Saturday, October 6, 2012

parenting 101

Sit with me and tell me your story...

There is so much I’m learning so very fast this year. Most of it centers around parenting. I feel like that is such a vague, non descript word for the raising of children. I mean it just defines so much, how are you ever supposed to know what you’re doing?!

Now I’m very lucky. My world of parenting isn’t full time nor is it forever. I will let them go in a matter of months. But perhaps that doesn’t change the fact that right now they are my world.

So as of right now, here’s what I’ve gleaned:

It is true. Nothing prepares you for the worrying. In a matter of seconds of knowing they are under your protection you start to worry about them—Are they sleeping? Are they doing their homework? What do you mean you didn’t have time for dinner? Please wear a helmet, don’t hang out with THOSE kids, look both ways…

Their tears will break your heart. You want nothing more than to erase all their pain, and you curse those that cause it.

Nothing beats those moments where they are really sharing their lives with you. Nothing.

Their laughter makes you feel like flying.

When they are excited, you are excited. Period.

You sense their stress and fear. You know they are terrified of their future. They don’t see it like you do. You see the people they are going to be, the wonderful lives they will lead, where they see the unknown and the unpredictable.

You yearn for them to see themselves the way you see them. You see the magic, the quirk, the beauty, and the potential. They see the confusion, the messy hair, the weird, and all the faults.

You will undoubtedly make a ton of mistakes. You must accept that. You will say things, think things, punish, or forgive all in the wrong direction. You will lay in bed ruminating over decisions made or unmade. And you will always think of the right thing to say AFTER the fact.

Sometimes you will do it right. And you will breathe easy. Then something else comes along…

Monday, September 24, 2012

pause cafe

let's go shopping. let's buy warm things but drive with the windows down singing loudly to bad pop music. let's eat ice cream with mittens and laugh so hard we cry. let's skip and dance and squeeze our eyes shut with pure joy. let's sleep and watch old movies. let's talk about boys and life and magic. let's dream and live and pretend we are not faux parents of very real teens. 

let's have a day off.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

to my girls



In a matter of time you will be able to do all kinds of things. Someday soon you will be able to drive and vote, to stay out all night, and date whomever you want. Soon you’ll dance on tables just to say you did. You’ll drive in cars with boys and spend too much money on that dress. Soon your world will be bigger than this place. It will involve more people and more moving parts. There will be more to balance and more to care about. There will be great expectations and equally great disappointments. You will question everything, even the very thing you love.

Someday soon your present will be the future you dream of right now. That future that terrifies you, excites you, makes you happy and sad.

Your future is coming. Growing up is coming.
There is no stopping either.

So, at this very moment, don’t try. Don’t try to stop the tomorrows; don’t try to  over think the yesterdays.

Today, we live.

Embrace the curiosity, the confusion. Don’t dwell on what could have been but rather on what could be. Laugh harder with the friends you have. Dance to boy bands in your room with the volume up too loud. Go to class, do your homework. Remember to use your sharing skills. Relish what you can’t do because within those limits is a way of life and remnants of childhood. Get lost in your own drama. Make mistakes, there are plenty of them out there. Learn new things. Read cool books. Take risks. Be fearless.

There will be a moment when you realize that the real world is not a destination; it is right now and right here. This is the making of who you will be.

Do you dare to be the crazy, silly, talented, funny, kind, quirky, weird, affectionate, fantastic person you are right now?

Monday, September 17, 2012

mackinac island

yesterday started at 4:30am. why, you ask, would a sunday start so early? well, yesterday me and about 200 of my closest interlochen friends embarked on the senior trip to machinac island off the upper peninsula of michigan on lake huron (two great lakes seen!). it was a wonderful day spent meandering the city streets, biking around the state park, siting and reading on marquette park, eating, and trying fudge. 

take a look! there's a lot to see!

no cars allowed. only horses, bikes, and feet please!
breakfast




st. anne's church
MARY'S Bistro---i couldn't help but snap a photo! 
the public library--how adorable? 




doesn't it look right out of secret garden?

old stone church
looking up to the grand hotel
art in the community thanks to the detroit institute of the arts! (Van Gogh) 
Bellows
Marquette Park (with some seniors).  

biking around (the island is only 8.4 miles around)


back at the park to read
marquette and the fort 
bye seagull!

you want me to go hiking? IN SAND?!

last week (yes, i understand it's been a while again since I wrote...it will get better. pinky swear) a few of us decided to get out of the interlochen bubble and do a little northern michigan. about an hour north lie sleeping bear dunes where you can hike and frolic to your heart's content. the catch is that you have to hike in sand...someone should have properly warned me about that. 

here's a little glimpse at the fun we had taking penelope (my camera) along for the ride. 

the sand might have been a little difficult to hike in, but the views totally made up for it!

















my favorite

thanks to shelley, our awesome driver and coordinator and all around great sport in having me snap so many photos, and josh for also letting me snap away and second shooting for me!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

simply love


you just have to watch this. it's the most beautiful thing, perhaps, ever. i cried. not going to lie to you. it's the kind of thing you hear about, read about, and dream about. something so simple.

"being married it's like colored tv...you never want to go back to black and white."

check out storycorps and all the animated stories.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

faire une promenade

there is this area of interlochen called boy's side. during camp this is where the boys live. during academy, this is where people walk, flee, run, and ruminate. so one day i meandered out there to take a look.

boy's cabins
just a wee bit creepy, right?

some landscapes...
those clouds 







some still lives... 







how very secret garden...right? 

"do you think you love trees so much because mali didn't have many?"
"probably"

:)