Jay

It’s hard to believe this little guy who made me an aunt….

 

 

Is now this eight-year-old!

 

 

But today my first nephew, Jay, is eight-years-old, in the second grade, and well on his way to being much taller than I am. Happy Birthday, Jay!

Death is not a Disease

In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

 

This quote has been contributed to Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Daniel Defoe, and plethora of other famous people. All people who were much wiser than almost anyone living today.

 

Recently on a trip out to my parents, as we passed the small cemetery on the way to their house, Ethan commented, “When I die, I’ll get it a stone, and it will say E-T-H-A-N.” Even my three-year-old is smarter than most people today…

 

Sometimes it can be a little unnerving to have a conversation about death with my kids, but death is a part of living. Especially as a Christian. The fact that Christ died is pivotal to our faith and hope (followed, of course, by His resurrection). And while they know about Covid, masks, etc. the obsession of the media with death is not a part of their world. However, they have had a great deal of death in their young lives this past year: great-grandfather, great aunt, and grandfather. So, we have had conversations about death. Positive conversations about Christ, and Heaven, and hope. Because death is a part of life.

 

Now if we didn’t know before 2020, we certainly know now that so-called journalists In America have no interest in telling the truth, or even simply reporting information. Instead, they all want to manipulate and terrify. Hence, they focus on death and scaring people into being afraid of getting sick. Because no one wants to die. So, let’s allude people into thinking they can somehow avoid it.

 

In searching for other things on the internet recently, I came across a couple of ludicrous articles. Here are a few quotes:

 

“Before it (Covid-19) came along, there was a reason to be hopeful about U.S. death trends. The nation’s overall mortality rate fell a bit in 2019…”

 

“The more steps people walked, the lower their risk of dying was…”

 

“Research has shown that people who sat for eight or more hours every day had a 59% increased risk of death that those sitting less than four hours per day…”

 

So, apparently, in 2019 some people who should have died managed not to die, thereby bringing down the mortality rate in the U.S. And if it hadn’t been for Covid, even more people could have beat out death in 2020. I guess by walking more. Because if you walk a lot, you decrease your risk of dying. And since I certainly sit less than four hours a day, I guess I’m going to live forever.

 

Really?

 

Let’s get our facts straight. Death is not a disease. It’s not something you “catch”. You can’t be vaccinated against it. And you can't exercise or eat healthy your way out of it. It’s inevitable. You will die.So the question is not if you will die or not…the question is where will you go after you die?

This Week

It would seem 2021 has started slowly, but here we are already nearing the end of January. Perhaps it’s simply because work has been a bit slow for me, something that hasn’t happened for months. I should probably enjoy the reprieve. I doubt it will last long.

 

And things have been mostly normal around our house as well, for which I am grateful. I’m good with no sudden excitement, although I don’t mind thing outside of our normal schedule. On Tuesday, Emry and Ethan had a couple of little friends over for the evening so their parents could have a date night. This visit reminded me of the angst I often experienced as a girl when friends came over and didn’t want to play what I wanted to play. Sometimes it’s funny how long forgotten feelings can come rushing back as if they happened only yesterday.

 

It dawned on me Wednesday when I told Emry the date for her math page that it was Inauguration Day, a fact I stated aloud.

 

“Mama, is that the day you wear green?” she asked, thinking of St. Patrick’s Day.

 

“No, Emry,” I replied. “It’s the day you wear black.”

 

Thankfully, she didn’t pursue that response.

 

And Emry and I both practiced quite a bit for her first on-stage dress rehearsal: me with hair and make-up and Emry her dance piece. I suppose I should be grateful Emry finds such huge delight in make-up because then she’ll also sit still as I wrestle her unruly hair into a bun. But all I see is dollar signs and hurt feelings during her teenage years when make-up will be a “necessity”. Still, it all paid off. She looked adorable as she marched out the door in her Minnie Mouse dance attire, hair and make-up complete (aside from lipstick which we applied later). She was not at all worried about the rehearsal, quite excited that she was going to be on stage! 

 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t go inside and watch her and the live feed was set up at quite a distance, but from what I could see she did really well…and remembered her right from her left. As the other mothers and I waited in the lobby after the dance was over, the girls came giggling down the hall.

 

“Well, no tears!” one mother said.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Parenting fail: I didn’t get a picture of her before the rehearsal! And she had pulled out the bun and wiped off the lipstick soon after. So, this is the best one I have, complete with ridiculous masks. She’s the back middle.

Being a Dance Mom

Back in fall when enrolling Emry in her dance class, we had the opportunity to allow her to join the “b-Boppers” group, a young dance team to get the littlest girls interested in furthering their skills. Usually this little team would take a great deal of dedication since they represent the studio at parades, half-time shows, etc. But with Covid, those sorts of things weren’t going to happen. The cost wasn’t too great a difference from regular class, especially as she would get nearly another half-hour of instruction a week plus a couple more weeks per session. The instructor I really like was in charge of her class, and she would be working Emry (and the other girls) hard to fine-tune the things they were learning. All told, it was an opportunity we felt would benefit Emry. And it has. I guess I just didn’t know how much it would demand of me.

 

First, of course, is getting Emry to practice. Honestly, that isn’t usually difficult. She’s happy to pull out my laptop and run through her routine several times every other day or so, especially before a performance. (And is she ever psyched to be allowed on a real stage this weekend for her first dress rehearsal!) It’s helped greatly that her instructor (Miss Kelsey) chose a song she loves – Minnie’s Bow-tique.I can’t complain about that part at all.

 

The costume is also cute and she really likes. But the things that go with it, well…

 

From pictures I’m sure you have seen that Emry’s hair is…let’s say unruly. It curls, it doesn’t part in any precise location, and it seems to grow in at random lengths so she has natural side bangs that some girls might envy. All of this adds up to being very difficult to put in almost any hairstyle, especially a bun. Which is exactly how she must wear it, of course: a low bun with a left-side part. At least we have one thing going for us: if you can actually find it, her natural part is on the left. With a great deal of water, I have figured out how to get that done. But the bobby pins are about to be my undoing and I should probably get another can of hairspray to be on the safe side. It’s going to take a lotof it to get all those curls and random lengths to lay down for an hour.  I’m really hoping the headband Minnie ears will help!

 

And if the bun wasn’t hard enough, there’s the make-up. Earlier last year my abhorrence of youtube finally dawned on me: why do I need to watch a video when I can read the instructions or story three times as fast? What a waste of time! But I’m going to need youtube for this one. If you know me at all well, you know I don’t wear makeup. And I have a very elementary idea of how to apply it. In fact, we had to go out and buy the red lipstick, grey tones eye shadow, and pink blush. Emry is beyond delighted, while I am simply hoping she won’t turn out looking like a clown. 

So we will practice. She will practice her dance. I will practice the hair and make up. Perhaps by the time competition arrives in April and her final performance in May, we will both have it down. But more likely she will be fine…and I will need more lessons! 

My Mom

Over the past fifteen years, I’ve probably posted a lengthy write-up on my mom on a yearly basis. Sometimes twice a year. I’m guessing I’ve written things even three or four times a year. Because there’s always something more to say about my mom. For nearly every day of my life I wonder how she did it!

 

Honestly, my mom made her life as a mom look effortless. My friend Allyson will say the same thing about her mom, and yet we both agree as mothers ourselves that it could not possibly have been that way. (Although Allyson also makes motherhood look effortless, so after I wonder how my mom did it I then wonder how Allyson does it…) Perhaps it’s a good thing they made it look so effortless: then we actually wanted to grow up and be moms ourselves. If we had known how hard it would be, we wouldn’t have signed up for it!

 

Mom gave birth to nine children, one a whopping twelve pounds at birth! Mom homeschooled all of us, most of us for the entire twelve years of our education. And all but two of us have a bachelors or associates degree. Mom packed up and moved us around the country twelve times, not counting the few times she moved before any of us were born. Most of the houses she lived in were not her own, yet she made them our home for the few years we were there. She brushed the hair of six daughters for years, sewed our clothes, made the meals we so often complained about, took us to more activities than we can remember, and was often a single mom as my dad was traveling for work. And I could keep going…

 

Like all wonderful moms, my mom has now graduated to being a grandma. I’m not sure how she would compare the two jobs, but she goes at being a grandma like she went at being a mom: effortless success. She spends time with the kids, learns to know them better than she knows herself, teaches them things, disciplines them when necessary, and generally just puts up with everything they are as kids. And my kids think the world of her. In fact, they can’t wait to celebrate her birthday with her on Saturday.

 

Because today is my mom’s birthday. And I think I can honestly say I am more grateful for her life than for anyone else’s on earth. Truly, where would I be without her?

 

Making “surprise cookies” with Emry and Ethan this Christmas.