Snapped!

 

“Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?”

Excerpt from “Firework“ by Katy Perry

You know how sometimes you’ll read about a woman who’s snapped? She’s in the grocery store and flips out or she’s driving down the road and slams into a tree, all for no reason at all, or so it seems? I was that woman today. No, I didn’t hurt anyone and you won’t read about me in the news, but I did have a particularly stressful morning.

I take my boys to school every day. Their schools are relatively close to each other but not very close to my house and actually pretty far from my work. On this particular morning, my oldest wanted to get to school earlier than usual. If we’re in the car by 7:05 am, we can make it. We weren’t. For one thing, I reminded them that they needed to dump the trash and recycle. Why they’re unable to notice both of these items stacked up like ice cream cones is beyond me.

Anyway, after scrambling with breakfasts, lunches, and chores, we jump in the car and head to the highway. This morning, it was at a standstill. What to do? Take a chance and hope it clears up or go another route? I chose another route. Wrong. First, the lights are working against us, then a firetruck has to back into the firehouse, then traffic is so bad that I can’t access the street I need to get to the first school. Heading to the second school was almost as bad – there were literally two geese crossing Colorado Boulevard. What?!

At this point, I realized that I was really stressed. Unfortunately, realizing you’re stressed doesn’t mean you can do anything about it. In fact, it can actually add to your stress level because you’re now in flight or fight mode and ready to rumble. We all have these days. What to do when this happens? Just breathe. Take five deep breaths and realize tomorrow is another day. Oh, and try not to strangle anyone.

Learning to Learn

My son has been receiving materials from universities interested in him attending their schools. Swarthmore College, located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, sent a small booklet of a Keynote Address given to an audience of 8th, 9th, and 10th graders and their parents. The address was held at a Youth Odyssey Series sponsored by the Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth. In it, the benefits of pursuing a liberal arts degree are discussed.

Although my boys both have scientific minds, and are hoping to become engineers, I like the gist of this address: pursue an education for the sake of learning how to learn, and how to enjoy learning. “And the experience of learning joyfully becomes ingrained in the person so that learning becomes a habit that not only continues but deepens through life, whatever career we choose to be in.”

My hope is that every child has that chance.

 

Happy Mother’s Day

“His little hands stole my heart… and his little feet ran away with it.” Anonymous

When I was in my twenties, I never imagined I’d want children. They seemed expensive, overwhelming, and a whole lot of work. Besides, I had so much to do – travel to all of the great places in the world, find my beach house, change the world.

At the age of 30 though, my priorities changed; suddenly, a baby made sense. And the day that I became a Mom is the day I realized that I’d never go back. There is something so amazing about this little part of you – so dependent and adorable. I remember spending hours just looking at my babies, imagining what they were thinking and wondering who they would become. 

Now that they’re 15 and 12, “who they would become” is unfolding before my eyes. It’s awe inspiring to see what interests them, where their strengths lie, what makes them tick. The fact that there’s a holiday to celebrate Moms makes sense to me, for we get to celebrate our children every day of our lives.