Friday, June 19, 2009

Being a mom

I have recently spent a lot of time with my children. How dear they are to me. If I leave this world a better place than I found it, it will be because I raised wonderful children and taught them to raise wonderful children.

I often wish I had already done something big - like written a wildly successful novel or taught children in Ethiopia to read. And, I know, there's still plenty of time......after all, I'm planning to live to be a hundred or more. And I'm intensely more intelligent than I was before. So.................

But, I digress. In a younger day, they called me Pollyanna because I solved problems and led people by teaching others how to look at the glass as half full. I once had a boss who told me I was too "positive". Can that be? I realize every day how special life is. Turning 60 made me more aware of that. So, I look at what I have accomplished. I wish I could say I've done the novel or the teaching program in Ethiopia - I never stayed on task that long. I have a short attention span. But, I have a wonderful "clan" to leave to the world.

My children reach out every day to touch others, to make this a better place. Sometimes, it's only a smile or a thank you. Sometimes, it's helping another student learn to read (T), speaking up when peers make fun of persons with disabilities(C) or leading the fight when people use hate to make small talk (R). Each of them has their own unique way that they send out those good vibes. I'm humbled when I see them in action. I'm their mom. How great is that?

So, on those days when you would like to pull your hair out or pull THEIR hair out................remember, you're creating the clan. You're softening the world, so the cruelties that the world sometimes spits out are balanced by the actions of you and yours.

Now, here's a picture of what I've been doing................some garage saleing, some painting and stencilling and teaching myself a lot about quilting, applique and the like. This was once a cheap little makeup table with no stool. I got it at a garage sale for $10 and found the stool for another $5. I painted the ugly brown stain green, antiqued it, stencilled it and did some freehand quilting on the stool seat. It looks pretty in my bedroom and is the jumping off point for my new bedroom color scheme. Never be afraid to try.