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Archive for December, 2011

I can’t resist

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2011| 1 Comment »

My six year old said during dinner this evening, “I can’t resist food…it’s just too good.”  Monday night is pizza night.  It used to be on Friday nights, but I don’t mind making dinner on Friday night, I have the time.  Monday night is chaotic, so we switched pizza night.  They truly couldn’t resist.  They polished off their pizza and started attacking the parents’ pizza.  They also ate half the bread sticks.  He was right, he can’t resist.

And now a question.  (It’s an interrogative statement seeking knowledge, but that’s not important right now.) Who is Coupon Suzy and why must she invade my world so often?  They are awful commercials.  Highly annoying lady.

Charlie Brown is on and memories of childhood come flooding in to my mind.  “Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest.”   The cartoons of today don’t seem to have the staying power of the old ones.  The classic Christmas shows are on every year, but I don’t know that the Shrek one will last for forty or fifty years of annual showings.

The classic is, of course, The Year without a Santa Claus…Heat Miser and Snow Miser…I’m too much!

The Peanuts gang is tackling some serious issues.  Phobias, depression, the need for real estate, the over-commercialization of holidays.  Plus they pepper it with historical references (the Red Baron, no, not the pizza…Baron Manfred von Richthofen).  You know how they balance all the world pressures?  Their deep appreciation for culture.  I dare you to watch them dancing to Schroeder tickling those ivories and not stand up to join them.  Love the way they dance mostly because I can dance like them.  It’s a very free dance style, when one didn’t care about how one looked while dancing.  It’s like the way Phoebe ran (see the Friends episode).

No matter what religion you have faith in, even if you don’t follow religion, one thing about Christmas-time is universal.  It can bring out each person’s childlike wonder in the world.  It can help each person to remember to simply be nice, every day of the year this is possible, but somehow each year at this season, it seems a little easier to do.  Yeah, it’s the Dickens in me.  Yes, it is a wonderful life.

Winter is a time for shedding the old and looking to the future for a new way.  Perhaps you do live each day in the past, present, and future.  If you do, you can renew your energies during the winter season, flowering in the spring with nature.  If you don’t live each day this way, you can start.  Winter is such a reflective time, the days are shorter and darker and colder.  You can turn inward as you stay indoors.  You can let go of your past yet keep it with you to remind yourself of where you’ve been and where you’re going.  Don’t live for or in the future so much that you miss the moments you are in.  Cherish the present as it truly is a gift.

So as my sons can’t resist pizza, I can’t resist putting my thoughts down, pen to paper, or at least the digital version.  I know most think being called Scrooge is an insult.  But think about it.  Think of how the story ends.  I wouldn’t mind being called Scrooge.  Bah humbug-not to anything-it’s just a fun phrase.

 

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Little Social Creatures

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on December 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The boys and I were shopping today for the presents for the tags we pulled off the tree at the library.  Each tag has a request from a girl or boy for presents.  You return the presents with the tag back to the library and the volunteers deliver them to the children.  As we were walking around the store, my youngest ran into a friend from kindergarten.  The two greeted each other like little men and stood talking as if they were in their 30s and not only six years old.  They caught up on what each one was doing, compared first grade teachers (since they are in different classes this year), and discussed toys they are hoping to receive on December 25th.

As I chatted with the mom, I watched both my sons.  My oldest made small talk with the older sister (she’s in second grade) and gave his brother space to socialize with his friend.  It is so much fun to watch them being the little social creatures they are.  I love watching them as they crawl out of their egocentric cocoon.  We all remain egocentric to some degree, one could argue Maslow’s theories require this, but we branch out as we grow up.

This eight minute exchange in a department store helps them begin to learn social niceties and graces.  Selecting a tag from the tree at the library and giving thought to selecting presents to give to children who are waiting for a happier situation helps them become aware of the world around them.  And today the social niceties also brought a surprise bonus.  The friend and his sister were at the store doing the same thing-picking out presents for the children on the tags they pulled off the tree at the library.

How cool was that…to find being gracious and thoughtful at this time of year for little children who you only know through a tag is cool.  My sons walked away with smiles on their faces.  I walked away with a smile in my heart.

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Friend is only one letter away from fiend.

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on December 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

This evening my oldest son teased his father using a less than flattering phrase he learned from his “friend”.  He apologized to his dad and knew that tomorrow he would be spending the afternoon in his room.  As my son and I discussed why this “friend” may not be the best friend he wants him to be, his younger brother chimed in with the various ways this boy has teased him.  I reminded my oldest that he didn’t stop this friend from being mean to his brother.  I reminded him of his two other friends who have said they didn’t want to play with this boy because he had been mean to them too.  I pointed out that this makes three children who he has been mean to.  It isn’t hearsay, we know this from the actual children.  We discussed again some of the things that this boy has done over the past few months.

This is when my six year old informed me of what the friend’s older brother had called him.  I will not write it here because I believe our country has been working to end racist behavior.  Still, this 12 year old called my six year old a dreadful term.  I know I didn’t teach it to him, yet there my six year old son sat explaining to me what the word means.

This is a lesson I didn’t want them to have to learn this early in their lives.  But, I don’t get to choose when they start learning life lessons.  The oldest took it rather hard when I stated they were not allowed to play with the boys until my husband and I have a chance to discuss how we plan to handle this situation.  Do we sit down the parents and explain the situation to try to figure out where, why, how their oldest came upon the word?  Do we pull back for a while and just let the relationship wither away?  I don’t know yet.  Time will bring me the answer.  Time will hopefully help my oldest realize that sometimes a friend is closer to a fiend.

 

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