Five-Minute Friday: View

It's Friday again, which means it's time to see what kind of writing I can lay down in five minutes. I do this for several reasons: 1. It's a fun challenge, and I think it keeps my skills sharp. I tend to be wordy, and you can only get so wordy in five minutes if you want to make your point.  2. I love the community of writers who participate in this challenge every week. I love encouraging them and getting their feedback, too. 3. It feels like a fun way to kick off the weekend...kind of a soul-cleansing free write before we head into several days of family togetherness (and usually, no writing). 


                                        Ready to join in this week? Head over to Lisa Jo's blog for the details.

VIEW

I live in a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. To get to any respectably-sized cities, we have to drive over at least one of those mountains. It could be limiting, I guess, but we've gotten used to driving 40 minutes or so if we need something you can't find at Wal-mart. Besides, I think it makes for an interesting grouping of people in our town...everyone has either grown up here and decided to stay, has gotten stuck here and can't get out, or has come here very much on purpose. Other than the through hikers from the Appalachian Trail, the temporary park employees and the summer tourists, we don't have a lot of folks just passing through for a short time.

Living in the valley means the sun sets earlier than it does at the beach, because the mountains block out part of the light. It means we can't see Mercury when it's low on the horizon, because the mountain hides it from our view. It means that fog sometimes settles on us, hiding everything but what's immediately in front of us. It means that we have to go Up if we want to see further than the end of our street...and when we do, our town down below and our life in it suddenly seem very small.

My own personal valley these days has a great view of what's immediately in front of me: a sinkful of dirty dishes, a load of dirty diapers, a floorful of Legos and some play dough that got ground into the living room carpet last week. I also have a great view of my three beautiful little ones, whether they are laughing together or ripping each other's hair out by the roots. It's easy to get stuck looking at this view of the trenches of raising a young family and to think it's ordinary and unimportant. In some ways, it is. It's also sacred, though, this time we spend down on the floor at eye level with our children. And while the days might drag on forever and make this time in our lives seem endless, one day I think we'll be standing on a mountain, looking back at this trench and wondering where the years went so quickly.


For more Five-Minute Friday, visit The Gypsy Mama.

Theme Thursday: Bodies

I'm linking up with Theme Thursday at Clan Donaldson this week. The theme is Bodies.

Here's what I've got:

SuperSam squishes as much of his arm as possible into a container of water beads. It was just after this that he announced he wanted to fill the bathtub with them and get in with no clothes on...I can imagine how it would feel to submerge your whole body in those things, can't you?

Nora really likes standing on top of my feet for some reason. I like the view from above, especially how her second toe is longer than her big toe...just like her mama.

And finally, everyone who has a Jupiter tattoo needs to be this enthusiastic about it. I love him in this picture...from bony little-boy shoulders down to pruny fingers after playing in the creek (and getting so wet he had to take off his shirt). Oh, and the gums with their itty-bitty baby teeth...how perfect are those teeth? I'm so glad we have a while longer with them before they start falling out- they make me unreasonably happy.

For more bodies, visit Clan Donaldson.

Today's real post

I have good news to share.

I'm having an unbelievably difficult parenting day today, however, so I'm not going to post the glowing, excited post I had planned. I'll save it for another day. I've never been good at pretending to feel a way I don't really feel, and for me, putting up a post that isn't reflective of what's actually happening is no easier than looking someone in the face at the store and answering, "Just fine!" when what I really want to say is, "Today is really, really hard."


Today is really tough, y'all.


I would love some of you to tell me that after their 5th birthdays, children become more cheerful and sunny individuals and seem less determined to ruin everything just because they prefer being miserable and want all other members of their families to share their misery.


Anyone? Is 5 easier? Because 4 1/2 is really testing everything I thought I knew about young children. I'm struggling.

Back to the good news: I'm excited to have my first post published today as a contributing writer for CatholicMom.com, an inspirational site with articles on parenting, marriage, sacraments, theology, and lots more. I'll be sharing one post a month there and would love if you took the time to visit and leave a comment. There are many talented writers contributing there, and it's an honor to be included among them.

Now, I'm going to take advantage of nap time (now that doors are no longer being slammed repeatedly down the hall accompanied by screams of "NOOO! NOO! NOOOOO!") and rest up for the afternoon. Given how the morning has gone, I think I might be in for it. Pray for me, will you? 

Best Idea Ever, Vol. 5: Have a cleanup theme song.

Yes, I know this is one of the best ways to manipulate children behavior management techniques. Almost every classroom I have ever worked in has had some cue song to tell kids when it's time to clean up, and it almost always works. So why don't I have one at home?

The thing is, I have issues with sing-songy "kid" songs that have no musical merit, and I always disliked the standard cleanup anthems enough that I have never used one of them at home.

On a recent, messy night, I decided to type "clean up" in the search bar on Spotify. I got the usual suspects: Barney, Laurie Berkner, Yo Gabba Gabba...but I also got this totally catchy gospel song by the Canton Spirituals.




No, it's not actually about cleaning up your toys...but I like it, so it doesn't matter. It says "clean up" more than a few times, which is good enough for me.







By the second chorus, everyone was singing along. More importantly, everyone was cleaning up...ages 18 months to 34 years. It was an amazing family moment. I only asked them one time, said, "This is our cleanup music!" and led by example. When SuperSam got off task, I just said, "uh-oh, our cleanup song is still on!" and kept cleaning...and so did he.

No arguing. No nagging. Just dancing and teamwork and gospel music. And handclaps, because how could you not clap along?

I should definitely have done this sooner. We will be using it from now on.

Have you used music to control your children reinforce routines with your kids?

Five-Minute Friday: Song

On Fridays, a bunch of brave people write in response to a prompt for five minutes without backtracking or over-editing and share their writing here. Why? Because it's Friday, and we should celebrate making it to the end of the week. Because sometimes, letting words pour out without stopping them to see if they are good enough for anyone else is healing for the soul. And because “writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar" (E.B. White). 

 

SONG

I'm not sure when I first heard it, but I know we sang it in Miss Emily's choir...a flock of  four-year-olds in little white robes and wooden Sunday School chairs taking the exhortation to make a joyful noise very literally. It rooted itself in my head and my heart, the little melody in its lovely simplicity repeating over and over, accompanying my sandbox digging, my swinging, my coloring, my tricycle riding.

In school, it sometimes began to play inside me when I felt nervous...before a timed math test, before my lines in the fourth grade play, before we marched onto the field for a band competition. It followed me to college, where I hummed it as I moved my things into my first dorm room. I played it in the practice room in an almost-empty music building before my first end-of-year jury. I listened to it inside my head when anxiety made it hard to fall asleep.

I always thought I would sing it as a lullaby...and when we thought we might not be able to have any children, I hummed it to comfort myself at night. When our foster children had trouble sleeping, I sang it to them, rocking them in the blue armchair in our tiny living room. When I learned I was pregnant, I rocked in the chair and sang it to the little boy I carried...and when Samuel finally arrived, I sang it into his tiny ear our first night together as mother and child, his tiny warm body cuddled in my arms.

How many times I've played and sung this simple melody...how many times it has brought comfort to me and to the little ones I love. Even now, as I hum it to myself, I realize it's not just the song that has been with me all these years, wrapped around so many stages of my life like a blanket - it's the One whose love is wrapped all around each of us...the One whose name I sing.

Follow this link for more Five-Minute Friday.

New voices are always welcome to join in...we'd love to hear your song.

7 Quick Takes: The 4-year-old humor edition

It's finally Friday, which means I have survived another week of life with one of my biggest blessings: SuperSam.

This week's seven quick takes are dedicated to him and also to all parents of preschool-aged boys. May the force be with you, folks...especially the force that helps you keep your face straight when you know you shouldn't laugh at what he just said. If you're like me and you find preschool potty humor funny, then you are probably having a hard time not laughing at all the poop jokes.

I totally get that.

I even had a professor in college tell me I had the sense of humor of a four-year-old. I was mildly outraged at the time, but now that I live with my very own four-year-old, I have to admit that the professor was right.

A sampling of SuperSam humor follows. If these aren't funny to you, you probably have a sophisticated, adult sense of humor. That's wonderful. I'm not sure I will ever get there.

--- 1 ---

to Lucy, who is holding her baby doll- "Your doll is a robot! That doll is a baby-eating robot, and it's gonna get you! You better run, baby, run! RUN, LUCY!!" (Lucy dissolves in tears.)

--- 2 ---

"If dinosaurs pooped, it would be a giant rock of stinky poop as big as our house! No, as big as a mountain! I wish my toy dinosaurs could actually, really poop. Poop is AWESOME!"

--- 3 ---

"This dinosaur is gonna destroy the universe. Then I'm gonna be Astronaut SuperSam and I'm gonna save it. Universe-saving is actually my number one priority. And dinosaurs. Those two things."

--- 4 ---

while building with toothpicks and egg cartons- "Why even are these called toothpicks? Maybe there should just be a box of fingers that is labeled 'Nose Picks.'"

--- 5 ---

SuperSam does art:

"This is Nora eating herself and then spitting herself out."

--- 6 ---

(Holding a bathtub stacking cup toy with a hole in the bottom) "This little circle is just the right size for my penis to fit into it!"

--- 7 ---

And finally, a knock-knock joke, from a kid who wants desperately to understand how they work:

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Velvi.
Velvi who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana head?


If you made it this far and you're laughing, you are welcome to come babysit. I mean that.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Theme Thursday: (Party) Animals

I'm linking up with Clan Donaldson again today for Theme Thursday. Today's prompt? Animals. We have no animals residing here any longer. You may review the fish tank incident if you want to know why. Anyway, I am forced to be creative with my interpretation of today's theme.

 

This might be what you get if you cross a hoedown with a science project on time travel and the unthinkable happens.

Just before breakfast this morning, SuperSam informed me that the farm animals were having a dance party on the kitchen table. By the time I made it over to look at the scene he had set up, his dinosaurs had infiltrated it and were negatively impacting the mood of the party. Carnage and mayhem! Is the collie dead? Passed out with fear? Is the chicken alarmed that there's a pteradactyl next to her on the barn roof?

Apparently, it all looks much worse than it is. Apparently, this is just a friendly gathering of species normally separated by millions of years, brought together by their mutual love of music and dance. No biggie.

SuperSam on why the T-Rex is eating a goat: "He's a carnivore. He's super hungry, so he went to the snack bar. A hot dog just isn't enough to fill him up so he can dance his best."

And the goat?

"He doesn't mind. He knows T-Rex is a carnivorous dinosaur. I think he pretty much expected it since he was hanging out at the snack bar."

There you have it. For more Theme Thursday (featuring real photography enthusiasts and real, live animals!), visit Clan Donaldson.