"She refused to be bored, chiefly because she wasn't boring." Zelda Fitzgerald

Showing posts with label values. Show all posts
Showing posts with label values. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

In Which, I Regret That I Counted My Chickens...

Blast.

And then last night Ru woke up and vomited his brains out at 1 AM.

Blast. Blast. Blast.

Am very sick of everyone being sick, of the smell and the heaps of laundry and the staying in and the feeling crappy all round. Please, God....let it end. Am trying to stay un-depressed somehow in the midst of it all. Rally the simple starches and the clear fluids and the cozy couch throws for afternoon napping, we power on.

Didn't go to my painting group today for fear I make all the painterly types ill and/or expose my own children to nursery illnesses of new varieties while their thresholds are at low ebb. Instead, I put on a Kipper the Dog video and let the boys cuddle in *Uncle Bernard's recliner while I set up shop with my brushes on the dining room table. Just because we can't eat complex starches or meats or stay hydrated doesn't mean we can't have artistic pursuits that are consistent!



I loaded up the former diaper bag with all my painting equipment just so that I can have it all ready and in one place when I'm ready to go out again. I realize that I will need a diaper bag again soon but, really folks, that's 12 weeks away and for 12 weeks, I plan to enjoy a diaper-bag-less life. No toting everything known to man in that giant heavy thing while having it slip continually off my shoulder or embarrassedly pulling out old socks and half eaten granola bars while searching for crumpled diapers I have stashed somewhere in the bottom.  Just for a little while, its my painting bag, and much good may it do me.



Nutmeg, being the dearest-of-friends sort, called to check in on us and then picked up another box of Saltines, some Gatorade and a nice bundle of bananas which she handed to me quickly through the door. I, carefully grabbing the bag in a way that wouldn't possibly contaminate her, she, waving and wishing peace on our house as she closed the screen and grimaced at my wincing thanks. She's the best. I feel slightly less overwhelmed knowing that I have these sorts of people in my life, people who check in and people who really mean it when they ask if there's anything they can get while they're out. Quality stuff right there folks.

In other news...I swear, really people...either this illness has me hallucinating now or I have been hearing a lone spring peeper for about two days now in the swamp. And this afternoon I was sure I heard a robin's spring call, the kind of whinnying trill they do during soft spring rains. It was raining. Or sludging or sleeting or.... something but, at least some of the time it was rain. Maybe this is just a very serious case of spring fever, that has simply gone to all our stomachs. Am I slowly going mad?


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*We always call it that. We always have. A inherited it from his deceased relative along with a giant desk our computer sits on which goes by the name, "Uncle Bernard's Desk." Creepy perhaps but, it just accidentally happened.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Teach Your Children Well


 Today is a genuine sick-day. Yesterday and the day before Ru was sick and now both boys qualify...and just minutes ago, before he headed out for a walk A told me, "I don't feel so well." *groan*

So, I'm doing lots of hugging, and changing clothes, and back rubbing and brow mopping and Saltine cracker serving and not a lot of very active anything. Leaves time for stiller projects: thinking, reading, research (houses, houses, houses...oh and California!) and laundry folding and sorting.

Seems like Ru ought to be out of the woods sometime soon and that will feel hopeful. I still feel okay and I'm hoping and praying and stubbornly believing that I'll be okay. Here's to optimism.

All that to say that one of the things I've been mulling over for a while is this list which, I thought I'd share with you since my sick bed nurse duty has given me the time to think of the last few additions. With my poor, sick boys in mind, and my thankfully, buffered and protected from illness tiny baby....I present to you:

Things I Want My Children To Learn

1. To walk with God
2. To follow their artistic urges
3. Self esteem
4. Deep compassion
5. Environmental responsibility
6. A can-do attitude
7. How to entertain themselves
8. Respect and love for elderly people
9. To be helpful
10. A love for beauty
11. A spirit of cultural adventurousness
12. Good old fashioned etiquette
13. Optimism
14. Everyday biology
15. Chutzpa
16. The value of friendship
17. Respect for and love of animals
18. Appreciation for hard work
19. Physical activity
20. How to read music and sing a part.
21. Love for books and stories
22. To value their family history
23. How to fish
24. How to keep their own houses
25. Generosity
26. Humor
27. Integrity
28. To be articulate
29. To mix with all types of people
30. Curiosity preservation
31. How to let go
32. To be a good judge of character
33. How to receive graciously
34. How to laugh at themselves
35. Patient stillness

What's on your list? Anything weird on mine?
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