new beginning...what a pain...
I like new beginnings sometimes. It is fun to come to a stopping point and have closure with something. To finish the last page in a scrapbook (if that can be mastered) and close the book with a sigh of relief. To finish a good book and have a good cry that all ended well or not so much. To finish a season in parenting and realize you are done with that hard/easy/challenging/fun stage and move onto the next one. But a new year bugs me. It is right in the middle of my made up year, you know the 'school year'.
For me a new year begins in August. New school clothes. New shoes. A new season approaching. A round of fresh, new holidays around the corner. But a new year? It is right in the middle of winter. No new clothes to pull out of the closet. School is the same. Jobs are the same. Money is usually a little tighter come the 'new year' because of all the joy full giving we just did in the old year.
But yet we are to set new goals. Make new plans. Discipline myself so I am a better, new me.
I have tried to come up with such goals but I'm falling short. Instead I'm looking backwards. What did I try to do last year that I didn't master. That I didn't have closure on. All those things I wanted to do but didn't do. That is what I'm going to look forward to in this new year.
Pick back up my exercise routine; but since I hated running and never carried through with it I'm going to try swimming again. I use to love doing it and it actually brought me more results then running ever did.
Invite more friends over to eat dinner with my family. At one time we made a point to invite those friends whom we enjoyed being around but didn't see a whole lot of to the house; but somehow we got busy and stopped doing that. I want to make a point to have one family over at least once a month that we don't usually hang out with.
Rejoin a bible study. Lord knows (and He does) that I haven't finished one of those since before Elizabeth was born. Oh, I've started them but finished them???? =( That is a good goal for me...get back into a small women's group like I once was in and really have those heartfelt conversations about God and my faith. And would you believe 2 women have already approached me and asked if I would be interested in being in a small group study at night (with other moms). I guess God wants me to check this one off my list as well.
Make an actual budget each month for my spending to track where our money is going. Oh I've started this one many times but following through with it? Not so much! I'm going to try again though...I even went ahead and wrote down on a spreadsheet (well Nate helped with that part) how much I had to spend in different categories this month. It's a start in the right direction!
And of course those other things that I try daily to remember but often times fail but still try again the next day...don't yell at my children; sit on the floor with Elizabeth and play with her instead of just doing doing doing all day and not stopping to really enjoy her at this stage; watch for opportunities to point out "God sightings" as they are called to my children: those small times when you see God working around you or when you can call on Him - to teach my children to love and depend on Him as something that is real in their lives rather than just stories they learn about in the bible; to remember my husband's love language is physical touch & not ignore that fact; to not gossip even when it creates easy conversation; to be more friendly to those people in my life who are very unfriendly in hopes that they will soften up a bit; to have one on one dates with my sons; to make at least one new friendship with a woman who needs a friend this year.
So, I'm not looking at this 'new year' as a start over but rather a continued chance of being a better person and not giving up on those things that didn't get mastered last year. I'm not going to run out and get a new hair cut nor paint any rooms in my house...but I might clean out my closet again and finally get rid of those clothes that have lost their style and hang a new picture in my living room.
So here's to continued chances of living our best...and enjoying life as we live it for at least one more year!
I like new beginnings sometimes. It is fun to come to a stopping point and have closure with something. To finish the last page in a scrapbook (if that can be mastered) and close the book with a sigh of relief. To finish a good book and have a good cry that all ended well or not so much. To finish a season in parenting and realize you are done with that hard/easy/challenging/fun stage and move onto the next one. But a new year bugs me. It is right in the middle of my made up year, you know the 'school year'.
For me a new year begins in August. New school clothes. New shoes. A new season approaching. A round of fresh, new holidays around the corner. But a new year? It is right in the middle of winter. No new clothes to pull out of the closet. School is the same. Jobs are the same. Money is usually a little tighter come the 'new year' because of all the joy full giving we just did in the old year.
But yet we are to set new goals. Make new plans. Discipline myself so I am a better, new me.
I have tried to come up with such goals but I'm falling short. Instead I'm looking backwards. What did I try to do last year that I didn't master. That I didn't have closure on. All those things I wanted to do but didn't do. That is what I'm going to look forward to in this new year.
Pick back up my exercise routine; but since I hated running and never carried through with it I'm going to try swimming again. I use to love doing it and it actually brought me more results then running ever did.
Invite more friends over to eat dinner with my family. At one time we made a point to invite those friends whom we enjoyed being around but didn't see a whole lot of to the house; but somehow we got busy and stopped doing that. I want to make a point to have one family over at least once a month that we don't usually hang out with.
Rejoin a bible study. Lord knows (and He does) that I haven't finished one of those since before Elizabeth was born. Oh, I've started them but finished them???? =( That is a good goal for me...get back into a small women's group like I once was in and really have those heartfelt conversations about God and my faith. And would you believe 2 women have already approached me and asked if I would be interested in being in a small group study at night (with other moms). I guess God wants me to check this one off my list as well.
Make an actual budget each month for my spending to track where our money is going. Oh I've started this one many times but following through with it? Not so much! I'm going to try again though...I even went ahead and wrote down on a spreadsheet (well Nate helped with that part) how much I had to spend in different categories this month. It's a start in the right direction!
And of course those other things that I try daily to remember but often times fail but still try again the next day...don't yell at my children; sit on the floor with Elizabeth and play with her instead of just doing doing doing all day and not stopping to really enjoy her at this stage; watch for opportunities to point out "God sightings" as they are called to my children: those small times when you see God working around you or when you can call on Him - to teach my children to love and depend on Him as something that is real in their lives rather than just stories they learn about in the bible; to remember my husband's love language is physical touch & not ignore that fact; to not gossip even when it creates easy conversation; to be more friendly to those people in my life who are very unfriendly in hopes that they will soften up a bit; to have one on one dates with my sons; to make at least one new friendship with a woman who needs a friend this year.
So, I'm not looking at this 'new year' as a start over but rather a continued chance of being a better person and not giving up on those things that didn't get mastered last year. I'm not going to run out and get a new hair cut nor paint any rooms in my house...but I might clean out my closet again and finally get rid of those clothes that have lost their style and hang a new picture in my living room.
So here's to continued chances of living our best...and enjoying life as we live it for at least one more year!
Dec 28, 2009
something to think about today...
I recently read "The Help" Kathryn Stockett's first novel, which just hit the New York Time's best seller list. "The book features two black housekeepers, Aibileen and Minny, who work for white families in Jackson, Miss. Their worlds are turned inside out when Skeeter Phelan returns home from college with pesky questions about segregation in the South. She asks questions like: Why are black maids subordinated so much they can't use the family bathroom, and yet they're trusted to care for that same family's children?"
It was a fantastic book in my opinion and has left me thinking a lot about my own thoughts on racism. The book has caused quite a stir as you can imagine I think more because a white woman has tried to write from a black woman's perspective...never looked upon highly in certain people's minds. Check this out for more opinions: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120966815&ft=1&f=2&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NprProgramsATC+%28NPR+Programs%3A+All+Things+Considered%29
I was at a Christmas party a few weeks ago and sitting around with about 10 women in their 30's. We got to discussing our thoughts on interracial dating b/c one of the women has an adopted daughter from China. We were all white women. The statements made seemed to all come from the same past experiences that in high school interracial dating was frowned upon although black boys and white girls often flirted that was the end of it. But we noted that now it seemed to be more prominent although if we were honest with ourselves and looked at our social bubble it consisted of almost primarily white people. The conclusion from most everyone was that as "Christians" we had no reason to tell our children they couldn't date or marry a person of different race because we believed that God had created everyone equal and loved each person the same without seeing their skin color; so how could we tell our child any different.
With more adoptions going on in my social community, especially from other countries, I am proud to see a growing range of skin color amongst my children. Our church is predominately white and even the boys' school only has a few children in each grade of a different race, although it is a public school. I recently made jokes that Elizabeth had such a hard time adjusting to her preschool caregiver because she was an older black woman and I hadn't exposed my daughter to anyone of color before at great length. I'm very happy that she is getting this exposure and that my boys don't seem to note any difference when playing with a child of a different race. My husband and I have talked about making more of an attempt to expose them to people of different races though. Actually more adults then children even. When I look around myself and see that I have all white friends and even Nate works with all white people at the University. Our doctors are white and the people we worship with are white. What am I teaching my children? Equal but separate still?
Nate has a cousin who married a black woman from Atlanta. I would lie if I didn't admit that when they first started dating there was "talk" about the sweet lady and wondering what the guy was doing. But that was really only by certain older people and once everyone met her we all fell in love with her. I love that my boys have never once asked why she was "brown skin" (as Eli calls it).
I remember growing up in a very small Southern town the separation between blacks and whites was so clear. The blacks lived on one side of the town and the whites seemed to overtake most of the other. If you were caught driving out of the "black streets" you immediately had a line of gossip trailing you. We were all friendly enough with each other but lines weren't crossed very often.
Another memory I have is being best friends as a young girl, early elementary school, with a black girl. I remember asking my mom if I could invite her with my white girlfriends to a sleepover and of course my parents told me yes. But she didn't come or I ended up not inviting her...I don't remember; but I know she never came to my house. We didn't remain friends for long though...was it the pressure of the separation of races or just two girls that grew apart?
I had a close girlfriend in high school who became involved with a black boy in our class. We all knew the secret but she did everything possible to hide the fact from the public b/c of fear that her parents would find out. To this day I think she would die if her mother found out about it.
Nate and I were discussing this topic yesterday and we both wondered how long racism would still ring so strong in America? Will it be when our parents' generation has died and no one is left who actually lived through the separation of races in public places, etc. Or is the seed of hatred so strong that it will continue to be harvested among the next generations by some families. A friend of mine has felt led to adopt a child from a country where the skin color is dark; but her father told her is she did he would never love that child or accept it into their family. Will this deter her from following God's lead? No, she has hope that her father will see the hatred in his heart for other races for what it truly is...evil and that he will learn to love the child.
I suppose that is what it will take for those generations where racism is being passed down. Someone standing up to the hatred and calling it what it is...saying no longer will they allow it to be pushed down to the next generation. I guess we can and should all do our own part in raising our children to love with their hearts and not their eyes, to accept everyone no matter what their skin color is, to not judge or have preconceived thoughts about others.
Read the book. It is a good story of love, hatred, Southern towns, prissy women, hard working women, women who want to change things that seem unchangeable and those that will do whatever it takes to keep things the same.
The Help...
It was a fantastic book in my opinion and has left me thinking a lot about my own thoughts on racism. The book has caused quite a stir as you can imagine I think more because a white woman has tried to write from a black woman's perspective...never looked upon highly in certain people's minds. Check this out for more opinions: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120966815&ft=1&f=2&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NprProgramsATC+%28NPR+Programs%3A+All+Things+Considered%29
I was at a Christmas party a few weeks ago and sitting around with about 10 women in their 30's. We got to discussing our thoughts on interracial dating b/c one of the women has an adopted daughter from China. We were all white women. The statements made seemed to all come from the same past experiences that in high school interracial dating was frowned upon although black boys and white girls often flirted that was the end of it. But we noted that now it seemed to be more prominent although if we were honest with ourselves and looked at our social bubble it consisted of almost primarily white people. The conclusion from most everyone was that as "Christians" we had no reason to tell our children they couldn't date or marry a person of different race because we believed that God had created everyone equal and loved each person the same without seeing their skin color; so how could we tell our child any different.
With more adoptions going on in my social community, especially from other countries, I am proud to see a growing range of skin color amongst my children. Our church is predominately white and even the boys' school only has a few children in each grade of a different race, although it is a public school. I recently made jokes that Elizabeth had such a hard time adjusting to her preschool caregiver because she was an older black woman and I hadn't exposed my daughter to anyone of color before at great length. I'm very happy that she is getting this exposure and that my boys don't seem to note any difference when playing with a child of a different race. My husband and I have talked about making more of an attempt to expose them to people of different races though. Actually more adults then children even. When I look around myself and see that I have all white friends and even Nate works with all white people at the University. Our doctors are white and the people we worship with are white. What am I teaching my children? Equal but separate still?
Nate has a cousin who married a black woman from Atlanta. I would lie if I didn't admit that when they first started dating there was "talk" about the sweet lady and wondering what the guy was doing. But that was really only by certain older people and once everyone met her we all fell in love with her. I love that my boys have never once asked why she was "brown skin" (as Eli calls it).
I remember growing up in a very small Southern town the separation between blacks and whites was so clear. The blacks lived on one side of the town and the whites seemed to overtake most of the other. If you were caught driving out of the "black streets" you immediately had a line of gossip trailing you. We were all friendly enough with each other but lines weren't crossed very often.
Another memory I have is being best friends as a young girl, early elementary school, with a black girl. I remember asking my mom if I could invite her with my white girlfriends to a sleepover and of course my parents told me yes. But she didn't come or I ended up not inviting her...I don't remember; but I know she never came to my house. We didn't remain friends for long though...was it the pressure of the separation of races or just two girls that grew apart?
I had a close girlfriend in high school who became involved with a black boy in our class. We all knew the secret but she did everything possible to hide the fact from the public b/c of fear that her parents would find out. To this day I think she would die if her mother found out about it.
Nate and I were discussing this topic yesterday and we both wondered how long racism would still ring so strong in America? Will it be when our parents' generation has died and no one is left who actually lived through the separation of races in public places, etc. Or is the seed of hatred so strong that it will continue to be harvested among the next generations by some families. A friend of mine has felt led to adopt a child from a country where the skin color is dark; but her father told her is she did he would never love that child or accept it into their family. Will this deter her from following God's lead? No, she has hope that her father will see the hatred in his heart for other races for what it truly is...evil and that he will learn to love the child.
I suppose that is what it will take for those generations where racism is being passed down. Someone standing up to the hatred and calling it what it is...saying no longer will they allow it to be pushed down to the next generation. I guess we can and should all do our own part in raising our children to love with their hearts and not their eyes, to accept everyone no matter what their skin color is, to not judge or have preconceived thoughts about others.
Read the book. It is a good story of love, hatred, Southern towns, prissy women, hard working women, women who want to change things that seem unchangeable and those that will do whatever it takes to keep things the same.
The Help...
Dec 20, 2009
Christmas break...it's interesting.
It's Sunday morning. I'm at home. Everyone else, except sister girl, are at church. Like usual! But I do have plans to attend the Christmas program by the choir that I hear is excellent (and that I haven't seen in the 4 years we've been here!)
Christmas break...it is interesting. Thank goodness I have all my shopping done or I think I might truly be admitting myself into the psych ward right now. Things I don't realize until school gets out and there is no where in particular to go...
1. How small my house is when two boys insist on pulling out every pillow and sheet to make their super hero houses and run around attacking each other with plastic light sabers.
2. How sister girl doesn't play with anything but loves to pull everything she can get her hands on down or out or off their original setting.
3. How many hours of the day I walk behind little people telling them to clean up what they got out and then bending over to pick up all their stuff b/c they never seem to get it all up.
4. How many times I tell myself "a messy house shows that someone is having fun!" (not the mother!)
5. How many fun projects I want to do with my kids so they don't look back at their childhood and only remember their mother constantly cleaning up their messes.
6. How long it takes to prepare and then clean up a 10 minute art project with your children & then how they often forget they even made anything.
7. How pitiful my tree looks during the day but then night comes and I turn off all the lights in the house and sit down for a minute and look at the glow of the tree and take a deep breath and can be thankful!
8. How different my children are: Eli constantly wanting me to play some imaginative game with him (I've been a bad super hero, a dinosaur, an animal hunter all in the same day mind you). Ian can find a drawer of chords that go to electronic devices we have thrown away years ago and make an hour of fun out of them; or spend an hour with a screwdriver taking apart an old electric razor of Nates only to put it back together and decide to play barber shop shaving the fur off his stuffed animals (which I gave permission to - I was going to throw them away anyway). Elizabeth although waddling around the house and constantly looking for chances to throw something in the toilet if a distracted boy leaves the bathroom door open also is acutely aware of every brothers' move and if she hears pain filled screams from one of them (usually about each half hour) she quickly is at the victim's side patting his back and looking big eyed into his face eager to give a kiss which ALWAYS brings much laughter and stops the tears instantly. She will be my peace maker in the house - I can already tell!
Nate is trying to focus on finishing grading about 200 research papers but b/c he prefers to do everything but the before mentioned he can usually be found wrestling with a boy, holding a baby or yes, watching an iron man cartoon that we just discovered on netflix! I asked him if he was ever diagnosed with ADD? He didn't answer me.
Me? I'm trying to not yell at anyone - yes, that is my daily goal these days. I do find myself saying "ya'll are making me crazy! I promise you my head is about to spin off and I'm going to go crazy mamma on you!" Which brings about much laughter. (In which I respond...."I'm serious people!") ha ha ha...no really I am!
I keep telling myself I will sit down each day and do something real spiritual with the kids to keep our focus on Jesus this Christmas season but haven't done it yet - (although we did drive through a live nativity last night and talked about each part of it). I have managed to dance a lot to Christmas music with the kids in the kitchen (my favorite past time) and play those before mentioned games and let them tear apart my living room. I'm reminding myself if I had a bigger house I would just have more rooms to clean up. I'm reminding myself that my kids care more about being with me then doing things. I'm reminding myself that one day soon enough they will be asking if they can 'drive to someone's house' and I will be sitting alone in my clean living room missing the good old days when they were under my feet.
So, as I listen to the Sunday praise music in my kitchen and type while Elizabeth sleeps off another cold and the boys are at church I'm thankful for my crazy life. I'm thankful for a Lord that I serve who gives me the energy to do it again and again each day when I think "really again?" I'm thankful for a Christmas season to spend time with my kids in this tiny house and make memories for their little brains to look back on and smile. I'm thankful for a God who loves me so much that He smiles down on me when I'm losing my head and getting the crazies just as much as He smiles when my house is perfectly clean and my kids are perfectly behaved (well I don't know if that ever happens at the same time).
Merry Christmas!
Christmas break...it is interesting. Thank goodness I have all my shopping done or I think I might truly be admitting myself into the psych ward right now. Things I don't realize until school gets out and there is no where in particular to go...
1. How small my house is when two boys insist on pulling out every pillow and sheet to make their super hero houses and run around attacking each other with plastic light sabers.
2. How sister girl doesn't play with anything but loves to pull everything she can get her hands on down or out or off their original setting.
3. How many hours of the day I walk behind little people telling them to clean up what they got out and then bending over to pick up all their stuff b/c they never seem to get it all up.
4. How many times I tell myself "a messy house shows that someone is having fun!" (not the mother!)
5. How many fun projects I want to do with my kids so they don't look back at their childhood and only remember their mother constantly cleaning up their messes.
6. How long it takes to prepare and then clean up a 10 minute art project with your children & then how they often forget they even made anything.
7. How pitiful my tree looks during the day but then night comes and I turn off all the lights in the house and sit down for a minute and look at the glow of the tree and take a deep breath and can be thankful!
8. How different my children are: Eli constantly wanting me to play some imaginative game with him (I've been a bad super hero, a dinosaur, an animal hunter all in the same day mind you). Ian can find a drawer of chords that go to electronic devices we have thrown away years ago and make an hour of fun out of them; or spend an hour with a screwdriver taking apart an old electric razor of Nates only to put it back together and decide to play barber shop shaving the fur off his stuffed animals (which I gave permission to - I was going to throw them away anyway). Elizabeth although waddling around the house and constantly looking for chances to throw something in the toilet if a distracted boy leaves the bathroom door open also is acutely aware of every brothers' move and if she hears pain filled screams from one of them (usually about each half hour) she quickly is at the victim's side patting his back and looking big eyed into his face eager to give a kiss which ALWAYS brings much laughter and stops the tears instantly. She will be my peace maker in the house - I can already tell!
Nate is trying to focus on finishing grading about 200 research papers but b/c he prefers to do everything but the before mentioned he can usually be found wrestling with a boy, holding a baby or yes, watching an iron man cartoon that we just discovered on netflix! I asked him if he was ever diagnosed with ADD? He didn't answer me.
Me? I'm trying to not yell at anyone - yes, that is my daily goal these days. I do find myself saying "ya'll are making me crazy! I promise you my head is about to spin off and I'm going to go crazy mamma on you!" Which brings about much laughter. (In which I respond...."I'm serious people!") ha ha ha...no really I am!
I keep telling myself I will sit down each day and do something real spiritual with the kids to keep our focus on Jesus this Christmas season but haven't done it yet - (although we did drive through a live nativity last night and talked about each part of it). I have managed to dance a lot to Christmas music with the kids in the kitchen (my favorite past time) and play those before mentioned games and let them tear apart my living room. I'm reminding myself if I had a bigger house I would just have more rooms to clean up. I'm reminding myself that my kids care more about being with me then doing things. I'm reminding myself that one day soon enough they will be asking if they can 'drive to someone's house' and I will be sitting alone in my clean living room missing the good old days when they were under my feet.
So, as I listen to the Sunday praise music in my kitchen and type while Elizabeth sleeps off another cold and the boys are at church I'm thankful for my crazy life. I'm thankful for a Lord that I serve who gives me the energy to do it again and again each day when I think "really again?" I'm thankful for a Christmas season to spend time with my kids in this tiny house and make memories for their little brains to look back on and smile. I'm thankful for a God who loves me so much that He smiles down on me when I'm losing my head and getting the crazies just as much as He smiles when my house is perfectly clean and my kids are perfectly behaved (well I don't know if that ever happens at the same time).
Merry Christmas!
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