I don't THINK so...

Sarah and I have started to do sit-ups together every morning, as part of her physical therapy. Madilyn will join us as well, if she's awake. Anyway... my parents are in town, and Grandma was watching us help each other to do our 10 sit-ups.

Trying to help (?) she said, "Sarah, now that you're 12, you should do 12 sit ups."

Not missing a beat, Sarah turned to me and said "And you will do 43 sit ups!"

Thanks a lot, Grandma. That's SO not going to happen.

As simple as black and white?

Apparently my predilection for a black/white world view has been influenced by my upbringing. Consider the following advice (which, for the record, I completely support).

I was complaining to my dad about someone at church. This person had not fulfilled their responsibility, which resulted in a lot of extra stress and work for me. He commented that people like that are arrogant and self-centered, and need to be taught a lesson (or something to that effect). I then went on to counter with all of the hardship that this person had experienced in the past few weeks, and how things had been very difficult for them.

My dad looked at me for a moment, then said "Well, there it is. Either they're jerks who don't care about others, or they're people who are in a bind and should be forgiven. Don't keep waffling in the middle."

I thought there was a lot of wisdom in this observation. I do spend a lot of time waffling and complaining over things when I should just let go and move on. Hanging out in that gray area can be stressful, and I guess I never really broke it down like that. Thanks, Dad.

PS- Are you ALWAYS going to be smarter than me??

Playlist updates

I have this extremely annoying habit of listening to the same song over and over and over again, driving the people around me NUTS. To this day, my sister can't hear the song "The Look" by Roxette without screaming. (sorry sis! Thanks for loving me anyway). Anyway, my current fave is an oldie that I found on my iPod, covered in electronic dust, as it were. Bravado, by Rush, is a pretty awesome song.

If we burn our wings
Flying too close to the sun
If the moment of glory
Is over before it's begun
If the dream is won
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

And if the music stops
There's only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
[And] if love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

Since I've been pretty tight with my treadmill lately, I need some musical motivation to keep me going. It's nice to find songs that make you think.

It's a sad fact that things are so slow in my life lately that I've taken to posting song lyrics on my blog!

Enough!

Today we're scheduled to get hit with a BIG winter storm - up to 8 inches of snow. In my mind, I'll be on a plane, headed for someplace warm, like California. Enough of winter already!

Good news, I suppose, is that I'll finally be able to join my friend Kate for some xc skiing, now that the trails will have a good base (like that's what's been preventing me...)

I Don't Want to Grow Up

So I've been taking a life inventory of late, and decided that being a grown-up is highly over-rated. Seems like we spend all of our childhood waiting to be "grown-ups" so that we can do whatever we want. What no one tells you is that, once you become a grown-up, you STILL have to follow the rules, and probably spend even MORE time making choices based on other people. Sigh. I wish I was 6 again.

Sarah's new 'do

Sarah has struggled with trichotillomania (aka "trick" or hair pulling) for the last 2 years or so. At first, we tried to help by having her wear a beanie, thinking if she reached up to pull the hair, the beanie would remind her to stop. Unfortunately, this wasn't effective, but wearing the beanie became such a routine that there was no getting it off her head. period. She'd just reach under it to pull out her hair.

For whatever reason, she only pulls her hair using her left hand, never her right, so she had a pretty serious 80's style going on - super short on the left, long hair on the right. After she moved her pulling to the top of her head (think inverse mohawk), the left side started growing back in. For the past month or so, I've been trying to convince her to cut her hair short... balancing the two sides. It's a hard sell, since all her classmates have long, straight hair (even some of the boys!)

Anyway, she finally agreed to short hair, and after confirming it an hour or two later, and then not letting her back down the day of the appointment... she ended up with an adorable haircut! It's still very thin on top, but hey... comb-overs do work!

The best part of the deal... the change in hairstyle was enough to convince her to part with the beanie! OK, not totally, but now she only sleeps in it, and doesn't wear it to school. The fact that she's gotten TONS of positive feedback from her classmates really helps.

Let's hear it for small victories!!

PT Conferences: Madilyn

Madilyn is doing great in first grade. She's an amazing reader - she's reading at 3rd grade level! She's above average in both reading and math, and her only real problem is her tendency to prefer socializing to working.

But, it wouldn't be a conference without a black/white reference: Mrs. C commented that Madilyn has a hard time accepting problems that have more than one right answer, or more than one right way to do them. She just can't seem to wrap her head around that concept.

What am I doing to my poor kids?? I've always leaned toward black & white myself (gray can be SO confusing!) but I didn't realize the consequences were so far-reaching. My daughter is brought to tears by a geometry problem that has more than one answer! Sigh. I must have skipped a chapter in the parent handbook.

Oh, wait. I didn't get a parent handbook. Who do I talk to about that? Life would be so much easier if they came with instruction manuals... but instead I'm just makin' it up as I go!