First Day!!

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Today I dropped my little boy off at school for his first day of Pre-K!! Leading up to this week my mom kept telling me that I need to take pictures and that I would want them later. I agree, I wanted to take pictures. The only problem is that I know my son all too well. I tried getting one of him with his backpack and lunch box and everything. He wanted no part of it. He apparently inherited the same gene as his uncle, my brother. Neither of them will willingly take a picture. If you do get my brother in a picture he is making a funny face. Drives our mother nuts and now, she has a grandson that does the same thing! She even got my son a special shirt for today. It’s a monster truck and it says “I’m ready to crush Pre-K!” Luckily, we were still getting into the car when she walked out to her car. She had to bribe him with a kiss for a picture. The only picture I was able to get was right before we pulled out of our driveway and it was not a friendly face.

Now, he is going to the school my siblings and I all attended as well as our parents, aunts & uncles, and cousins. It is a consolidated school district and the schools that combined were the ones our grandparents attended even. I knew traffic would probably be bad this morning but pulling out of our street was actually fairly easy. Then, we rounded the curve. This is where it gets a little iffy. This curve is famous. Part of the traffic problem is just the way the roads were made. There is a small straight stretch on either side of the curve but you can’t actually see around it. So, you’re cruising along at 45, you take this curve, and you stop. That is right, this is where the traffic is backed up to. Just enough on the other side of the curve that you can’t see the stopped cars. There are always a couple of accidents every year in this exact spot. It is one of those spots where, if you are the last one in line you pray whoever comes around the curve next is paying attention and not flying down this two lane road! The reason this road is backed up is because elementary, middle, and high school buildings are in one place. It’s not an inner city school district. However, to get to the middle school you have to drive through the elementary line, and to get to the elementary you have to drive past the high school line. So on the main street you have the joining of three different drop off/pick up lines.

To say the least, this is going to be a fun year.

Strangers

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“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”
— William Butler Yeat

With a boy that loves cars, we have become regulars at the local dirt tracks. I am no stranger to the places. We used to go all the time growing up but fell out of the habit as we got older. One thing is for sure, you will find all types of people there. My observations of these people have made me realize that some of the kindest people are the ones that look the roughest. In particular the ones that look like they may or may not own a shower seem to be the friendliest. My son having the super radar for stranger danger just stares at them. They are usually the ones with a whole family there and the grandpas of the family even try to be nice to him but he is just to leery. Which, I am not complaining about that safety feature that came with him, especially now a days. But, even after spending a couple of hours with this family he still won’t have anything to do with them. At the track a couple of weeks ago, there were popsicles at the concession stand. Every child got one free with admission but then you could also buy them. The family sitting next to us had a boy about my son’s age and they even played together a little. We chatted through the night. When one of the guys offered him a popsicle, nope. Didn’t want any part of that. He had taken the little boy to get a popsicle and he came back with an extra. He offered to us and he just got “the stare”. These weren’t even the roughest looking people really. This past weekend we sat next to another good sized family with the a grandpa figure that did look a little rougher. He tried talking to us and making friends. Offered about $5 to my son for concession stand goodies and he just got “the stare” too. This guy was from out of town and would walk up to the fence to take pictures/videos of the racing. One of those times he found a little police car hot wheel type toy. My son LOVES hot wheels, and he still just gave the stare. The family just put it down on the seat in front of us so that if he changed his mind he could have it. Took maybe all of 5 minutes for him to pick it up. He played with it the rest of the night.

The whole not judging a book by it’s cover could not be more true. Like I said, some of the nicest people look the roughest. The cleanest looking people often seem to be the most rude.

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
Hebrews 13:2

The Joy of Kids

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Growing up you hear “you’re giving me gray hairs”. Now days I’m not the one hearing it but the one thinking it. Yes, I can feel the red fade a little everyday thanks in part to the toddler. This morning I roll my window down and it won’t go back up. The window has done this before…last October. I paid $300 to replace the motor for it. Less than a year and it seems to have happened again. Now, of course I wasn’t in a place to drop what I was doing and head to the shop so I do that thing where you hope, pray, and every 5 minutes just about you try to roll it back up. Of course it doesn’t work and you eventually decide to just accept that something is broken. But you still keep trying the button just in case. After about 10 minutes something actually happens. Low and behold, it goes back up! That is when it hits you. It probably wasn’t the window, rather all the mud/dirt on your window you found this morning. You know how it got there and you knocked the big clots off of it thinking you were good to go, but nope, you needed a little…excitement to get you ready for the day apparently.


For those who are wondering…for the most part we live outside the city so we burn things. Mostly cardboard boxes, pizza boxes, and other such things. Well, trying to be a responsible adult I like to have the water hose on and ready just in case. We have a good nozzle that has the different settings on it but is also easy to use because yes, I let my child play with the water hose. Why not right?! He likes to take his semi and construction trucks outside and play in the mud and wash them off. What I didn’t expect was for him to start picking up mud and slinging it at my car. I wasn’t worried, I could just spray it off when we went inside, which is what I did. I just didn’t get all of it apparently. The actual mud puddle is just on one side so I didn’t think about checking the driver’s side for it too. it wasn’t until after I got him buckled in and walked around to get in the car that I find, my side had been mudded too. All well, no big deal. That is until I need to roll my window down and it doesn’t come back up. By now it wasn’t wet mud, it had dried and was just dirt clots which I knocked off the best I could. Apparently that was just enough for it to get stuck. After the ten minutes of trying, it finally broke loose.

It is times like these when I truly think God has a very special place in heaven for those who teach/take care of children for a living!! Lawd help us!



Imagination

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If this quote from Einstein is true then I have a genius on my hands. Raising a boy, who is in the toddler years, has shown me what it is like to have a vivid imagination. It’s pretty magical. It has also shown me that part of the miserableness of adulthood is that we don’t use ours enough. My child is happiest when his imagination is going full steam. The only time it gets any better is when he has someone else using his imagination as well. His imagination is what turns his mommy, on her knees in the living room floor, into a bull and him into a bull rider. His imagination is what turns his very large dump truck outside into a truck wash when he asks me to get the water hose and fill up the dump with water. As an adult I can look at a toy car and think, how do kids have so much fun with these. Adulthood is the loss of your imagination. We start relying on outside things to stimulate our minds. It makes me think of magicians or illusionists, whatever you want to call them, when they tell you that you don’t actually want to know how they pull off the trick because it ruins it. That is what happens to people as we grow. We learn how things work and suddenly we can’t be entertained by pushing a car around the floor.

Why don’t we bring back that magic? Why not go through life pretending and using our imagination. Even if we know it is just pretend, do it anyway. Make the squealing tire noises when you’re driving to pretend you’re a race car driver, just keep an eye on the gas. Go get some supplies from a craft store and pretend you’re Michael Angelo painting the Sistine Chapel, it may no be pretty but it could be fun. When we have fun everything becomes easier and simpler. When balancing your checkbook, pretend to be the big boss like the kids do. Forget that you know what responsibilities actually comes with being a big boss for just a moment and see how those daunting tasks become fun activities. Kids play doctor, banker, cowboys and Indians, so why can’t we? Who knows, you could come up with a genius idea while you’re having fun.

Into the Future

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If we all had superpowers and could see into the future, life would be just a little bit easier.

Adulting. The hardest part of growing up. No matter what, you are never prepared for adult life. They can try to teach you life skills, make sure you have common sense, teach you the ins and outs of banking, but there as teenagers we just roll our eyes and out the other ear all that wisdom goes. Also, no one can really teach you about the in between times. The crossroads you will most definitely come across. I mean, how do you know which path you are supposed to take. Sometimes it isn’t a complete cross either, instead it is just a fork. Left or right only. The only thing you can count on in times like these is the fact that you don’t know what is further down the road in any direction. You could be choosing the road that ends at the edge of a cliff, which would be good if we had the ability sprout wings and fly whenever we wanted. Unfortunately, people tell you to be cautious and not reckless. They tell you to think about your options and consequences. Well, guess what, all cross roads pretty much end in a leap of faith. Just like jumping into a pool you close your eyes, hold your nose, and you leap. All the while praying your bathing suit doesn’t malfunction. To those who can go under without holding your nose closed….I applaud you. When I try to do that I get that horrible feeling of snorting chlorinated water.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
–Jeremiah 29:11


Been A Morning

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I’m not a huge coffee drinker. If I do drink coffee it has so much extra stuff in it that you can’t actually taste the coffee. Today, however, I needed something, I even got an extra shot in my Frappuccino!
I’m not sure who exactly coined the phrase “terrible twos” but I am pretty sure they didn’t have to deal with the after twos. It should be “terrible toddlers”. As infants, they cry when they need something, food, a clean diaper, tylenol, sleep, etc. Toddlers, on the other hand, cry because they left their shoes at the baby sitter’s house. This morning my toddler cried because yesterday he broke all the bananas off the bunch and so they were all super brown this morning. He also cried when I made him take the clothes he slept in to the dirty hamper, which he does everyday, along with taking his medicine.

Another thing, the toddler stage is where their attitude starts coming in. Since he was mad that he left his sandals at the sitter’s house, he did not want to wear his flip flops. These are the two shoes he WANTS to wear in the summer; sandals and flip flops. So what does he do? He knocks them off the end of the couch with way too much tude and says he doesn’t like them, that they are “ew”. Okay son, you wear them everyday but now they are “ew”. Besides, I wasn’t even putting them on him. He wanted to wear his paw patrol tennis shoes but his tude got the best of him so as he walked by the flip flops he…got rude. I call it being ugly. No matter how cute you are, throw a fit and you ugly! Needless to say he did not enjoy my reaction.

I do have to say that, even though they have big tudes, they sure don’t last very long. By the time we walked out to the car he was happy. No tude, just goofiness. Just an example of his goofiness, this past Sunday my mom had a hard time stifling her laughter because I had to tell my son to “get Fred out of his cereal.” Fred, from Scooby Doo, was taking a swim in my son’s Trix cereal.

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
–2 Timothy 4:2
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
— Ephesians 4:2

The Laundry

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Knowing I needed pants to wear to work this week, I went to the bathroom and just grabbed the unsorted pile of laundry that was in the floor and throw them in the washer. It wasn’t until I started to put them in the dryer that I find something else went in with the clothes. Everything I pulled out had this white stuff on it. Almost like a receipt had been in a pocket. The only thing was, there was too much for it to be a receipt. Then, I am able to see the bottom of the washer and there it is. A pull-up.

I am not one to just leave pull-ups laying around. I mean, the only time my son wears a pull-up is at night. I’m guessing one morning when he went potty after waking up he just left it in the floor. For the most part he wakes dry and clean so I’m not worried about what he had left in the pull-up. BTW, just like diapers, pull-ups start to disintegrate when they reach their limit!

So, I go ahead and put the laundry in the dryer cause I have no patience or energy to deal with it. Guess what….the dryer took care of it! No more white stuff! At least none on the tee shirt I pulled out and wore to work.

You would think after 4 years of mother-hood I would have learned to double check that I didn’t have something extra in my hands. Double checking is essential when you have a little one who likes to leave things where they land or put things in odd places.

The “Right” Kind of Help

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I am all about loving thy neighbor, but when that neighbor comes into your place of business just to criticize the kind of help you give, it becomes very difficult. I work for a non-profit that supports other organizations and their programs. We are not set up to just give out money, we don’t have a closet full of goods to hand out. We keep about 10 backpacks with basic hygiene products and a small blanket but that is it. Also, I’m all about helping people, where we live we don’t have an actual homeless shelter and yes that stinks and we need one, but we can’t just create a homeless shelter. We run off of donations given to our annual campaigns. That is how are able to do what we do. Now, to the homeless woman who likes to just walk in and criticize us that we aren’t helping in the “right” way, I am sorry your needs are not being met. We try to help the best we can, even in light of the current pandemic situations.

I try no to judge, I really do. However, when a person comes in twice in the span of a few months you get a little frustrated. The first time in she stated that she even had a degree in sociology, and then proceeded to grill a co-worker on her beliefs and her view of the world today, while criticizing her and our organization. This woman seems intelligent, I watch her walk up and down the street all day long pushing her cart so she isn’t completely disabled. It makes you wonder why she herself does not have a job. Matter of fact, instead of complaining to those who have no power, she herself could make a difference.

In times like these, it becomes difficult to be gracious and giving. Right after she left I had to say a prayer for the mean thoughts that ran through my head. I prayed for grace, mercy, and tolerance. Just a rule of thumb, you don’t pray for patience because he will test you! I prayed for forgiveness. It is so hard not to judge those that judge us. However, we do not have to act on those judgements. Just because something flashes across your mind doesn’t mean you have to say it or do it. Instead, wait for a second and see what else flashes through. It may be your saving grace.

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…”
— Luke 6:27

Complacency

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I am terrible about being a person that settles with becoming complacent. “Things aren’t terrible so I’m good”. If you find yourself saying this guess what…you are not good! The worst part is what I become complacent in. My walk with God has not been in something I seek to improve on. Even though there is no church services for me right now does not give me a reason to slack. I say a prayer every now and then, I sit in on the zoom meetings with my Sunday school class and I am still going through the motions, but I am not growing as a Christian. I can’t remember the last time I actually opened my bible. I carry it with me in my backpack. It goes to work, school, anywhere my backpack goes which is, for the most part, everywhere. About once a week I think to myself, “I’m going to start reading this and doing that”. Do I ever actually do it? NOPE! You know why? I have become COMPLACENT! Want to know what this leads to????? Complacency in other parts of your life. Think of it like an infection, if you don’t clear it out and get your butt in gear everything you do is going to be “not bad, so it’s good”. The worst part, it is going to spread to how you interact with your kids. “They aren’t bothering me so it’s fine.” Not fine. This is something I need to work on and I know it, but again, complacency. Another way to think about it is like glitter. If you ever do any arts or crafts with glitter then you know the problem. “A little dash of glitter will jazz this up”. NOPE! There is no such thing as a little dash of glitter. It spreads. A year later you will still find it in the floor and getting stuck to your feet. Same thing with complacency. “I need to clean the car. But it is hot and it doesn’t smell and nobody will know it is messy. I’ll do it tomorrow.” Then, a month down the road you still haven’t cleaned it.

What we don’t realize is that being complacent in your walk with God is actually hurting you and setting you up to fall on your face. The longer you go without growing in your faith, the more vulnerable you are to temptations. Your faith is like a muscle. If you don’t use it and work at it, it atrophies. Complacency is almost worse than turning away from God because you don’t know that it is happening. It just hits you one day that you can’t remember the last real prayer you said, or the last thing you studied. If you aren’t growing in your faith, are you even living in your faith?

“One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.”
— Proverbs 18:9

Mind Ya Business

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People today are just so hostile! ‘RONA has the world in the palm of its hand. Whether you are afraid of it, think it is a conspiracy to control people, it has you where it wants you. I am one of those that just kind of floats in the middle. I stay in the middle and watch as the two sides go at it with each other. One side firmly believes in the mask and the virus, the other side firmly believes it is a conspiracy. The one thing they have in common is their opinion of each other. One side thinks you are evil and selfish if you don’t wear a mask. The opposing view thinks you’re ignorant and gullible if you do. Them THINKING this is find and dandy. Feel free to THINK what you want. My problem is when you start name calling and verbally expressing your thoughts with hostility. IT AIN’T ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS! If you think the mask is dumb and start berating those who wear the mask, you are part of the problem. That person may be more susceptible to the virus. That person could be wearing a mask simply because they have to go somewhere that requires it. Some of us are willing to wear a mask if it lets us live our lives and leave the house. Also, that person could believe in the virus and just have a different opinion than you, but guess what…THAT IS OKAY!! Just let them do them!
Now, to those who do fear the virus, you don’t need to be hostile about your disapproval. Again, some people can’t wear the masks because they cannon breathe in them. Some people are willing to risk it, or they think it is a conspiracy and are laughing at you in their head. Again, THAT IS OKAY! Again, their right to believe whatever it they believe.

The point of this is to just say MIND YA BUSINESS! If I am willing to put a mask on so I can go out to eat with my family or spend time with my child, I’m going to. It may be hard to breathe but we have to live our lives. Also, If you see me out and about without a mask on, that is my prerogative. Have your beliefs but don’t go verbally assaulting people because you disagree with them. Fighting does no one any good. Who hear can honestly say a fight with a sibling was worth it? I can’t just shut your mouth and move on. You do you boo boo!! Let them do them!