Children
- "Life" Books, Adoption, Aunt-ing, Children, Family, Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Grief, Memories, Mommy, Siblings, Single Parenting
Savoring the Memories
“Give me the WILD children with their BARE feet and SPARKLING eyes! The RESTLESS, churning climbers. The wild ones using their outside voices, singing ALL THE WAY HOME. Give me the WONDER-FILLED glorious mess makers DREAMING of mountains and mud, and aching to RUN through the field of stars.” Nicolette Sowder Just this week my mom and I were talking about how much we miss children. Where I grew up there was plenty of space for children to play and explore, it was a child’s dream come true. I can say this because that’s exactly how I felt there. If children were not at our house, we were still close…
-
There Is No Choice
Warning: *It is August and there are already children having to be hospitalized for RSV, pneumonia, and other respiratory illness. This is not their fault, rather it is the wider community that surrounds them that needs to be held accountable! Yes, I am slightly perturbed at the “adults” in this world at the moment.* Personally, I know two children who have been hospitalized with pneumonia in the past month. Their stays were short compared to some, because of their parents being acutely aware of their health and taking quick action. Never hesitate when a child is involved! As the above quote hits the nail on the head for people who…
-
Crisis of Truth
A few reasons I share this today: The excitement of guiding children to learn to open themselves up to a vast array of experiences, however that may look or sound or feel, is overwhelming to me. To get to know them, the way they learn, and then engage them – whether it be through books, or pictures, or music, or items from a certain place to explore with our senses – these moments are untouchable, irreplaceable. For me as a kid magazines kept my attention. Both sets of grandparents gave me a subscription to a magazine every year – Highlights and American Girl – were the two I chose. And…
-
When My Heart Breaks
Let’s start today with my question of the day 😊 Are you ready? Strap down those thinking caps! What makes your heart beat fast? What can make your blood boil? What gets under your skin so much that you want to take action right away? What news sparks a fire in you that makes you want to change or influence change? There are so many causes, groups, needs, charities, ministries in the world, and the greater majority are for the good. Yet you are only one person, with one body, one mind, limited amount to give, and limited amount of energy to work with. What I am asking of myself…
-
Miss Anna…
“The soul is healed by being with children.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky The above quote could very easily be my life “phrase.” Whether it’s been a good day, hard day, sick day, tiring day… bring a child into the picture and my whole world is made brand new! I have been having these days that feel like whirlwinds – you know those days that you wake up thinking, maybe just maybe I can get these few things done today, but as soon as your feet hit the ground, its like a tidal wave hits you, and everything you thought could happen is now swept out to sea, and you are flipping…
-
Wacky and Wild Mail
13 ounces or less. The wonderfully wacky things you can mail! Last week I wrote about my love of good ole fashion snail mail, and included that I would write about when I did a “out of the box” mail camp with my niece. Well, I can usually pat myself on the back for documenting things with photos. However, I remember sweating and being stared down by a postal worker while I attempted this fun adventure with my then four year old niece, who by the way was and is an excellent child! I believe the worker was perturbed that my mom and I would engage in such silly business.…
-
Smiles Delivered
“When I see a mailbox, I see a friend. I see something that can connect me to the people I love. I see an entity that can take my words and send them, in reliable snail speed, across the planet. Sure, email and social media are faster, but they’ve got nothing on the magic of a physical object arriving in my hands from thousands of miles away.” The Year I became Snail Mail Superstar by Sara McNally Oh what joy it is to find happy mail among the bills and advertisements, can I get an Amen? I can remember vividly as a child receiving mail. We had a post office…
-
Be Alert. Gather the Facts.
I laugh at this photo because if only the parenting know-it-alls knew what was coming for parents, would they have been so hard on my parents for allowing a black and white antenna tv in my room when I was sick for long periods of time? I mean how much could a little Lambchop or Skidamarink looping up and down with periods of black and grey lines do to me? And pacis, they already gave up on those – I found those as soon as they tried to hide them! (fun fact- never had to have braces!) Recently I had a conversation with a friend about the amount of “alert”…
-
You’ve Got Mail
I love Valentine’s Day! Now I know this holiday can be a love or strongly disliked day, so let me explain… I love valentine’s day, quite possibly, for the reason that most parents don’t like it and are quite possibly “over it” today. For me it’s the excitement of children, little mailboxes built by little hands, crafts, and hand written cards, and school parties (although I didn’t see or hear of many this year 😕 has our world banned these too?!?) Now all the adult hoopla, I could absolutely live the rest of my life without! Too much pressure and too much drama! You see, I was the kid that…
-
Clean Underwear
“Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident and they have to cut you out of your clothes.” That’s what my grandparents would say. Or if not an accident, you never know when you might get stuck in traffic, or have to go to the hospital, and the list went on. Matter of fact, my grandma was so sure this was going to happen that she always had an extra pair with her in her purse! Why do I share this? Simply because I was watching the View this week and this came up in conversation, and it hit me – this really was a…
