I have two fantastic kids. And I feel like bragging about them because they deserve some recognition for being interesting, curious, independent, sensible, kind, and responsible people. I also have two fantastic step kids. I'm not really entitled to brag on them but totally appreciate the warm glow when their Dad gets to.
I won't say I've never had a moment of worry with my kids, but it's been pretty smooth sailing and I've never had to post bail. This is even more wonderful given they are both actual adults now.
See, it's easy to brag on our kids when they are little unformed balls of potential wonderfulness. We can imagine and project our own instinctive recognition of their superior qualities. Then they become older and we admire their athletic or artistic or academic prowess and vie with other parents (though we don't admit it) to have the most accomplished kid on the block. We focus on the positives and shelter them to some extent from the consequences of the bad stuff that happens. We are still enjoying their potential more than who they actually are because we provide a buffer between our little darlings and the real world.
And then at some point we have to let go. Parts are super easy - not yelling "clean up your room" out of habit is priceless. Dragging out of bed to attend the pine car derby at 8AM on a Saturday morning is not something one misses much. Parts are super hard. Wondering how they are doing when you haven't heard from them for days and hearing parts but not necessarily all of the story when things go wrong. Finding out after the fact how they dealt with a major problem.
And that's when we get to see how our kids chose to fulfill all that potential we always knew they had.
So now comes the story about how my incredible kids have become interns at the White House and are working to solve global food shortages plus earning more money at their tender ages than I earned when I was forty. Nope.
And I am perfectly, completely, and utterly fine with that because better than any of that, as adults, they are interesting, curious, independent, sensible, kind, and responsible people.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
So here's the deal
I haven't posted since December and I can come up with several reasons and an excuse or two thrown in for good measure.
My last update was in December - in the middle of a three week visit by my daughter and her gentleman friend plus the holidays, plus our anniversary. All these occasions were happily a great success. We enjoyed a delightful Christmas Day at our friend Robbie's house complete with turkey, dressing, pie, dirty Santa swap, and an hour or two in the swimming pool confirming that Christmas happens in the full heat of summer in Perth. Laura and Evan had a good road trip up north of Perth and kangaroos and Aussie beers were thoroughly enjoyed. And Mike and I had a delicious bottle of New Years Eve champagne that did double duty for our anniversary.
But (first excuse) Mike and I both woke up feeling less than stellar on New Years Day, and the one bottle of champagne was not to blame. Fortunately Laura and Evan were on their road trip and managed to miss our initial bout of cooties. We were somewhat less snorty by the time they returned and kept our distance so they were mercifully spared.
On Jan 8th we bundled them on to a late night plane back home...and then stayed on call for 5 days while they were stranded at LAX through Snowmaggedon 2 or whatever they called the storm that shut the Atlanta airport for nearly four days. Staying on call meant calls at 3AM every night organizing hotel rooms, checking airport status, notifying Laura of changes and further cancellations, and eventually giving up and booking them on alternate flights via Houston and Knoxville plus counting on Evan's parent's being willing to brave the snow to drive two hours to pick them up. This actually worked and Delta has even issued a refund to my everlasting surprise. We have vowed Never Again on winter travel through Atlanta. Last year similar drama occurred on her trip this direction so none of us feel up to facing a 'third try is the charm' gamble.
While I spent the wee hours of each morning dealing with travel dramas, Mike quietly got more and more ill. I realized this when I went to breakfast with the girls one Saturday and came home to discover he'd actually taken himself off to the doctor. Now, we've all seen the man cold video right? The Man Cold . This was worse, and all my tender ministrations and murmurs of "poor little bunny" proved ineffectual. Antibiotics were required and cough medicine was acquired. Right about the time he started to improve, I came down with it again. Even more cough medicine was purchased, and despite invitations and grand plans we ended up watching the Australia Day fireworks on Jan 26 just the two of us with a box of tissues and a home made pavlova.
Another excuse I have for not updating is one I'm stealing from a friend because she brought it to my attention last week and it's true. It is because, after two years here, Perth feels like home. We've adjusted and as a result things don't seem nearly as unusual. The weather is good. The water is lovely. Things are expensive. Kangaroos are darling. I've even eaten Vegemite without gagging. As the weirdness has worn off there is simply less that seems interesting enough to share. The actual day to day of living, working, and keeping house is routine as it is everywhere in the world.
My third excuse is my favorite. I mentioned my Christmas gift in my last post. A Kindle. Immediately dubbed "My Precious" I have had more fun playing with it, shopping for books, showing it off to friends, and just using it than I ever would have guessed. I've purchased one as a gift for a friend already because I love it so and think everyone else I know should love it as well. Yes I am late to the Kindle e-reader movement and just sorry I didn't figure it all out much sooner. That might have spared you rants about the cost of books and dearth of library offerings. Time previously spent blogging has been spent scouring Amazon for free classics, favorite authors, and out of print offerings. True, I'm not doing myself any favors staying up past midnight every night reading but fortuitously the Kindle lends itself to being propped on those tiny ledges on exercise machines. As a result the gym and I are even becoming reacquainted. It's been both intellectually stimulating and a veritable boon to my physical health and well being. Honest.
But stay tuned...adventure is just around the corner complete with photographic evidence...
My last update was in December - in the middle of a three week visit by my daughter and her gentleman friend plus the holidays, plus our anniversary. All these occasions were happily a great success. We enjoyed a delightful Christmas Day at our friend Robbie's house complete with turkey, dressing, pie, dirty Santa swap, and an hour or two in the swimming pool confirming that Christmas happens in the full heat of summer in Perth. Laura and Evan had a good road trip up north of Perth and kangaroos and Aussie beers were thoroughly enjoyed. And Mike and I had a delicious bottle of New Years Eve champagne that did double duty for our anniversary.
But (first excuse) Mike and I both woke up feeling less than stellar on New Years Day, and the one bottle of champagne was not to blame. Fortunately Laura and Evan were on their road trip and managed to miss our initial bout of cooties. We were somewhat less snorty by the time they returned and kept our distance so they were mercifully spared.
On Jan 8th we bundled them on to a late night plane back home...and then stayed on call for 5 days while they were stranded at LAX through Snowmaggedon 2 or whatever they called the storm that shut the Atlanta airport for nearly four days. Staying on call meant calls at 3AM every night organizing hotel rooms, checking airport status, notifying Laura of changes and further cancellations, and eventually giving up and booking them on alternate flights via Houston and Knoxville plus counting on Evan's parent's being willing to brave the snow to drive two hours to pick them up. This actually worked and Delta has even issued a refund to my everlasting surprise. We have vowed Never Again on winter travel through Atlanta. Last year similar drama occurred on her trip this direction so none of us feel up to facing a 'third try is the charm' gamble.
While I spent the wee hours of each morning dealing with travel dramas, Mike quietly got more and more ill. I realized this when I went to breakfast with the girls one Saturday and came home to discover he'd actually taken himself off to the doctor. Now, we've all seen the man cold video right? The Man Cold . This was worse, and all my tender ministrations and murmurs of "poor little bunny" proved ineffectual. Antibiotics were required and cough medicine was acquired. Right about the time he started to improve, I came down with it again. Even more cough medicine was purchased, and despite invitations and grand plans we ended up watching the Australia Day fireworks on Jan 26 just the two of us with a box of tissues and a home made pavlova.
Another excuse I have for not updating is one I'm stealing from a friend because she brought it to my attention last week and it's true. It is because, after two years here, Perth feels like home. We've adjusted and as a result things don't seem nearly as unusual. The weather is good. The water is lovely. Things are expensive. Kangaroos are darling. I've even eaten Vegemite without gagging. As the weirdness has worn off there is simply less that seems interesting enough to share. The actual day to day of living, working, and keeping house is routine as it is everywhere in the world.
My third excuse is my favorite. I mentioned my Christmas gift in my last post. A Kindle. Immediately dubbed "My Precious" I have had more fun playing with it, shopping for books, showing it off to friends, and just using it than I ever would have guessed. I've purchased one as a gift for a friend already because I love it so and think everyone else I know should love it as well. Yes I am late to the Kindle e-reader movement and just sorry I didn't figure it all out much sooner. That might have spared you rants about the cost of books and dearth of library offerings. Time previously spent blogging has been spent scouring Amazon for free classics, favorite authors, and out of print offerings. True, I'm not doing myself any favors staying up past midnight every night reading but fortuitously the Kindle lends itself to being propped on those tiny ledges on exercise machines. As a result the gym and I are even becoming reacquainted. It's been both intellectually stimulating and a veritable boon to my physical health and well being. Honest.
But stay tuned...adventure is just around the corner complete with photographic evidence...
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