Tag Archives: family

The ABC Award

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 7 comments

Good morning everyone!

My friend, Drusilla Mott, in her blog at www.drusillamott.wordpress.com, awarded me the ABC award a couple of days ago.  Like most blogging awards, there are certain rules.  The first is that I need to put the ABC Award Icon on my front page permanently somewhere; I’m still working on that, but I’ll figure it out.  The third requirement is that I nominate other blogs for the award.  I’m thinking through that one, too.  I’d really like to nominate all of the blogs I follow, but some of them don’t care for awards and others may not have time to worry about the second requirement.  The challenging part of the ABC award is the second requirement, which is where you use each word of the alphabet to tell your readers something about you.  That is my challenge for today, so here we go! 

A pastel I did of Tyra

A – Artist

Mandy

B – Boo, one of Mandy’s many nicknames

C – Courage – the courage to continually battle my depression every day

D – Dogs – If you read this blog regularly, this doesn’t need any more explanation!

E – Everyone – I believe that we should have an innate respect for the worth of every human being.

Our Family, Early in 2005

F – Family – My first and primary human priority.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

G – God – My first and primary priority.  I am so grateful to Him for so many things!

Plastic Canvas Ornaments, in a "folksy" style

H – Hobbies – I have many hobbies besides writing, which is turning into a quasi-profession.  Some of my hobbies are reading, counted cross-stitch and, occasionally, working with the scroll saw.  I’d like to start jewelry making, too.

I – Introvert – You might not guess it from this blog, but I am fairly introverted in person, unless I know you.  Of course, since I am introverted, it takes a while for me to get to know you!

J – Justice – What I hopefully am pursuing in my career as a lawyer.

Kitten

K – Kittens – Yes, they’re cute, but never will we have one in our house!

L – Love – Yet these three remain – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.

M – Mom – my second most favorite role of the many roles I play in my life.

Darwin aka No-No

N – No-No.  The words most commonly used to admonish Darwin, and hence one of his many nicknames.

O – Oliphant – Something that appears in one of the scenes from one of my favorite sets of books of all time, The Lord of The Rings.  I’m pretty sure I’ve read it over 50 times.

P – Patient.  Most of the time, I am very patient.  Except when my 10-year-old pushes my buttons.  She is the only person who can pierce my patience in three words or less!

Q – Quiet.  (See I – introvert.)

R – Risks.  I am not one normally to take many risks, but the few times in my life when it has really counted, I have taken some big ones.  For example, see my post on why our family celebrates December 15. 

Science

S – Science.  One of my favorite subjects to read about. 

T – Tardy.  My sister says that, unless Mark is in charge of the expedition and she doesn’t count those, I am at least 10 to 15 minutes late to everything.  I’m not always convinced, but sometimes I have a sinking feeling that she may be right!

U – Umbrellas.  I never have an umbrella handy when I need one, and if I have one handy, you can be sure that it will not rain!

A picture from one of our vacations

V – Vacation.  I love vacations!  I love traveling on vacations.  I love staying home on vacations.  I love sleeping in on vacations.  I love eating out on vacations.  I love…. (You get the idea!)

W – Wife – My first favorite role in my life.

X – Xerxes/Xenophon.  (Ha!  Bet you didn’t know how I was going to get around “X”).  This represents my interest in ancient Greek and Roman history, which includes reading English translations of some of the ancient sources, including Thucydides, Herodotus and Xenophon.  And Polybius.  Polybius is way cool!  See my post on my bookshelves.

Y – Yaks.  I don’t really have any particular affinity for yaks, but it was the only “Y” word that popped into my mind. 

A picture from the zoo!

Z – Zoos.  I love to visit zoos.  It’s fun.  

Well, that is it; odds and ends about me from A-Z.  If you’re still awake, I’d love it if you would pick one or two letters and use them to tell me a little bit about yourself, too!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Heeeerrrrreee’s Tyra!

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 6 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Tyra, on January 20, 2012

Today’s post is about our oldest dog Tyra.  Tyra, whose nicknames include Tyra Belle, Big Dog and occasionally The Saint (refer to the many posts about Mandy and Darwin to understand why), does not exactly receive equal time in this blog so today I wanted to focus on her. 

Tyra, looking up from the love seat

The main reason Tyra doesn’t receive more time on this blog is not that we love her any less than the other two dogs, but simply because she is the best behaved of the three dogs so she often gives me the least to write about.  To be honest, she is the best behaved of all five dogs we have ever owned, and that is saying something!  Tyra’s main goal in life appears to be to please us, while Mandy’s goal in life is to be happy and maintain her excellent self-esteem, and Darwin’s centers somewhere between playing and getting really good back scratches whenever possible.

Tyra, October 1, 2006 in the back yard

Tyra, 10 years old now, is an Australian Shepherd mix, we think, and came to live with us on February 14, 2004, about 10 1/2 months before Kayla came.  She was three when we selected her from the Humane Shelter.  The sign on the run she was sharing with another dog said that she was a Rottweiler mix, but I have lived with this dog for almost eight years now, and there is no Rottweiler in her anywhere.  We weren’t sure what she was until one day when we saw a picture of an Australian Shepherd, which was spot on to what Tyra looks like when we let her hair grow out.

Second Picture, Tyra backyard, October 1, 2006

Tyra was taken to the Humane Shelter by the first family that adopted her and left, the reason being that they had a baby and “didn’t have time to care for her anymore.”  I always have thought that to be incredibly sad for Tyra,even if incredibly lucky for us; I don’t know how you could do that to a dog as loving as she is.  She still has nightmares occasionally, when she will start to moan in her sleep – whether it is about that experience or something else, I don’t know – but a soft touch and just a whisper that everything’s okay and she’s safe with us at home soothes her, even if she doesn’t wake up. 

Woof, Back Yard, October 1, 2006

When we got Tyra, our first dog, Shadow, had been dead for over a year, and I was starting to worry about our second dog, Woof, and how lonely she seemed to be getting.  Mark and I went to the shelter that day to select a dog, and as we were looking over the runs, we came across a pair of medium-sized dogs kenneled together .  One of the signs on the run said, “My name is Tyra, and I can sit!”  Mark said, “Sit,” Tyra sat, and the rest is history.  I haven’t seen her sit on command too many times since then, but bless her heart, the one time in her life it counted, she pulled it off! 

Tyra and Woof Camping in the Travel Trailer

Woof and Tyra had a cordial, not necessarily close relationship.  Or at least that’s what I thought until the day we went camping and I was walking both of them, and Tyra thought another dog was about to attack Woof.  Tyra immediately went into defense mode, and there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Tyra would have done anything possible to defend Woof. 

Kayla and Tyra, 12 days after Kayla came to live with us

Tyra and Kayla have a sweet bond.  Kayla took to Tyra almost as soon as Kayla moved in with us.  When Kayla learned that Tyra had only been with us since February, (remember, Kayla came December 1, 2004), something clicked and the two of them have for the most part had a rapport ever since.  Kayla does not boss Tyra around like she does the other two dogs, but is always sweet and gentle with her.  When she plays school, using the dogs to populate her pretend school world, Tyra is never a student.  Once, Tyra was the school nurse; another time, when I was unavailable, Tyra was the principal. 

Kayla's First Visit Ever To Our House With Mark, Tyra and Woof in the Picture

We learned quite by accident that Tyra also is prepared to do whatever it takes to protect Kayla.  One day when Kayla was four, Mark was grilling outside in the back yard and Kayla was with him.  Kayla heard the door bell ring, but Mark didn’t, so she went to open the door.  (That was a whole separate conversation.)  When she opened the door, there was a teenage boy there that she didn’t know, and Kayla got scared and screamed.  Tyra flew from the back yard down the hall to the front door, pushed Kayla to the side, and chased the teenage boy and his three friends (all of whom, bless their souls, were only asking for directions) onto the hood of their car in the 10 seconds it took Mark to realize something had happened and get out there as well. 

Our Family, Early in 2005

Tyra is not, however, without her quirks.  After all, she is only human canine!  She absolutely loves camping, and bananas.  All the dogs like going for a ride, but when we had our travel trailer, she would absolutely lose her mind as soon as she realized that we were going on an expedition.  She would laugh from the time we got in the car until we returned home.  I had never seen anything like it.  As far as bananas go, they appear to be a miracle cure for her for everything from arthritic hips to fatigue.  The mere sight or smell of a banana will start her prancing like a three-year old dog again. 

Why Won't They Give Me My Spot?

Tyra’s evening routine requires that she be given a seat on the couch beside Mark.  We got this picture of her on the sofa recently, when I was on one side, and Kayla was on the other side of Mark.  She does not look happy!

About time!

All was well, though, once she was placed in her favorite spot.

It's all good!

Tyra also gets extra privileges now that she has attained the status of the official geriatric dog in the household.  See, Life with a Geriatric Dog.  These include elevator service onto our bed every night and occasional joy rides in the car with Mark, Kayla and I while the other two dogs are left at home.  She also is indisputably the leader of the three dogs, although they all three of them ultimately defer to Mark.  She is a benevolent leader, fortunately, and we have been amazed at the restraint she has shown towards both Mandy and Darwin.  They really have to work at it to hack her off.

You will notice in some of these pictures that one of Tyra’s eyes is much larger than the other.  That is due to a condition called canine glaucoma.  There is no cure, and both we and our vet believe she can’t see out of that eye any more, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed her down one bit.  I watch her when she play wrestles with Darwin (they have their own version of mouth wrestling; I have yet to figure out any of the rules besides the cardinal rule, which is that Tyra wins.  Always.  No matter what.) and she just seems to look at him out of her other eye with a twinkle that says, “I can still beat you, even with one eye tied behind my back – but I won’t take advantage of you, even so.”

That’s my dog.

Have a great day !

Nancy

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Mandy has a brother?!

Posted on January 12, 2012 | 3 comments

Good morning Everyone!

As some of you know from some previous posts, I have long wished that the over 50 people who have searched for variations on the term “husky-basset hound mix” would let me know why they are looking for the information;  I have always thought that Mandy is probably the most unusual dog I will ever come across, both in looks and in personality.  Well, two days ago, I got an e-mail from a woman named Needa in Nashville, who has a dog named Sawyer who is – wait for it – also a husky-basset hound mix.  Pictures were immediately exchanged, and the two do look very much alike, especially when they both have been recently groomed.  Sawyer has a little bit more of the red/brown coloring of a basset hound, while Mandy has picked up more of the silver/white/gray of the husky, but still, the resemblance is amazing.

Guess who is who?

You can see how much alike they look in the two pictures above.  Sawyer’s most obvious difference from Mandy is that he is a male and she a female, but there are other differences.  I think Mandy is a little more solid than Sawyer, although I haven’t yet met Sawyer to have him jump on me with all of his weight concentrated in his front two paws.  Sawyer has two blue eyes, instead of Mandy’s one brown eye with a hint of blue in it and her other completely blue eye.

Sawyer almost in pageant pose

There are a lot of similarities, too.  Sawyer has a “pageant pose” similar to Mandy’s, although Needa and her husband call it the “noble pose,” which makes sense since Sawyer is a boy.  Sawyer likes to chew – Needa says the first day she had him he demolished her digital camera, which made me grateful for Mandy’s preference for light cords – and does so on about the same four-hour schedule that Mandy holds.  Mandy and Sawyer can be trusted alone in the house for about four hours, then they get anxious about their owners being gone and start demolishing something.  At least they have a good reason; Darwin chews sometimes just for the pure joy of it.  To be honest, Mandy chews handkerchiefs for the pure joy of it also, but the more destructive chewing comes after four hours!

Mandy: Caught with a handkerchief

They have somewhat similar nicknames, too.  One of Mandy’s many nicknames, well-earned, is “Bad Dog.”   Sawyer’s nickname, Bitarbriat, was given to him by one of Needa’s uncles.  The word is Persian for “Spoiled Brat.”

Sawyer dives for something

Sawyer does not have to be bossed around by a child of any age, let alone a ten-year old girl – Needa and her husband just got married three weeks ago!  Congratulations to them.  Here is an engagement photo they took with Sawyer in it.

Sawyer's Engagement Photo!

Sawyer was adopted in Huntsville, Alabama at The Ark; someone found him wandering around the roadside there.  Mandy is also an Alabama dog; as you know from a previous post, she was adopted at the Montgomery, Alabama humane shelter, where she had been taken after she had been found digging in the dumpster for McDonald’s.  They both are very independent; I am not sure if that is the basset hound temperament coming out, or if part of that comes from surviving “on the street” for a period of time.

Mandy, awakens from a nap

They both are very loving dogs, too; they just have very high self-esteem.

Sawyer on his dog bed

One day, we hope maybe to get the two of them together, but that won’t happen for a while.  Either way though, welcome to Sawyer as a potential cousin, if not brother of our own Mandy, and thank you to the many friends and relations of Needa who have stopped by this blog in the past two days to look at pictures of Mandy.  I hope you’ve enjoyed your visits!

Sawyer gets ready for the wedding

If anyone out there stumbles by this blog and has a husky-basset hound mix, please let me know.  I’d love to hear about him or her!

Mandy in the kitchen

Have a great day!

Nancy

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Inappropriate O’Fences

Posted on January 10, 2012 | 8 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Kayla is at an age now where one of our joys is listening to her thoughts and vocabulary expand.  Of course, she doesn’t always get every word right the first time, but the things she says can really surprise us.

This weekend, we went to the hospital to visit someone, and on the way into the hospital Mark was roughhousing with Kayla, just a little bit.  She looked up at him and said sternly, “Playing in the hospital like that is inappropriate.”  Both Mark and I had to stifle a laugh.  (Somehow, laughing out loud in the hospital waiting room also seemed inappropriate.)

Sunday night though, I laughed out loud.  While we were eating spaghetti and bread on trays in front of the TV (it was the playoffs, after all!), Mark started teasing Kayla about something.  She informed him that doing so “while I’m eating is O’Fences.”  I started to laugh, and had to calm down enough to explain that the correct word was “offensive.”  Mark thought it was funny, too.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

8 Comments

Posted in Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

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Memory

Posted on January 9, 2012 | 12 comments

Good morning Everyone!

I’ve been thinking lately about memory and how differently it functions for different people.  I have a good memory for numbers and odd facts I’ve run across, but if I ask you in the den whether you’d prefer cream of chicken or vegetable beef soup for lunch, I’m likely to have forgotten your answer by the time I take the ten steps to the kitchen. 

I have a sister who has an excellent memory for things that happened in our past.  Sometimes, when we’re talking and she mentions something that happened when we were children, I wonder whether we, in fact, shared the same childhood.  (Yes, Stacy, I know that we did and that your stories are true;  I just remember so much less than what you remember; you’re amazing!)

I have an excellent memory for phone numbers, of all things.   I can remember many phone numbers off the top of my head, which means I’ve never really bothered learning how to program many numbers into my cell phone.  I find it interesting though that when I am trying to remember a number I am not that familiar with, I usually get 6 out of 7 digits correct, and the 7th is pretty close to what I need, although not exact.  That 7th number that I miss will a) be within plus or minus one digit of the correct number, and b) will be somewhere in the middle of the number, not at the end. 

I can remember all kinds of odd facts from things that I have read; those facts pop up in association with other things.  Sitting here now, I can’t really come up with a random fact to share with you, but if we were having a conversation and something you said struck up some kind of association, I would have a plentiful store of facts to share related to whatever topic I have associated with our conversation at the time. 

If I am going through an exceptionally unhappy time, I will blot memories of that time largely out, even the happy memories.  I have two years of my life (grades 9 and 10 in high school in Fairfax, Virginia) that I have only the spottiest memories of.  I remember more and more about those years, though, the older I get, which is interesting to me as well. 

The hardest things to remember sometimes, unless you are just lucky enough to have the event become one of those stories that gain the status of “family-sharing memories” that are trotted out frequently because they really are very funny, are the little day-to-day events that make life a pleasure and a gift.  I am fortunate there; I don’t remember them better than anyone else does, but between early e-mails I sent when we got Kayla, a series of letters I wrote to my aunt, uncle and cousin and my grandparents for about two years, and then this blog, I have a treasure house of recorded memories I can go back and read about at my leisure. 

All humans have memories of one sort or another; it is interesting when talking to Kayla to see what she remembers and what she doesn’t from the early years of her adoption.  I find that over the years I have gradually acquired the status of institutional memory for my firm, simply due to the number of years that I worked there coupled with the positions I have held as I worked my way up.  I am one of only two people with the longevity to be able to do that.  It always amazes me when I am able to pull up facts from a case that is somewhere between 10 – 20 years old; somehow, after a little bit of thought, the memory I am searching for just pops up from the depths of my storage banks. 

How does your memory serve you?  Are you one of the very fortunate few that has a photographic memory?  Do you tend to remember physical things, such as dance or sports moves, better than thought type memories?  (My physical memory is close to non-existent, making activities such as golf a never-ending adventure!)  Are you the family historian who can remember events no one else does, or are you the number cruncher or walking encyclopedia able to pull random, or not-so-random facts out as needed?  Whichever type of memory you have, I do hope that, unlike me, you are at least able to remember what type of soup someone wants for the ten steps it takes to get from the den to the kitchen!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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My New Office

Posted on January 3, 2012 | 6 comments

Good morning Everyone!

We’ve successfully reached the  3rd day of 2012, and life comes back to normal in our household today, with Mark and I back at work and Kayla back at school.  I know things are back to normal for the following reasons:  1) after repeated assurances that she knew where her book bag was and everything was in order in it, Kayla still had to scramble to find it and get out the door in time, 2) we had a discussion as to how a gym suit jacket is not sufficient to keep you warm in 25 degree weather and 3) after Mark and Kayla left, I heard odd chewing noises in the bedroom and called out, “Darwin, you better not be chewing anything important!” and he happily trotted around the corner out of my bedroom.  (You will be relieved to know that it was nothing more important than a plastic toothbrush holder.) 

Corner Office

I spent a couple of days last week working on setting up my new “office.”  (“Working on” translates to “shopping for.”)   This corner of our bedroom is now the headquarters for all of  my writing, both blogging and the freelance , with the potential to do some art work at it as well, especially with graphite and watercolor pencils. 

Open Desk

Leaving the chair against the wall until I’m ready to write takes up a little less room on a regular basis.  Once I am ready to write, I can just pull the chair over to the open desk, since it’s not very heavy. 

I found both the chair and the desk (I’m really, really proud of the desk!) at a flea market/antique store in Montgomery (my Montgomery friends will know immediately where it is when I tell them I went to EastBrook). 

closeup of desk

 The desk was called a “ladies writing desk” but it is what I have always thought of as a small secretary desk. The ribbon tied to the right hand drawer knob was what the price tag was tied too.  Sooner or later I will cut it off. 

It hasn’t escaped my attention that a new year, 2012, has started, but I have no words of wisdom to offer.  I have had only one New Year’s resolution for about the last five years and that is not to make any New Year’s resolutions!  It’s harder to do than you might think, but I am holding steady so far.

 Have a great day!

Nancy

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With Apologies to both Samuel Clemens Moore and Christina Rossetti

Posted on December 22, 2011 | 8 comments

A Poem for Christmas, With Apologies to both Samuel Clemens Moore and Christina Rosetti

Twas the night before Christmas,
When all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse,
Not the three dogs who romp through the house with such glee,
Not the daughter whose growth is a beauty to see,
Nor the father who works so hard for them all,
With his snores gently drifting throughout the halls,
Only the mother who, quiet at last,
Sat on the couch with her holiday wrapped
Up with presents and laughter and love –
yet something was missing, she thought to herself.
A light through the window – a car driving by –
Brought a striking reminder of a star in the sky,
And of shepherds and angels and wise man and Love,
And the Baby whose Birthday gets lost amid stuff.
A Light lit inside her and peace filled her heart,
And her Christmas was perfect –
“My Lord, here’s my heart.”
 

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Posted in Reflection, Religion, working mom

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On Cupboard Doors and Closet Shelves

Posted on December 21, 2011 | 9 comments

De’ Nile ain’t just a river in Egypt.    – Mark Twain

Good morning Everyone!

Today is my day to make confessions regarding cupboard doors and closet shelves.  I never really noticed that I have a habit of leaving cupboard doors open after I pull something out of them, until I overheard a visiting family member mutter to themselves a few months ago something about “doesn’t anyone in this house shut cupboard doors?”  I didn’t think much about it – I certainly didn’t leave cupboard doors open, after all – and then Mark, after a close encounter with one of the open cupboard doors said something else about it.  I made the natural assumption, as any parent would, that Kayla must have opened the cupboard doors and forgot to close them, so kindly reminded her to close the cupboard doors after she opened them.  After all, I certainly don’t open cupboard doors and forget to close them.  Then one day about two weeks ago while I was blogging, and I was the only one home, I looked over to my left from the table where I do most of my writing,  and saw this:

And this:

In legal terms, I think that counts as a smoking gun, and ever since that day two weeks ago have tried to do better.

I also try hard to put things back correctly in the cupboards and pantry, but in spite of my best efforts, sometimes I slip up.  I know this when I hear Mark open a cupboard door or the pantry while I am in another room, hear the soft thud of something falling out – usually on his head – and then the sounds of something akin to “Behold!  Yet another Tupperware container hath fallen on my head!”  The practical part of my brain realizes somewhere deep down that balancing a bag of flour on a can of soup, and then topping both of them off with a bag of bread or a box of Mac ‘n Cheese is probably not the ideal arrangement for stability, but the other part of me looks at the pantry and can’t figure out any other way to make everything fit.

And the Tupperware shelf!  Given the various size and shapes of plastic ware available, I am convinced that the people who design plastic ware expect the people using it to have mechanical engineering degrees to get it all to fit correctly.  I can match round to round and square to square pretty well, but then you run into oval, oblong, rectangular and super size and any chance of a decent storage system is gone!  I try (again) to keep things balanced safely, but every once in a while it seems impossible that it all will fit in correctly, so then I try to mush the unmushable bowl, and the gentle thud will happen soon after.  Sigh.

I’m working on it though; at the rate I’m currently going, I should have both the cupboard door problem and the Tupperware organization thing fixed by the time I’m 90 – or I may just borrow my friend Emily’s 11-year-old daughter, who likes to organize kitchens on a regular basis.  I’m not sure which!

Finally, here are some completely unrelated observations Kayla made this past week.

1) To Mandy:  Mandy, stop chasing your tail!  You won’t like it when you catch it.

2) To Me:

Kayla:  Mom, I’ve finally figured out what “Accio” is.   (This is a Harry Potter reference.)

Mom, originally:  Oh?

Kayla:  It lets you call things to you.

Mom:  Yes, like keys and cell phones.

Kayla:  I can see where that would be really useful, particular for you.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nancy

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Posted in On the Home Front, working mom

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A Day of Thanks

Posted on December 15, 2011 | 16 comments

Hi Everyone!

Today is one of my family’s private days of thanks.  I think we all have some, days that the rest of the world might not notice, but we treasure in our hearts because of the special things that happened .

Kayla, right after she came to live with us

Six years ago today, Mark, Kayla and I officially became a family.  Unofficially, of course, we had been a family for just over a year when Kayla came to live with us in a foster-but-hopefully-soon-adoptive status.  I don’t know how it works for most people, but the three of us (and the two dogs we had then) bonded in a way that seemed miraculous – it took less than seven days, and really, it would have only been a day had it not taken Mark and I a few days to learn how to speak three year old. 

One of Kayla's first trips to the beach

There are so many people I am grateful to for that day.  The first is God, who miraculously moved all sorts of puzzle pieces into place to bring us together.  The second and third are Mark and Kayla, of course – Mark and I for having the courage to take a risk we had thought we would never take (fostering without having adoption be a certainty) and Kayla for showing that even 3 years olds can express choices and be determined.  I can remember one evening when her case worker came over to see us and to check on her, and she brought out every single toy that she had to show him and made sure that he knew how much she liked being with us.  Then, when he started to leave and she realized that nothing was going to change immediately, she stomped her foot and shouted at him, “My want to be [insert our family name here]! 

The fourth are the wonderful foster parents who kept Kayla for almost a year before she came to live with us.  They still remain our good friends today, and I am always grateful for what they did for Kayla in the 10 months that she was with them.   I don’t know if she could have trusted us as unreservedly as she does had she not first learned to trust adults again through them.

Kayla, this Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains

Then, of course, there is my family and Mark’s family, who have loved Kayla from the moment they heard about her, even before they saw her picture or met her. 

I can go on from there, and there are so many, many other people – her case worker, other people at DHR, wonderful day cares, teachers, my office, which managed to come up with a modified maternity leave schedule with less than two weeks notice, and which threw me (and Kayla) an awesome shower before she even arrived at my doorstep, friends, and just so many others, but if I did, this post would be way too long.  Just know, whoever you are, that I am still grateful seven years from when she came to us and six years to the day from when she was adopted and I do send up prayers of thanks for you regularly.

Kayla, during her first Christmas ever with us.

And to my miracle child, and my wonderful husband, I love you!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Posted in Reflection, working mom

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On the Art of Gentle Satire

Posted on December 13, 2011 | 8 comments

Good morning Everyone!

I had a proud parent moment on Friday.  What caused that familiar heart thump with the shining glow that courses all over me whenever my daughter does something to make me proud? 

Did she make all A’s that week?  (No, that heart thump was Thursday.) 

 Did she save the world?  (Not yet, but I expect she will one day!)

Help out extra with the house?  (No, that heart thump was the last two Saturdays in a row.)

No, she used, for the first time that I can remember, the art of gentle satire to make a point .

Now, I need to backtrack.  Kayla is in a family where we a) love to laugh, b) admire the exceptionally witty response to any comment, and c) secretly believe that satire and sarcasm are spiritual gifts that Paul forgot to leave off of his list, quite unintentionally, of course.  FN. 1. 

When Kayla was four, she had been asking the same question over and over again, as children do, and about the fifth repeat Mark stopped and looked at her and said, “I know what you’re thinking, child.  Have I asked him five times, or six?  To tell you the truth, I’ve forgotten myself.  So the question is, are you feeling lucky today, kid?  Are you?  ARE YOU?”  FN.2

Mark and I were in gales, and Kayla thought her parents had lost their mind.

Ever since then, whenever a chance for gentle satire arises (one of the best kinds of humor is gentle satire that doesn’t leave a scar on your soul), Mark and I have started laughing, and Kayla just looks a little puzzled. 

But Friday, that changed. 

I went to pick her up and asked if she had received any numbers that day at school.  She told me she had received one, but it was for not being prepared.  (We don’t count those, really, even though we probably should; we are concerned with good behavior.)

I said something to the effect that the one number was okay, especially since it wasn’t a  conduct number, and the child turned to me in the front seat, folded her hands like the stereotypical picture of an angelic child, batted her eyes and said in a sickly sweet voice, “Why mother, your daughter would never do anything to earn a conduct number!  I’m a perfect angel!” 

I was so proud of her!  FN 3.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

 P.S.  If you have any comments you or your children have made that fall within the realm of gentle satire, please share them!  I would love to hear about it!

FN 1.  For people not familiar with the concept of spiritual gifts, read Galatians 5:22 in the New Testament, and then Google spiritual gifts and this reference will make a lot more sense.

FN 2.  If you don’t recognize that paraphrase, rent or download the movie “Dirty Harry” starring Clint Eastwood. 

FN 3.  She really has down amazingly well this year with conduct numbers.  I told her that, too, once I finished laughing at her first comment.   Purple Ambassadors is one of the best things that ever happened to her!

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