Short-Term Memory…Who Needs It March 1, 2010

Where am I?  What am I doing here?  How did I get here?  (No…I’m not in the Walmart parking lot…this time)

These are the questions my son was asking after a particularly hard hit on the ASU rugby field.  I know…what mother, in her right mind, would allow her son to play rugby.  In the south…with a bunch of rough and tumble college students.  For starters, he’s 18…I guess it ends about there, too.  He’s 18.  How did that happen!  Anyway…

The college students with him did all the right things.  They took him out of the game.  He would not have volunteered that! Someone sat with him and periodically asked him questions.  He had his sense about him pretty quickly.  I don’t think he blacked out, but he did lose his short-term memory for a spell.

When he came home, I told him I would wake him up occasionally and ask him questions just to check on him.

About 3:00 AM I asked him, “In what county do we live?”

“White.”  Yeah!  He’s doing ok.

At 6:00 AM I woke him and asked, “What day is it?”

“The 27th.”  Hmmm….I’ll have to go check. What about….

“Could you tell me the day of the week?”

“Sunday.”  Good.  We’ll leave it there.  I’m not sure what the date is…. Perhaps someone else should be checking his short-term memory.  Mine’s not so great either.

Family January 14, 2010

“I would get a lot more out of _______ Church tonight, Dad.”

“Maybe so, son, but we don’t only go to church to ‘get something out of it.’  There are many more reasons.”

“Like what?”

“I’ll tell you on the way to church.”

….on the way to church….

“What are those other reasons, Dad?”

“Church is family.  We’ve made a commitment to those people.  What if I look around and see a child that always says ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ and mows the lawn without being asked and loves to wash the car?  I might get a lot more out of that child.  Maybe I’ll trade children…  I’ve made a commitment to my family.  We always stick together.  We are there for each other.  We depend on each other and encourage each other.  My family  needs me.  My family counts on me.  We stay together, warts and all.  Church is family.  I don’t attend just because I get something out of it.  I attend because they are my family.”

–Paraphrased from a ride to church last week–

It’s Freezing! January 11, 2010

It’s been sooo cold this past week!

But so beautiful.

The snow left, but the ice on the pond stayed behind.

A chunk of ice from the bank

A posed picture….

I was a little nervous watching them skate…

So was the herd,

Walker wanted to take a closer look.

Relax, we have:

Our Safety Equipment

That’s right….a long yellow rope.

and Buddy.

Not that somebody will fall in…

Well, maybe one somebody.

It’s really cold…for everyone.

Can we come in?

Please?

The Fire Escape February 26, 2009

Meredith's Fire Escape

Almost 3 years ago, we moved out to the country. We bought a roomy, old farm house that was built in 1911. It has 3 bedrooms, 4 if you count the little alcove upstairs. I thought it would be perfect for my daughter. She could have her own space and at 10 years old, might like having a spot far from her 2 older brothers.

We built it up and convinced her it would be a special place for her to nestle. I even bought her a lovely metal fire escape that would stay outside her window, hanging on the ivy-covered pine tree should she ever need it. We had an answer for every wrench she threw.

Being the social gal that she is, she didn’t enjoy being sequestered from the rest of the family….especially at bedtime, in the dark, all night long. Her room was the only upstairs living quarters in the house. She began sleeping on the couch almost immediately.

We tried to talk her into sleeping in her room. No. She would have none of it. Fire. What if there was a fire? What would she do? The lovely fire escape didn’t do much for her security.

I let her practice. She (and her brother) climbed down from the window and up again. Several times a day. They got really good at it and fast.

Now?

“No. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

After about two years of fire escape practice and couch sleeping, her oldest brother finally grew tired of the rigmarole and traded rooms with her. He’s the one that likes a little privacy…not to mention a couch minus a little sister at night.

Locke, my middle son, says I scared her with the fire escape. Maybe so.

THE talk February 25, 2009

Well…I had THE talk with my 12-year-old daughter. Not the only talk, we’ve been talking for years about our horses and dogs having babies. Animal Planet is another good source for conversation. So today wasn’t the only time THE subject has been broached, but this time was more detailed…more information….

It all went well. She wrinkled up her nose and said, “That sounds weird.” I said, “Yeah.” Trying to remember what it was like to hear those details when I was young. I assured her it would be good and beautiful when she was married, but it is not in God’s plan outside of marriage.

I told her that if she had any questions, she could always come to me and ask me.

She only had one question:

“Was it weird when YOU did it?”

“….uhhh….well….ummm…. Whew. Would you like a drink?”

We will need to have more talks. At a later date. I really wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was for questions.

Morning Rush Hour February 18, 2009

I am not a night owl. I am done by 8:00 pm. Nothing important was ever decided after 8:00 pm. Sleep on it. Let your dreams work it out. As Scarlett said, “Tomorrow is another day.”

I love mornings. I wake up refreshed and ready for the day. I am optimistic about what great things the day has in store for me.

However, I may need to update my “I Love Mornings” status.

There are now three children to get up and around. When school is in session, our mornings seem to swirl around us like a dust devil carrying shoes, socks, homework, toothbrushes, and pop tarts just out of our reach. Sometimes I am amazed at what I am compelled to say.

“Rise and shine!”

“Time to get up.”

“It’s time to get up, that’s what time it is.”

“What do you mean, ‘What’s for breakfast?’”

“Leave the door unlocked, so I can get in the bathroom.”

“You don’t have to have fresh jeans EVERY day.”

“Grab a banana. You’ll be fine.”

“No. Those ARE your socks…today.”

“Do you have your homework? You can finish it in the car.”

“Here’s some money. Bring back the change. Don’t loan it all out.”

“Where’s your brush? Keep it in your backpack.”

“Do that in the car. Just go!”

“There’s a toothbrush in the car. Use your brother’s toothpaste. It’s in his locker.”

“Did you get that onion? Don’t open the onion baggie in the car!”

“Go! Go! Go! Hurry!”

“Get the dog out of the car!”

“Go! Go! Go! Hurry!”

“Don’t drive fast!”

“I love you!”

That’s our morning rush hour. I hope my children don’t remember all the things that tumble out of my mouth on school mornings. What about you?

My Curse January 30, 2009

The other day as Meredith was heading out the door, I stopped her and reminded her to brush her hair. She confidently told me there would be one in the car. Of course…she would groom herself on the way to school.

I think my kids could live in the car. They can fix their hair, brush their teeth, read their Bibles, make a phone call, do their homework and probably eat a snack…. without leaving the car! Everything is there.

My family seems to think that my purse and my car serve the same function. They both end up as the catch-all for anything a child or teen doesn’t want to carry around or doesn’t need anymore.

For example, when gum is offered the resulting empty wrapper is dropped in the curse(car + purse = curse). If one needs a comb, just look around in the curse. It will be there. If your feet are hot and sweaty, take off those socks and drop them in the curse. They will be there the next time your toes are cold! Tired of the bracelet, hat, pencil, iPod? Leave it in the curse.

I understand. If someone borrows my car, they may as well borrow my purse. I may need that brush or extension cord that I keep in my car.

Do you have a curse? Anything interesting wind up there?

Bedtime January 8, 2009

Bedtime has always been very important to me.  I tried so hard to get my children in bed at a good time from the time they were very young.  Baby Barrett spent hours, I’m sure, crying in bed because it was bedtime…he hated bedtime and still does.  I read a book by a sleep expert when Barrett was a baby and tried to follow it – to the letter!  He would cry and cry…and I would pace around the room, do the dishes, talk on the phone, anything, to keep from picking him up.  I don’t know if it was a good thing or not.  I’m still vexed about bedtime.  In my mind, every child should go peacefully to bed when darkness falls or before!  Ha!  It doesn’t happen at my house.  At my house, I go peacefully to bed before most of the others. It’s the only way for me to get enough sleep.  I live in a house full of night owls!

There have been a few times when I have encouraged my children to stay up past their bedtime.  These were important times.

• a meteor shower
• finishing a great book
• playing chess with Dad after losing game 1
• watching a sibling complete one more step of a favorite hobby (Barrett is into tanning hides and Meredith is fascinated)
• when dear friends are at our house lingering over a late supper
• the birth of our first colt on the farm
• the presidential election returns

I remember as a child being allowed to infringe upon my bedtime when we found the perfect cocker spaniel in the classifieds.  My dad and I went to go and pick her up really late one night.  That night was magic!

What has been important enough in your life or the lives of your children to allow them to miss some sleep?  As a child, do you remember being allowed to stay up late for something special?