One Part Inspiration...

When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, they were instructed to take " twelve stones  from the middle of the Jordan,  according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites... [carry] them over with them to their camp, where they [would] put them down." [Joshua 4:2-9]   The purpose of this exercise was to have a visible reminder of where they had come from, who had led them, and who would still be with them in the land in which they were arriving. In my life, I have always believed in finding ways to mark events.  It's a way of following the Israelite example of taking a stone from the river to mark a significant passage of time, or a lesson I have been learning.    For instance, I had for many years, a wooden cottage that lit up from the inside.  I bought it at a time when our family was going through some very deep waters and I wanted a visual to remind me to HOPE in God.  Another time, I bought a special clock to mark the 15th an...

A week after the first celebration, we geared up for another.  My daughter graduated from her program in Sign Language Interpretation yesterday. We had to be on the road very early - we went in a convoy.  She was allowed three guests, because the auditorium only seated 300, but she was quite sure she could fit her whole entourage in the seats - she has very long eyelashes. It was raining like November all the way in.  I was worried because I had dressed for summer and didn't relish the thought of sitting all that time in wet clothes and damp feet.  But she found us a parking spot right across the street - with one hour parking.  We questioned the wisdom of parking there for four hours,  but she was quite sure that we wouldn't get a ticket, because "they NEVER check", and trusting her long eyelashes again, we parked and ran across the street, clutching umbrellas to shield us from the rain. We made it inside with the minimum of water damage. Once insid...

This is the tuxedo. It arrived a week and a half early, and we had plans to get pictures taken before the big day, but the weather and timing did not cooperate. When it was sunny, one of them had to work.  When it was raining, everyone was available.  It all worked out in the end because prom day turned out breezy blue. This is the wrist corsage.  And this is the boutonniere. I bought the materials and a dear friend took time out of her day  (in spite of being sick) to make them.  I was impressed with how co-ordinated the grad and his date would look.                     These are the left over orchids which have lasted much longer than either of them.  This is the advantage of making things yourself.  You get to enjoy the product which you haven't used in another setting.                               ...

A passage of time has come and gone.   September 4 was my last first day of sending kids to school.   I  followed him down the street while he was walking towards the bus stop, until he caught me.   I felt a little sheepish, because his eyes told me that he knew why I was there.   He graciously let me walk the rest of the way with him.   And then take my 'last-first'day' picture as he got on the bus. These moments are cherished in a mother's memory.  Unfortunately, mothers don't usually have the time or space to sit and soak in reflection.   The bus had barely rumbled down the street, when the phone rang reminding me I had a dental appointment.  And so, the moment passed.   I wiped my eyes and got in the van. 

I don't know why I always am shocked by the beginning of school.  I attended school for 15 years.  I have seen 15 starts of school for my children. You'd think that I would know the drill. Still, I find myself dumbfounded at the pace that is set. It starts with schedules and ends with money.  First of all it's the schedules:  Bus schedules.  Class schedules.  Sports schedules.  Choir schedules.  Music lessons.  On and on.  And it compounds - depending on how many marbles are rolling around in the can.  In our case, that would be five - less- two this year.  I am always relieved when someone has the good sense to say - "Let's start (insert name of program) but not next month after everyone gets settled in school."    Yes, let's do that.  In fact, why don't we wait for another month after that?! And then there is the money.  I think that at the beginning of September, all  parents should ...

Summer has come to an end.  At least the school holiday has. The weather seems reticient to let go of  vacation mode.  I concur. Who wants to return to schedules? Who wants to shoulder the backpacks? Is anyone actually interested in active and passive voice, direct and indirect objects, or compound and complex sentences? Does anyone really care about absolute values or distributive properties? Is there an absolute need to expound on the effects of common diseases in 19th century London, or wax eloquent on the relative bouyancy of supermarket eggs? Couldn't we just hang out for a few more days and watch the sun rise and the sun set while enjoying pancake breakfasts and BBQ's on the back deck?

By the time the end of June arrives, I always feel like I have been through a whirlpool.   The days leading up to the last exams are chock full of homework assignments, studying and trying to keep track of who's doing what, and where.  One email from the school,  said something about a sports banquet.  Yadee yadee yadee.  I was in the middle of a bunch of other things and only took the time to read the subject line.  And since it had been 'opened', I didn't remember that I hadn't actually read the content.  A few days later, I saw a ticket on the desk.  I asked my son what that was about and he said that it was for the sports banquet.  I asked if we were supposed to go and he said he didn't think so.  I took it off my 'to-do' list.  But I made sure he got to the sports banquet.  It was a free meal after all, and he is a growing concern.  Turns out, he got an award at said banquet....

The elementary school my kids attended is closing it's doors forever at the end of June.  The walls of this school housed my children for nine years.  I forged relationships with the teachers and support staff. as together we navigated through the elementary years, for each of them. It wasn't the school that the kids started in, and I was reluctant to switch because we loved the other school so much.  But having them attend this school made more sense because we lived very close to it.  And we never regretted it.  Their Dad had attended this school for a few years, so a piece of our family history was held there already. The kids could run to the school at the last minute, and come home for lunch, on the days when I was there.  Eventually, this came to an end because they liked playing on the play ground more than they enjoyed a hot lunch.  The motto at the school was 'A place where every child is important' and the staff lived that o...

Sometime ago, I was blog-lurking, and the question of the day was "What is the best parenting advice you have ever received?" I've been thinking about it, and I believe it was this: I was in a dilemma about work. I had been offered a job which would give us more financial freedom. The problem was about the hours. They were after-school hours and would have to be worked into the schedule I'd already set up. Although I wouldn't be working full-time, I would be away from home in the after-school time. I went back and forth about whether or not to take the job. I made a list of pros and cons. All of which could be balanced against one another. I wasn't sure about the actual placement - whether I would be welcome at this new facility and be given professional leeway to do my job the way I knew how. But on the other hand, I'd started at new facilities before and my experience was that I am pretty good at making the best of a situation. And besides, it would give...

Although I haven't had my 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione today, the sodium hypochlorite, and the sodium carbonate are hard at work getting me ready for what I need to accomplish. How can you tell I sat with my #2 son last night, while he worked out all sorts of fomulae for chemical compounds in preparation for his test today. It took me back a few years to my foray into the world of chemistry. I remember very little about that class except that my teacher Mr Chong was very passionate about all things molecular. And he had a very long fingernail on his baby finger. which I found very distracting. I took Gr. 12 Chemistry and worked very hard at it; I think I ended up with either a C+ or a B- (aren't they the same thing?). In the end, I decided I wouldn't be a chemical engineer, and my chemistry days ended in the second row of Mr Chong's chemistry lab. Last night, however, I had fun watching my son work through multivalent, binary and polyatomic compounds,...

It's the first day of school. All summer, I refused to think too much about it. I lived in the moment, reticient to admit that school would ever begin again. Well, it has and of course, it has set me off on a million different pathways of memories of getting the kids off to school. When a good friend and I each were holding our firstborns, we looked at each other one day, and said " It's only five years before they begin school ." In those days, five years seemed like a very long time. And yet, the years went screaming by and suddenly, it was time to start their formal education. The first day my daughter went to kindergarten was chaotic. The night before, we had welcomed my oldest sister for a visit with us. I had a four-month old baby, and my other child was three. My husband took my daughter to school. I hardly had time to take a picture of her on this momentous occasion, before she was whisked away. Somehow, I had thought I'd be able to take in the moment and ...

The end is near! The end is near! Each day the calendar proclaims this fact. And true to form, for this time of year, life is ramping up. It is a little strange though, not to be involved in any sorts of end-of-year programs, except of course the very exciting GRADUATION! that will be happening. There's no concerts to attend. No awards ceremonies. No recitals. No pool parties, or BBQs. It feels a little strange, not to be marking the calendar up with all manner of wrap ups. But not in a bad way. Just in a different way. A different season. The end of the school year is marking a milestone for me. It is the end of a year-long experiment of working in the school system. I have thoroughly enjoyed being in the midst of all the energy of young kids. And the staff has been extraordinarily kind and patient with me, as I learned the ropes (and changed the ropes course a little bit with my inexperience) And once again, I am in a spot of 'not knowing'. I am not sure what ...

On his trip to Hawaii, my #2 son bought a ukulele. It is very portable. It came with a hard case and some quick lessons from the vendor on how to play. Since returning, he has spent a lot of time on the internet, downloading songs. He watches tutorials on how to play the ukulele. He practices long into the night. He takes it to school and practices during the hours he waits for me to pick him up. He has definitely got his money's worth. Tonight I was helping him with an English project. He had to write a 'concrete poem'. We decided to write about the ukulele. This is the poem (before he makes it into a concrete one). The Ukulele I play the ukulele, It means ‘the jumping flea’ I practice morning, noon, and night I play it masterfully. I play in four-part harmony, My fingers flying true. The ukulele is unique And played by very few. It’s compact, and so portable, I take it everywhere. If I practice well, then one day soon, I’ll...

Should you walk across the threshold of my place tonight, you might be tempted to wonder what in the world is going on. There's paper all over the desk - testament to homework projects and course selection sheets, updated account balances of various trips being taken in the next few weeks. Valentine's Day leftovers poke through the paper with the residual enjoyment that comes from knowing that loved ones wanted to let me know they were thinking of me. The kitchen counter is topped with the file drawer which is being used to collect the receipts, which we will need in order to send our annual love letter to Revenue Canada. A box labelled "Sunkist" holds the leftovers of a trip to Costco. Over in the dining room, cardboard and paper is strewn everywhere as my #1 son works on a school project. He is constructing playdough people in animated forms and taking pictures of them so he can make a movie of the history of the Russian Revo lution. The laundry room is piled high...

The week school came back, two of the three boys came to my classroom for small-group instruction. They informed me that the other boy was in Quebec. "Really?" I said, thinking that was a little off the beaten track. "Is he skiing?" "Nope" they replied. "He's swimming with the dolphins." "Dolphins?" "Yep." My geography is a litte rusty. I wondered if the St. Lawrence Seaway had dolphins in it. Especially at this time of the year. Then my mind turned to the lesson at hand. This week, he returned from his trip. I passed him in the hallway and said "Welcome back!" He replied "Thanks, I was in Cuba." I guess if you say QuÉbec as the QuÉbeçois do, then Cuba and QuÉbec can be easily confused.

Occasionally, one of the kids asks me to help them with studying. I get to take a step back into time, and challenge myself to re-learn some of the same things I was instructed in when I was in school. We watch French videos with vignettes of every day life , and answer the questions. " Pourquoi est-ce Marie confusée ?" Answer: " I don't know why Marie is confused, but I know I'm confused because I didn't understand what she was talking about ...". Or we read through the Science text (now there's some can't-put-it-down stuff) and learn the periodic table. Occasionally, we go way back in history and look at the nasty Kings of England. I am always a little relieved to know I don't have to actually pump these facts out on the test. That's their job. Usually the next day, I think about what learning has gone on, and try to challenge myself to remember which part of the bean seed creates the root .... umm....it's the.... the radic...

A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.” ~Peter De Vries ~ The thing about being a soccer mom/ gymnastics mom/art club mom/theatre mom is that a mom has little bitty blocks of time to use. These have to happen quickly because there's not enough time to get too involved in errands, when in less than forty five minutes, she has to make a return trip to the field/gym/gallery/theatre. A mom who ferries her kids around, rarely has a whole evening to while away the hours. But she recognizes that little bits of time are better than no time, so it's best to plan a bit of 'mom time' for herself, while she is waiting. If there's no use in going home for two minutes before she has to turn around and go get the child(ren), then she might as well use the opportunity to do a couple things she wants to do, so her own soul gets fed while they get their exercise/paintings up to snuff/lines memorized. Here's a li...

It's the beginning of another school year. Another year for Wonder Mom to save the world. Wonder Mom knows this requires spending a lot of money. She must replace last year's lost/damaged items. She must stock up on supplies of every shape and size. As Wonder Mom pays for [yet another pair of] shoes for her son, the message is received. The lunch cupboard needs reinforcement. Summer has come to an end, and the cupboard only houses a canister of peanut butter and the last of a loaf of moldy bread. Wonder Mom needs"grabbables". No time to lose! School starts soon. Action must be taken. Wonder Mom's success in saving the world is contingent on g rabbables. Without them, her heroic arsenal is in danger of causing untold household chaos. Wonder Mom must not take that chance. Instead, she flies through the grocery aisles, bypassing old-fashioned ingredients like flour and oatmeal and cocoa, and stocks her cart with grabbables . These essentia...

Last night, I was talking to my husband. [ Ok, I was complaining. Even though I'm not a complainer. Ha ha. And I never have to get after my children to clean up their rooms either.] So anyways, I was complaining that I felt like I had so many things on my to-do list, that I couldn't even think straight about what it was that I should do first. He sorta mentioned that I go through this every year. Then this morning, when I was blog-stalking- which is my way of avoiding the jobs that I need to get done before I get ready for work, I looked over my 'drafts' posts. This is what I found. It was written August 29 2008. Unfortunately, The world doesn't stop Because I am not ready for the fall. Unfortunately, Other people don't wait For me to get My act in gear And that's where the post stopped . Apparently, I have been through this before. My husband may be onto something.

End of Year Blues Verse One: It's the end of the year. The exams! The assignments! The projects! The permission forms. The extra-ciricular events needing money. Pressure is mounting. Chorus: The mom frets. The mom fusses. The mom fidgets. The mom frets. The mom fusses. The mom fidgets. Verse 2 It's the end of the year. The kids moan. The kids procrastinate. The kids happen upon overdue papers. The bottom of the backpack is a treasure-trove. A friend mentions casually that another assignment is due tomorrow. Pressure is mounting. (Chorus) Verse 3: It's the end of the year. Internal conversations. "It's their responsibility." "But they're only kids." "It's their responsibility." "But they need a push. " Pressure is mounting. (Chorus)