Entries from June 1, 2008 - July 1, 2008
Parenting Teens: Mysteries Solved
Monday, June 16, 2008 at 06:36PM I walked into our shower room and saw a tin of my best quality Dutch cocoa powder sitting in the vanity. As you know, I have been a mom for a long time. While I have not seen it all, I’ve seen quite a bit. My mom-sense started tingling. I begin to run through the "what is wrong about this picture" checklist that we mom’s of teens carry in our heads. Is cocoa a new substance kids are snorting? Is cocoa a beauty treatment? Maybe one of the girls is using it to exfoliate her face. Stranger things have happened.
Intrigued, I go on the hunt for an answer.
Turns out cocoa powder is an ingredient in a recipe for a homemade tanner my youngest daughter found online. Since she didn’t have the other ingredients on hand, she applied the cocoa powder directly to the skin of her face. Ofcourse the in was not returned to the kitchen, hence I found it in the bathroom. The Case of the Dutch Cocoa in the Bathroom is solved.
This explanation solves an earlier mystery. The day before this same child asked me how she looked. For some reason her face was faintly orange. After I commented the strange orange hue to her skin, she left the room and that was that. The next time I slowed down enough to observe her, her skin was back to its normal pale shade.
The mystery that confounds our fourth child is, how is it that she can be turning orange and her mom (provided said child eventually returns to her normal skin shade) doesn’t even think to ask why.
Marriage in the Real World: Wedding Vows
Friday, June 13, 2008 at 10:58PM We went to a wedding recently. Before the bride and groom exchange their vows, the bride’s parents renewed their vows. This couple had been married 25 years. First praise to the bride for being willing to share a few moments of her day with her parents.
I was struck by the contrast between each couple’s vows. The younger couple is all hope for the future, confident that nothing will ultimately tear their love part. They have good jobs. They are educated. They are healthy. Like most young couples, they have heard the horror stories and seen for their selves how tough it can be, as two become one. They share a vision for their future that is pleasing to both of them. They have been through pre-marriage counseling and have observed their parents marriages.
However confident they are, theirs is an untested confidence. Only time will tell if this hopeful young couple will some day be able to stand where her parents stood that day, 25 years later as hope becomes tested reality, tried in the fire of time and circumstances, that no young couple could anticipate. Even if they could anticipate the struggles that might come, they are still wrapped in the pleasant illusion that while stuff happens to other people will “never happen to us.”
I watched our friends renew their vows. They have been tried and test by need and plenty, by cancer and kids, by tempers and temperaments. Their love is not hopeful but hope realized. Hope in the biblical sense: the confident expectation that what is vowed will come to pass.
The wedding party was a lot of fun. The bride and groom were adorable. The mama of the bride did an outstanding job decorating the reception room. She, by the way had one of the nicest mothers of the bride dresses I have seen.
Perhaps what we should do is take some of what we spend on our weddings and put it in a saving account. At 25 years, we could than have access to the account and have a 25th wedding party gala, complete with the renewal of vows.
Hope future is a wonderful reason for a celebration. Hope realized, that is something worthy of honor, celebration and awe.
All Stacey, All The Time
Friday, June 13, 2008 at 04:32PM Here is the link to my good friend Stacey's Write Away Contest entry.
Stacey writes with refreshing honestly about the joys of raising a teen, a non-teen and dealing with far off family. Plus she is a hoot and unlike me she can actually spell.
Visit her at http://allstace.blogspot.com
The Armchair Traveler: Alaska: Scribbit
Friday, June 13, 2008 at 10:00AM Michelle at Scibbit, blogs about life and love in Anchorage Alaska. The writing is excellent and the pictures are wonderful. The blog is far ranging from low cost ideas for keeping kids busy, to recipes, movie review, to whatever a mom experiences. On the left, there is a list of posts by topic. Start by scanning through Michelle's indexes to get an overview of this blog. Than go to Alaska.
While I live in a hot climate, I went to college in Buffalo. It takes a certain temperament to thrive were sub zero wind chill is a way of life. Ever wonder how one prepares for an Alaska winter? What is termination dust? In light of my son's recent break up, is breaking up harder in Alaska? (It is different than what you might think.)
My personal favorite entry because I will never, ever, try this under any circumstances, for any reason is winter camping, in the snow and cold. (I did mention having to have a certain temperament to thrive there right?)
What is striking is how beautiful this area of our country Alaska is. How is it so like living in the lower 48 and yet so very different.
Join Michelle at Scribbit, for the chills and thrills of raising a family in Alaska.
Wii , Wii, Wii for Me, Me, ME : Week Whatever
Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 09:39AM With apologies to Dr. Seuss
I do not like you little scale,
I do not like you as I fail.
I do not like you bossy bot,
I do not want to squat a lot.
I do not want to be Wii Fit,
I’ve gained two pounds, I’m in a snit!
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