A lot of the blogs I follow have regular themes for their posts- "Wordless Wednesday" or "Quotes to Ponder" and whatnot. I feel that my own little blog is missing out on this predictability, and if there is one thing in my life I could use more of at this point, it is predictability. (I almost typed "regularity" but realized that could be misconstrued as too much information. ha!) So, in an effort to be as cool as the other bloggers I see, I present to you "A song for Sunday."
Today we sang the third verse of God of Grace and God of Glory in church. Amazing how words penned in 1930 can still be a powerful prayer for the church today:
Cure Thy children’s warring madness, Bend our pride to Thy control. Shame our wanton selfish gladness, Rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal, Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.
As I write this entry, I'm listening to Lydia's lullaby music through the baby monitor. Usually, it is a nice compilation of classical music, or xylophone versions of lullaby classics. Right now, it is "Yellow Submarine." On one of their last visits, my dad gave the girls a Rockabye Baby rendition of Beatles music. I'm so glad I finally remembered it at nap time! It's a lot of fun.
Of course, it is also bad, because it immediately made me go to the Rockabye Baby music store online and begin composing a wish list. Here is the list of future renditions I want (for the girls, of course!):
U2
The Cure
Nirvana
MORE Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Coldplay
The Eagles
Smashing Pumpkins
GreenDay
Beach Boys
Oh what the heck, I'll take them ALL! Except maybe for Tool. Oh, and although I like Metallica, I find a lullabye version of Enter Sandman to be a disturbing thought. I admit, I am a little intrigued by the Bjork album, though.
Check out the website from the above link, and see for yourself! They even have a little poll for who they should "Rockabye" next. Vote GNR, please, so I can share a cute little version of my all time favorite song with the Sweet Child(ren) of Mine. And for those of you out there who are not the least bit excited by my above list of artists, there is also a sister site of country artists: Hushabye Baby. It has Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline... OOOH! I'm going to need to make another list...
Initial disclaimer- this post has a lot of pictures & no real point. You've been warned.
So today I decided to break out the pack'n'play for Lydia. When Hannah was little, we only used it for sleeping- first as a bassinet, then for traveling. When Hannah was little, we didn't have Sophie. Poor Lydia has a limited amount of time to play on the floor, because I am afraid our goofy dog will step all over her. Sophie is not technically a puppy anymore, but her motor skills and...er... cognitive skills are still developing. Basically she is a giant goofball who wouldn't hurt anything intentionally but always manages to knock something (or someone) over. So the play yard could give Lydia a little more freedom than sitting in the swing or the high chair, but also keep her safe. Here she is in the play pen:
Hannah wasn't sure about the whole thing. At first she complained she couldn't play with her anymore & asked me just to put her back on the floor with a blanket. Then she tried to make up for it by putting toy after toy in with Lydia until the poor baby got so overwhelmed I had to remove a few. Then, I'm pretty sure she tried to plan an escape:
Finally she just gave up and decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em:
It didn't take long for both girls to grow tired of their surroundings, so I proposed a new activity- bubbles! I blew some for Lydia to watch and try to touch with her cute & chubby little hands, and some for Hannah to run around like a madwoman trying to catch.
Eventually, though, I had to blow some for my other little girl, the afore-mentioned clumsy dog. I tried as hard as I could to get a photo of how into the bubbles she was, but it was rather difficult. I couldn't blow the bubbles & then snap the picture fast enough, especially when you throw in the fact that I was trying to keep Hannah out of the line of fire. This was the best I could do:
Fortunately for me, John came home for lunch and was able to video while I bubbled. Notice how clueless Sophie is that she is within inches of Hannah (and vice versa- not the only similarity between dogs & three-year-olds!):
I feel as if we've made big progress today. First of all, I can give Lydia a little more freedom, even if it is from the confines of what some of my friends call a "baby jail." I learned that Hannah really does enjoy playing with her sister. And finally, I figured out another way to get some energy out of our hyper dog. As I type this, she is napping in her crate, making crazy sounds as she dreams about chasing something- possibly bubbles.
A final disclaimer- You read it correctly. John came home for lunch to film this, so yes, my children are still in pajamas at lunchtime. Who has time to get dressed with all the pack & play setting up, bubble blowing, and tea party craziness at our house? Besides, if you pass judgement, you're probably just jealous. :)
Someone today mentioned that there was not a list of "followers" to join on my blog. I must confess, this is because I was worried that if I put a gadget on the side to show my blog's followers and no one actually followed me, I would feel like a huge dork. I am very sensitive in situations like this- which I like to call "after school special" moments. You know, like when you weren't invited to the cool table... or maybe you were. I was, sometimes. But apparently not ever enough to actually make me feel "cool." I never really knew if anyone would care to read my blog. But if you do, and you want to make me feel a little less insecure, I've added the follower gadget on the right under my blog list. Thanks Mr. Drew for making me take this step in overcoming my middle school fears :)
This morning has been a mix of emotions. I first woke up at 5:00 to hear Lydia fussing and babbling in her crib. I was dreading another early morning battle in which either she would end up 1) fussing herself to sleep in our bathroom (so she didn't wake her sister) or 2) nursing back to sleep and spending the rest of the morning sleeping between us. The other day I saw some of my mom friends on facebook commenting about sleeping soundly because they brought their babies into their beds. Not me! I sleep on the very edge, with one eye open, constantly rearranging the covers to be sure they don't cover her precious face. I still had the back & neck pain from the night before, and wasn't sure if option two was even a viable option this time. And option one, well, it involved getting out of bed and that seemed unlikey. Also, I feel as if we're just reinforcing the night waking by going in & getting her, even if it is just for relocation purposes. So, this morning I tried something different- I waited. I listened. I said a little prayer & crossed my fingers. Hannah didn't seem to be waking up, and Lydia eventually began "singing"- a good sign that sleep will soon follow. And it did!!! She stayed in her crib, in her room, and put herself back to sleep! Hooray!!!!
With Lydia settling back in, the girls slept soundly into the morning. I went in a little before 8 to wake Hannah for school and found Lydia laying their peacefully awake. I was rejuvenated. Hopeful. HAPPY! I opened the curtains and let the sunshine fill the nursery, and sang one of our morning songs (Beatles' Here Comes the Sun) while watching Al jump up on the bed & wake Hannah with dog kisses. It was a 50's sitcom morning! I imagined what a wonderful day we all had in store. And then our little episode of Leave it to Beaver quickly began to look more like the beginning of an episode of SuperNanny.
Hannah has been having a really hard time going to school lately. She has always been very bright for her age, so even when she was with kids her own age or a little older, she was more verbal. Now, most of the kids her age have moved up, and she is with even younger ones. Because of this, it is easy to get frustrated with "the babies" in her class, or to be bored beyond imagination. I try to remind her that she is next in line to move to the next class, but it is small consolation. On Thursdays we have a great motivator in Ms. Joanna, the woman who comes once a week to teach Spanish. Hannah LOVES Spanish. But today wasn't Thursday, and for some reason her Tuesday morning dance class wasn't sufficient motivation. She refused to do everything I asked her to do. She fussed and cried. She argued- with everything. After a half an hour, my sympathy started to wear thin, along with my patience. I had done everything I knew to do- made things into a game, tickled, reminded her of all kinds of fun things she could do at school. We even got back into bed to "start over." At breakfast, when she lost it because we were out of "sparkly pop tarts" I got out the sugar sprinkles and jazzed up a plain one. I didn't want to make the morning worse by battling with her, but eventually it came to that. Our morning- filled with so much potential- was deflating all around me.
Eventually, Hannah did get out the door. John said she was still a little clingy when he dropped her off, but she seemed to be a little better. I've been wondering about her all morning- is she playing with other kids? Is she crying? Is she refusing to follow directions and hitting another kid with her tap shoes? (You may laugh, but this has happened! Although, I just realized in all of our maddness I didn't even send her tap shoes, so I guess I can cross that one off of the worry list). I don't want her to be miserable or to make everyone around her miserable!
I want my daughter to enjoy school- to enjoy life. When she told me she wanted to stay here with me today, I told her that I would miss her too. That some days I didn't want to go to work or church or do my chores. I told her that sometimes we had to do things we didn't really feel like doing, but that we can try to look forward to them and enjoy them the best we can. But something about that didn't sit right with me. Isn't it too early to be teaching my three-year-old that sometimes life sucks and you have to go to school anyway? Who deemed this to be a universal truth? Why can't I teach my kid that sometimes things are tough, but that the really great things are worth the effort. And those that aren't, well... does she really have to join the rest of us that are overcommitted to things that we don't want to do and that suck the life right out of us? Isn't she a little young for that?
I guess that's the "ugly" of it all. I want to teach my kids to embrace life and do what they love- what they were created to do best. But somewhere along the way, I am expected to teach them how to conform, how to do enough to get by in the areas they don't love, how to push down their disappointment and longing for more and head to their 9 to 5. And while I may have started to teach a little of that lesson today, I think I am going to resign the position. The world will teach them enough hard lessons like this. I want to be the one to say "Who cares what the world says? Follow your heart!" Besides, didn't Jesus say he came to bring us life abundant? How many of us are so over-scheduled in the mundane that we haven't noticed abundant in quite a while?
See, that's what I love about kids. They see something they want to do, and they do it. They get tired of a toy, and they put it down (hopefully in the nearest toy box, right mommies?) They chase butterflies and drop everything to dance when a favorite song comes on (There is a song on Noggin that we've seen a bazillion times, but every time it comes on, Hannah calls out "Come on Mom! It's OUR song!" I'm posting it below). Kids eat what they like and tell you how they feel, and they can't wait to run outside to watch the garbage truck. When they have time to spend with someone they love, they do it. So, yeah. I've decided. I'm not going to try to explain to my three-year-old something that doesn't even make sense in my own head. Now, I'm going to get off of here & get my housework finished so I can hang out with my kiddo when she gets home. I wonder what other kinds of food I could put sprinkles on?
We're not film critics. In fact, John & I rarely see movies before they come on our Directv pay-per-view channels. But after watching Slumdog Millionaire yesterday, we find ourselves recommending it every chance we get. We are still thinking about it, discussing characters, trying to grasp what made it such a wonderful film, and comparing it to other great stories. John pointed out that it has amazing gospel parallels; it's a story of love, pain, sacrifice, perserverence and redemption. It is rated R, but to be honest I'm not exactly sure why. When I think of other movies that get PG-13 ratings, or even some of the shows on network TV in the evenings, I don't know that this movie was much worse. There was some bad language, and it was definitely dark at times. It contained violence and adult content, but both were more implied than explicit. It's definitely not for young viewers, but I think it is much better than most of what is playing in theaters today.
I first heard of the movie right after Christmas, and I read a lot about it. One interesting review I read was on pluggedinonline.com, a ministry of Focus on the Family. I have to be very honest- I am not a fan of this ministry or Dr. Dobson. Maybe someday I'll explain why in another blog. But I was actually very impressed with the treatment of this movie, especially given it's R rating. There are a lot of plot spoilers, but the article is worth reading if only for the concluding paragraphs. Here's a paragraph that offers insight into the theme of the movie:
Working as something of an optimistic counterpoint to F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story about living life backwards, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (or at least its cinematic reinterpretation), Slumdog Millionaire's Jamal spends his childhood as an adult, then finds himself at 18 with a lifetime of experiences behind him and a wide-open future ahead. Even our worst memories don't have to suffocate us, Danny Boyle says. Instead, they can—as they do for Jamal—set us free.
