First, we thought we were weird to be feeling anything but thrilled to be home during the day, not working. It was nice to know I wasn't the only one and to have someone to talk to about it. Secondly, and most importantly, talking with her today just reinforces to me the importance of having another person to connect with and share your common interests with. Getting to know someone better over coffee is a great thing! I am going to continue to make coffee dates with those I want to catch up with, friends that I want to reconnect with, new friends that I don't know as well as I would like to, and those that I love whole-heartedly, but haven't made time for lately. To listen and be heard.
Showing posts with label value. Show all posts
Showing posts with label value. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2015
Coffee Connections
I met with a friend, and former coworker of mine, for coffee this morning. She has also recently left teaching after many years. The events that led to her decision to leave the classroom were very similar to mine and she and I decided to meet in order to talk about the transition, or troubles with transitioning, to become the stay-at-home mom. I've shared some of my own struggle in a previous post, and it was really nice to talk with another mom going through the same transitions. It was great to be able to share our new found freedom, and talk about our kids (favorite subjects right?), but what I loved most about this time together was two things.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Lost Arts
I live in the midwest. It gets cold here during the winter. Not "it's a little chilly I'll get a sweater cold", but freeze your face off when you go out to get the mail cold. Cold enough that my dog collapses when she goes out to the yard. Cold enough to call off school, but even too cold to go out to play in the snow because the snow has turned to ice. So we're home today from school, entertaining ourselves after being home for 2 weeks for Christmas.
One thing on my "to do" list today was to help my son finish his thank you cards. He's one of those "lucky" kids to have his birthday fall only a week after Christmas. With his birthday came presents. Wonderful gifts from wonderful people who know him so well that as each gift was opened it was very clear how much time and effort was taken by his friends to choose just the right thing for Adam's interests and hobbies. I was amazed at the variety of gifts and at the perfect choices for my son's personality. Such care and thoughtfulness!! Writing thank-you cards is something we have always done in our house. Since the kids were babies and couldn't write yet, their scribbles on a note written by me were sent to those who took the time to celebrate them in some way. My kids know that this is something they will be doing when they receive a gift. Not that they ENJOY it really yet :) but they do know that I will help. Today we sat down to write and at 11 years old Adam wrote his own messages. I addressed the envelopes for him and sat with him at the table so he would have company. On occasions like birthdays where there are many gifts we might break down the list into smaller sessions to lesson the "I'm missing out on something somewhere else!" factor. I've found that writing thank-you notes, and any other kind of letter actually, is something of a lost art. With texting and email the handwritten note has almost totally disappeared. But who doesn't love getting mail? That break from junk mail and bills to find an envelope addressed to you in handwriting you recognize.
But there's another lost art. Handwriting. My 2nd grader came home from school yesterday very excited about what happened in school. Super excited. Jumping up and down excited. Nope, not a school pet or extra recess. "We started learning cursive mom! Like big kids!" She was thrilled to be learning how to read cursive handwriting and write it. Many schools have done away with cursive saying it is old-fashioned and unnecessary when we have computers to type on, spell check, and texting.
I love writing letters. I love writing them in my own handwriting. I have saved letters from my grandmother that passed away many years ago, her own handwriting so easily recognizable to me and harder to read as she got older, but continued to write. Letters from my dad, my husband, my preschool aged kids, cards from my mother, letters from high school crushes and letters from family or friends who have both healed and hurt my heart. These letters are proof that someone has taken the time to sit down, and think about me in some way. Someone took time from their busyness to put me in their thoughts for longer than a text, longer than a commercial on tv, more than a box to check off the "to do" list.
So although it is a lost art, we will continue to write thank you notes to show appreciation and grateful hearts for people who took time to think of us. We will write them in our own handwriting and maybe someone, somewhere is saving one of our notes in a special box on their dresser. Like I do with mine.
One thing on my "to do" list today was to help my son finish his thank you cards. He's one of those "lucky" kids to have his birthday fall only a week after Christmas. With his birthday came presents. Wonderful gifts from wonderful people who know him so well that as each gift was opened it was very clear how much time and effort was taken by his friends to choose just the right thing for Adam's interests and hobbies. I was amazed at the variety of gifts and at the perfect choices for my son's personality. Such care and thoughtfulness!! Writing thank-you cards is something we have always done in our house. Since the kids were babies and couldn't write yet, their scribbles on a note written by me were sent to those who took the time to celebrate them in some way. My kids know that this is something they will be doing when they receive a gift. Not that they ENJOY it really yet :) but they do know that I will help. Today we sat down to write and at 11 years old Adam wrote his own messages. I addressed the envelopes for him and sat with him at the table so he would have company. On occasions like birthdays where there are many gifts we might break down the list into smaller sessions to lesson the "I'm missing out on something somewhere else!" factor. I've found that writing thank-you notes, and any other kind of letter actually, is something of a lost art. With texting and email the handwritten note has almost totally disappeared. But who doesn't love getting mail? That break from junk mail and bills to find an envelope addressed to you in handwriting you recognize.
But there's another lost art. Handwriting. My 2nd grader came home from school yesterday very excited about what happened in school. Super excited. Jumping up and down excited. Nope, not a school pet or extra recess. "We started learning cursive mom! Like big kids!" She was thrilled to be learning how to read cursive handwriting and write it. Many schools have done away with cursive saying it is old-fashioned and unnecessary when we have computers to type on, spell check, and texting.
I love writing letters. I love writing them in my own handwriting. I have saved letters from my grandmother that passed away many years ago, her own handwriting so easily recognizable to me and harder to read as she got older, but continued to write. Letters from my dad, my husband, my preschool aged kids, cards from my mother, letters from high school crushes and letters from family or friends who have both healed and hurt my heart. These letters are proof that someone has taken the time to sit down, and think about me in some way. Someone took time from their busyness to put me in their thoughts for longer than a text, longer than a commercial on tv, more than a box to check off the "to do" list.
So although it is a lost art, we will continue to write thank you notes to show appreciation and grateful hearts for people who took time to think of us. We will write them in our own handwriting and maybe someone, somewhere is saving one of our notes in a special box on their dresser. Like I do with mine.
Friday, January 18, 2013
the world according to jimmy john's
The three parts of proper apologies. 1. What I did was wrong. 2. I feel badly that I hurt you. 3. How can I make this better.
I'm sure JJ's is referring to their customer service goals, but I took out my phone to take a picture of this because I think it's a nice rule for life. Apologies take self-reflection. It takes looking inside yourself and admitting that YOU caused a problem or hurt feelings and that YOU made someone else feel badly. That you were in the wrong. Of course, I feel the first two parts are the easiest. The last part is what I struggle with and I'm sure others do too. The third part is the when we need to fess up to the wrong sincerely. Just saying "I'm sorry." and going about your day doesn't seem sincere. Words only, not a vision that you really WERE wrong. Saying "I'm sorry." with sincerity seems to require remorse, problem solving, love, internalization of some kind.
Unless it's just a sandwich apology. Then it's only lunch.
Monday, December 17, 2012
the Santa party
Every year our dear friends, The Reilley's, invited us over for their annual Santa Party. It started as a get together for the daycare kids and their parents--maybe about 6-10 families. Over the years, the Reilley's have grown this event (yes-I've said it...it's an EVENT) to include other of their friends, family and of course now that our kids our older....school-aged friends and their families. It's an event that we look forward to every year and really is a permanent part of getting our Christmas on!
This year was no exception. Here's the drill. The adults all plan to bring some sort of appetizer or dessert. This is great because then Katie and Rob do not have any cooking to do. They can circulate and chat, snack and visit with everyone. As it should be! While Katie and Rob also have beverages out to share, the adults usually bring a little "cheer" along with them to share with others.
As for the kids, Katie thought ahead about this too. Happy kids mean happy adults. We feed them first with some fun pasta, fresh fruit, crackers, chicken strips, and a juice box. They are happy, fed, and they move on to play with each other. This frees up the adults to enjoy their adult beverage of choice, and catch up with each other. This year the first chat I walked into was a very intense conversation about tech options in our homes. Bundling, cable, Dish, wireless, streaming, home phone/no home phone, ....it was really something.
Anyway, the kids play, the adults play, everyone eats. Just a note...there was a moment of silence held this year as our friends, the Sears family, were unable to be with us due to sick kiddos.. We missed them...and their Cookie Crumbs cookies. Actually, it was unusual for us this year too as Lucy was saying she didn't feel well either. No fever, vomiting or ANY symptoms at all, just tired...so we went because it's tradition. Mistake! She was asleep on Daddy before Santa even showed up. Wait, I didn't talk about Santa yet! It's a Santa party....so......
Katie's dad, Bob, is Santa. He has the beard and the belly and the bag. We all sneak a wrapped gift for our kids into the Santa bag hidden in the garage, and Santa makes his appearance every year to pass out presents that make our children smile. Even though Lucy was tired and cuddled up with Mark on the sofa, she was the FIRST to see Santa. She spied him peeking through the window and her eyes have never been bigger!! She was so excited and sat straight up "Look! It's Santa!! He's really here! Daddy! Mama! Santa!" Priceless reaction that only someone so young and believing can have. I wish I could bottle that innocence and bring it out when I needed to feel great about the world again. Santa comes in ringing his bells and the kids go cuckoo! They surrounded him at his feet and we all laughed at how perfectly still, quiet, on their bottoms, angelic they all were waiting for Santa to speak. Awesome. Every year Santa greets the children and before he does any presents he asks the kids to sing a song with him. I think this is my favorite part. They all believe for that moment, even the bigger kids who may have questions in their heads about him being "real", they all love this moment, and it's pure Christmas. Thanks Mr. Praeger!
Of course, this moment is shaken up a bit later as Santa has passed out all of his gifts and he's counting down to allow them to rip the paper open! An interesting thing happened this year. Adam will be 9 years old in just a couple of weeks. He's on the border of whether he believes or not, hearing stories on the playground, bus and lunchroom. He hasn't quite asked us yet if Santa is real. When he does, I plan to share this letter I found as I feel it really says what I want him to know. Santa passed out all the gifts and asked if everyone had a gift. Adam started looking around and then realized that he DIDN'T have a gift. He looked quickly around and Santa was starting to count...he had a bit of shock, and hurt, and "oh no" on his face as he turned to look at me. Of course, I asked Santa if he could look in his bag again and of course there was gift for Adam there way at the bottom. He thanked Santa then turned to me and said " I was nervous there for a minute, I thought I wasn't getting a gift. That meant I was too naughty this year!" We left soon after to take Lucy home to bed. In the car on the way home Mark asked him about that moment. He said, "Dad, at first I was really sad and thought Santa wasn't going to give me anything. After he gave me my present I realized something. The elves made MY gift first. First gift IN the bag, last gift OUT of the bag. I was just at the TOP of the list this year...not the bottom!"
And in truth, that's the best of it. Last year was so different than this year--for him and for all of us. What a different a year can make. What a difference a DAY can make. Things change and kids grow and people leave us. Babies are born, new friends come into our lives and Santa is there every year--to make our eyes wide and to invite us to sing with him. Thank you Reilley's! Thank you Santa!
This year was no exception. Here's the drill. The adults all plan to bring some sort of appetizer or dessert. This is great because then Katie and Rob do not have any cooking to do. They can circulate and chat, snack and visit with everyone. As it should be! While Katie and Rob also have beverages out to share, the adults usually bring a little "cheer" along with them to share with others.
As for the kids, Katie thought ahead about this too. Happy kids mean happy adults. We feed them first with some fun pasta, fresh fruit, crackers, chicken strips, and a juice box. They are happy, fed, and they move on to play with each other. This frees up the adults to enjoy their adult beverage of choice, and catch up with each other. This year the first chat I walked into was a very intense conversation about tech options in our homes. Bundling, cable, Dish, wireless, streaming, home phone/no home phone, ....it was really something.
Anyway, the kids play, the adults play, everyone eats. Just a note...there was a moment of silence held this year as our friends, the Sears family, were unable to be with us due to sick kiddos.. We missed them...and their Cookie Crumbs cookies. Actually, it was unusual for us this year too as Lucy was saying she didn't feel well either. No fever, vomiting or ANY symptoms at all, just tired...so we went because it's tradition. Mistake! She was asleep on Daddy before Santa even showed up. Wait, I didn't talk about Santa yet! It's a Santa party....so......
Katie's dad, Bob, is Santa. He has the beard and the belly and the bag. We all sneak a wrapped gift for our kids into the Santa bag hidden in the garage, and Santa makes his appearance every year to pass out presents that make our children smile. Even though Lucy was tired and cuddled up with Mark on the sofa, she was the FIRST to see Santa. She spied him peeking through the window and her eyes have never been bigger!! She was so excited and sat straight up "Look! It's Santa!! He's really here! Daddy! Mama! Santa!" Priceless reaction that only someone so young and believing can have. I wish I could bottle that innocence and bring it out when I needed to feel great about the world again. Santa comes in ringing his bells and the kids go cuckoo! They surrounded him at his feet and we all laughed at how perfectly still, quiet, on their bottoms, angelic they all were waiting for Santa to speak. Awesome. Every year Santa greets the children and before he does any presents he asks the kids to sing a song with him. I think this is my favorite part. They all believe for that moment, even the bigger kids who may have questions in their heads about him being "real", they all love this moment, and it's pure Christmas. Thanks Mr. Praeger!
Of course, this moment is shaken up a bit later as Santa has passed out all of his gifts and he's counting down to allow them to rip the paper open! An interesting thing happened this year. Adam will be 9 years old in just a couple of weeks. He's on the border of whether he believes or not, hearing stories on the playground, bus and lunchroom. He hasn't quite asked us yet if Santa is real. When he does, I plan to share this letter I found as I feel it really says what I want him to know. Santa passed out all the gifts and asked if everyone had a gift. Adam started looking around and then realized that he DIDN'T have a gift. He looked quickly around and Santa was starting to count...he had a bit of shock, and hurt, and "oh no" on his face as he turned to look at me. Of course, I asked Santa if he could look in his bag again and of course there was gift for Adam there way at the bottom. He thanked Santa then turned to me and said " I was nervous there for a minute, I thought I wasn't getting a gift. That meant I was too naughty this year!" We left soon after to take Lucy home to bed. In the car on the way home Mark asked him about that moment. He said, "Dad, at first I was really sad and thought Santa wasn't going to give me anything. After he gave me my present I realized something. The elves made MY gift first. First gift IN the bag, last gift OUT of the bag. I was just at the TOP of the list this year...not the bottom!"
And in truth, that's the best of it. Last year was so different than this year--for him and for all of us. What a different a year can make. What a difference a DAY can make. Things change and kids grow and people leave us. Babies are born, new friends come into our lives and Santa is there every year--to make our eyes wide and to invite us to sing with him. Thank you Reilley's! Thank you Santa!
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| Reilley's Santa Party 2010 |
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| This year! 2012 |
Saturday, May 12, 2012
sometimes I wish book characters were real
I'm sure I am in no way the only one who ever wishes this. Ever since childhood, there have been characters in books that I have wished so much they were real...that it hurt my heart to know they weren't. Of course, this just means the author has written so powerfully, clearly, and emotionally that I've become attached in this way. The way only a good author can. So here's my list for now. Of book characters I wish were real, that I knew, that I was friends with, or could BE like.
*Lucy Pevensie from the Narnia series. We named our daughter after her. She is brave, loves the Lord (Aslan), stands up for what is right, and loves her siblings.
*Beatrice Prior from Divergent and Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games. They are strong young women, smart, loyal to their families and friends. Fight for the side of Right.
*Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Hagrid
*Maniac Jeffrey Magee
*Alice Cullen
*Gregor the Overlander
*Mrs. Whatsit
*Peeta Mellark
*Percy Jackson
*Jo March
*Tobias Eaton
*Nanny from The Willougbys
So this is all for now. But I am forever adding to this list and I know I've missed a bunch already. This just means I "have to" go back and reread. ;)
*Lucy Pevensie from the Narnia series. We named our daughter after her. She is brave, loves the Lord (Aslan), stands up for what is right, and loves her siblings.
*Beatrice Prior from Divergent and Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games. They are strong young women, smart, loyal to their families and friends. Fight for the side of Right.
*Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Hagrid
*Maniac Jeffrey Magee
*Alice Cullen
*Gregor the Overlander
*Mrs. Whatsit
*Peeta Mellark
*Percy Jackson
*Jo March
*Tobias Eaton
*Nanny from The Willougbys
So this is all for now. But I am forever adding to this list and I know I've missed a bunch already. This just means I "have to" go back and reread. ;)
Friday, April 23, 2010
Forty and Fabulous
Well, the day has come and gone. I am now 40 years old. Yikes. It seems like that just isn't right!! How can I be the same age as my parents? Isn't that how old they are? 40. My coworkers, friends and family have made this day fun, entertaining (?) and very, very special. They reminded me that it doesn't matter how old I am or how old I feel, or that I'm "over the hill" or middle-aged or Lordy, Lordy look who's ....anything....but that to them: I am special. I am important to them. That made my day. I am important and special to someone today. My kids think I'm the world. My husband loves me. My friends think I'm valuable. That's enough for today. According to one student I should just calm down, "Don't worry about it Mrs. Wold, you've still got 60 good years left!"
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