Learning by Example

I posted this a while back and had to remove it for reasons a lot of you know. I decided I would post it again since it wasn't up for very long. I hope you enjoy it again.

I am always after Katie for leaving stuff laying around, especially things that Mattie May can get into.

A few months back, as I sat with Mattie May fixing her hair, I noticed that Katie had left her tweezers (again) on the lamp table. Being in the usual rush to get Mattie May and me both ready for the day, I did not pick them up.

I finished her hair, gave her a kiss and her cup, and sat her on her blanket to watch "Micka Mouse" while I finished getting dressed. From my bedroom I could see her get up and go towards the sofa. I headed that way. Before I could get there, she went running towards the bathroom. I watched as she jumped up on her stool, then she just stood there. What was she doing?

I had to take a breath to keep from laughing out loud. There she stood, looking in to my little magnifying mirror that she had in her left hand and the tweezers in her right hand holding them up to her eye brow. She just stood there, no movement.

When I asked her what she was doing, she only replied "Momma". She was imitating what she had seen Katie do many times! At this point I did laugh out loud, but my answer to her was "Yes, you are doing like your momma, but your momma should have put these up". She puckered up and gave me a great big kiss and a hug and we continued getting ready, brushing our teeth, closing up the house and heading on to day care and work.

I know I am rambling again and everyone is surely tired of all my Mattie May stories. I just felt this was a cute and funny example to prove a point - Watch what you do in the sight of your children, because they are certainly watching you!

The Picture Tells the Story, Again

Sometimes you just have to let the pictures tell the story!

Congratulations Rene'e and Shelby and the rest of the Jim Ned Lady Indians.

We can't wait 'til next year!

Worry

My dear friend Michelle recently sent this to me. I just felt like I had to share it.

WORRY

Is there a magic cutoff period when
Offspring become accountable for their own
Actions? Is there a wonderful moment when
Parents can become detached spectators in
The lives of their children and shrug, "It's
Their life," and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital
Corridor waiting for doctors to put a few
Stitches in my daughter's head. I asked, "When do
You stop worrying?" The nurse said,
"When they get out of the accident stage." My
Dad just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little
Chair in a classroom and heard how one of my
Children talked incessantly, disrupted the class,
And was headed for a career making
License plates. As if to read my mind, a teacher
Said, "Don't worry, they all go through
This stage and then you can sit back, relax and
Enjoy them." My dad just smiled
Faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime
Waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come
Home, the front door to open. A friend said,
"They're trying to find themselves. Don't worry,
In a few years, you can stop worrying. They'll be
Adults." My dad just smiled faintly
And said nothing.

By the time I was 50, I was sick & tired of being
Vulnerable. I was still worrying over my
Children, but there was a new wrinkle. There
Was nothing I could do about it. My
Dad just smiled faintly and said nothing. I
Continued to anguish over their failures, be
Tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in
Their disappointments.

My friends said that when my kids got married I
Could stop worrying and lead my own
Life. I wanted to believe that, but I was
Haunted by my dad's warm smile and his
Occasional, "You look pale. Are you all right?
Call me the minute you get home. Are
You depressed about something?"

Can it be that parents are sentenced to a
Lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another
Handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of
Human frailties and the fears of the
Unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue
That elevates us to the highest form of life?

One of my children became quite irritable
Recently, saying to me, "Where were you? I've been
Calling for 3 days, and no one answered. I was worried."
I smiled a warm smile.
The torch has been passed.

PASS IT ON TO OTHER WONDERFUL PARENTS
(And also to your children. That's the fun part.)

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did.