I got a little bored with packing boxes. It’s not that I’m bored really, just needed a diversion. I started taking pictures of Caleb and laughed as he showed all of his expressions that we see daily. He’s a funny little guy…very pleasant and easy-going most of the time, but can erupt into grumpy fits without warning. Overall though he’s a happy kid with a lot of personality. I thought this might be a good representation of the "many faces" that Caleb has.
-
I had a heart-warming conversation with Jacob this morning on the way to school. It went like this…
I had the radio on and was listening to Hurricane Rita news.
Jacob: "Mom, is there another hurricane?"
Me: "Yes."
J: "Where is it going this time?"
M: (trying to be diplomatic) "To Texas, but the very bottom of Texas."
pause
J: "Will it go to Austin?" (we have family there)
M: "Nope!"
another long pause
J: "Frisco is a great place to live. We don’t have hurricanes here, we don’t have volcanoes, we don’t have tornadoes, we don’t even have rain very much! I wish everyone lived in Frisco."
Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could live in a place like Frisco!? Wouldn’t it be nice to be a child again and think that not having rain was a good thing…to think that your town was the safest place in the world…to think that everyone could live there together in peace…?
-
-
Jacob is a unique and spirited soul. He teaches me everyday about myself. He started a new semester of Kindermusik this week with his teacher, Ms. Jeanie. Jeanie has been teaching music for 25+ years and right now teaches 19 music classes out of her home. She’s wonderful in every way and I love that my children have her as a mentor and teacher. I admire her and appreciate her influence. On Monday night I sat in Jacob’s first class of the semester and watched with awe and sometime frustration as he answered all of the questions and commented on every aspect of the class (always with appropriate answers though). He was just so thrilled to be there. At one point he inserted a funny comment and made everyone laugh and said, "we’ll just make this a laughing house!" He wants everyone in his life to laugh and be happy!
On Wednesday when I went to take Caleb to his music class, Ms. Jeanie said to me, "Do you see what I mean about Jacob…he’s so special!?" I said yes, but I admitted to her that he is a challenge for me…always talking and commenting and making people laugh. I think I wanted a child that would sit still like the other kids and listen attentively and keep thoughts to himself! She gave me a funny look that stuck with me. It was like she couldn’t believe that Jacob would be a challenge, and actually said to me, "Oh Meredith, I don’t consider that a challenge." I spent the next hour pondering on why I felt like that. And I came to several conclusions. How could any child as special as Jacob be a challenge. A challenge would be if he didn’t really listen, if he wasn’t really interested, if he never did what he was supposed to. A challenge would be if he couldn’t play soccer, or participate in music, or learn because of physical handicaps or disabilities. A challenge would be if Jacob wasn’t who he is. I came to the determination that Jacob is NOT a challenge…he’s a stretching opportunity for ME. He makes me stretch…allows me to grow…makes me think outside of my tight, little box. He is wonderfully animated, social and smart. He loves to learn, to participate, to be with people. He is talented and quick and witty. He is unique and special and so very important. He is happy. He is wonderful. And I’m grateful to be his mother.
Here are some pictures of his first soccer game yesterday…he scored a goal and ran the length of the field celebrating. For a second we thought he might take his shirt off and swing it around like a towel. 🙂
-
As Jacob got in the car yesterday in the carpool lane, his teacher took off her sunglasses and somberly said, "Jacob had a sad moment today." She then said "he didn’t have his snack." Then Jacob chimed in with, "Yea, mom, you forgot my snack!" I felt terrible! Then he proceeded to tell me how hungry he was the entire drive home. OK, OK…I forgot the snack…I’m sorry already! 🙂 🙂
Then when Derek got home and asked, "Buddy, how was your day?" I heard him say, "Kind of tough. Mom forgot my snack."
I chuckled to myself last night as I thought about how bad I felt that my 5-year old had to sit quietly and watch his other classmates chow down during snack time. Never mind the fact that I’ve remembered every day since Aug 16 to pack his snack and his lunch and sign his folder. Don’t I get some credit for those things! 🙂 NOOOOOO…I forget once and I’m hung by my toes. I should have to wear a scarlet "S.D." for "snack deficient". Or maybe burned at the stake after the Salem Snack Trials. Or…oh I know, just put me in Camp Cupcake and let me learn how to microwave hors d’oeuvres with Martha.
Good thing I remembered the snack today!
-
I was eating a bowl of cereal, watching Good Morning America. I usually don’t watch morning TV, but I did that morning. I remember feeling stunned like everyone else. And I couldn’t stop watching…none of us could. I remember wishing they would just close everything down and send people home from work. Derek was in meetings, but everyone was distracted, nothing was being accomplished. I remember waking up the next morning and for that split second between sleep and wakefulness I had that feeling of "was I dreaming, or was that real?" I couldn’t imagine waking up to it and looking at those images all over again. I think it was Sept. 12 that was the hardest. Reality was setting in…families and friends were searching for loved ones, stories were being aired, etc. I’ll never forget an interview done by an ABC reporter on the street. She talked to a young woman who was engaged to a man who worked in one of the towers. This young lady was holding his picture and crying and frantic…looking up and down the street, as if he would just appear at any minute and she didn’t want to miss him. I think we all knew that she probably wouldn’t find him…
I’m remembering today. Remembering all of the stories of heroism. Remembering all of the fear. Remembering all of the moments that make up what is known as 9/11.
Just the other day my mom and I were flying out of Colorado Springs to come home to Dallas. She was "randomly selected" to have her luggage searched. The sat her in a glass enclosed room. They put blue gloves on and hand-picked through every article of clothing, through every piece of makeup, through every pocket and compartment in her luggage. Then they had her stand on the "shoe marks" and waved the "wand" over her twice. Then (and this is when I’d had enough) a woman said "Ma’am, I’m going to have to touch your torso" and she proceeded to frisk her. It was appalling for me (I was more outraged than she was). I do understand it. In a world that prides itself on being P.C. I can see that randomly selecting a thin, sick (with a stomach virus), 50+ year-old blonde woman would somehow make the terrorist think again before jumping on another plane with an undetectable plastic weapon. I guess I can’t rule out the possibility that my mother is a terrorist!
Sometimes living in a post-9/11 world makes me sad. I long for the days when women weren’t all but strip searched at the airport. I long for the days when I don’t get a little nervous when I fly. I long for the days before we had "colored" alert systems. I long for the days when I had never heard the name Osama bin Laden. But such is life…we can’t go back. We can’t wish it away.
-
I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing today. Scratch that, I did take something to the UPS store. But other than that…nothing. Both boys are sick. Actually all the boys are sick…even Derek, but he’s sticking it out at work. Caleb sounds like a dog barking when he coughs. And Jacob came home early from school with a high fever that won’t seem to break completely. No fun… Thank goodness for Disney and VCR’s on days like this (yes, i’m still using my VCR, thank you very much).
-
In the aftermath of the disaster that is known simply as "Hurricane Katrina", there are so many questions that weigh on all of our minds. New Orleans is flooded with sewage and waste now spreading its fingers over that city. People were trapped in what was supposed to be a "shelter"…a safe place. But with no electricity and no running water, they turned on each other, creating a place that was anything but safe. Unthinkable crimes were committed. Looting was widespread. Why was decency the first thing to go when it was needed the most? What does that say about humanity?
But the relief efforts in the last few days buoy my confidence in us as a people. So many giving so much…wanting to help, wanting to save, wanting to contribute.
What will happen to these thousands of people who have lost their homes, their neighborhoods, their families, their pets, their jobs, their belongings, their friends, their livelihoods, their life as they knew it? Where will they go? Can your rebuild a place that is so devastated? Do you want to?
After a week of watching this I felt empty and my heart began to close off to it. I couldn’t get my brain around it. I felt overwhelmed and numb to it. It’s too much… But after watching the individual stories and hearing the interviews with families, I begin to realize that these are children of our Heavenly Father, and He loves them. Each having a story, each having a family, each having a future, however unknown the road. I can’t solve any problems, or relieve mass suffering, but I can open my heart and love or care for an individual. I can try to relieve the suffering of a few by giving what I can. I can pray for them. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing at all.
-
Jacob: "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee that we had a great day. That it was great. Please bless the people who don’t have a house, because it got flooded. (long pause) Please bless that we’ll have a house for forever. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
Caleb: "Heavenly Fa-d-er. Thank thee for Mommy and for Daddy and for Jacob and me. Thank thee for people, their house got f-w-ooded. But our house is made of bricks. And it can’t fall down. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
All from a simple conversation I had with them asking them to pray for the people whose houses had been flooded and had water in them.
-
What happened? I was so excited for Jacob to go to Kindergarten, that when the PTA asked if I would fill out "this small form indicating what you would be willing to volunteer for", I jumped at it! I checked everything!
What was I thinking? That’s what I get for being a rookie at this whole school thing. Now I’m the room mom, making a gift basket and a "quilt" card (no one to blame but myself for the idea) for the teacher. And the library called asking if I could help "shelve" books every other Tuesday. Sure!! Happy to!
What am I doing? I’m in over my head! Tonight I’m going to orientation at Caleb’s preschool and I’m sure I’ll be inundated with volunteer forms. Just say "no"…my new motto.
But I can’t do that. If I don’t volunteer, who will?! Ha, ha…
I really do enjoy it, I do…
Site Title 
