What is love?

Said to me by my youngest son, Cooper:
"Mom, you know how I love you all the way up to the sky?"

Me: "Yes" (with a big smile on my face and in my heart)

Cooper: "Well, I love these new lego fruit snacks almost that much, only one inch less."

Hmmmm - either, the fruit snacks are phenominal or I am on the same level as a FRUIT SNACK! Actually, maybe it's more....my providing the special surprise treat said, "I love you" to him, so his relishing the treat so much is saying "I love you" back.

Agnusday.org - The Lectionary Comic

I think this speaks volumes, especially in these difficult economic times....
Agnusday.org - The Lectionary Comic

Things You Don't Sign Up For

Something I never planned on signing up for as a mom:

Trimming the fur of a long-haired guinea pig.
Washing the toenails of the aforementioned guinea pig
-AND-
talking to the guinea pig in a soothing 'mommy' voice.

Who knew?

I think this is something only a mom would do...

Gifts

There are many times I feel like I am failing as a mom, but then there are those moments when my kids in their own little ways assure me that I am doing ok.

Each night after prayers I trace the sign of the cross on my kids' heads and say, "I love you every minute of every day." Normally they just smile - which is enough. Last night though, I did my normal ritual and Jackson said, "I know that, every minute of every day."

What a gift. I am so thankful he knows that - that he knows it deep in his heart, even on the days when I have probably yelled too much or been too impatient.

Then, as I was climbing into bed I saw a note on my pillow from Carter, my oldest. It said:
"Mom, thank you so much for the candy bar. It was delicious! You are great! Love, Carter." Below that was a huge smiley face.

Another gift. Sometimes it's nice to know that someone thinks we're great.

It's amazing how attuned kids are to the needs of others - somehow they each knew what to give me. I pray I see what they need....

Elementary, My Dear

Conversation with my oldest son, Carter:

Carter spontaneously asks,"Mom, guess what?"

"What?"

He replies, "We get to do this totally cool project in science with the Periodic Table and research an element."

"Cool," although I am actually thinking - YUCK! Not something I would ever want to do.

"But," he continues, "I wanted to Krypton and I'm not allowed."

"Why not?"

Matter-of-fact Carter says, "Because it's a noble gas and we can't do noble gases because they won't let us mix them."

"Oh." I thought he was going to say, "because Superman lived on Krypton." Boy was I wrong.

So, here's want I want to know: when did my 11 year old get smarter than me and when did they start teaching stuff that I didn't learn until high school chemistry? I think there are some amazingly smart kids out there.

Food For Thought

Yesterday was a day jam-packed full of parties, soccer, errands -all the things which make me feel like weekends are way more work than a regular old weekday.

Cooper (my youngest son) and I attended the Baptism of a dear friend, after which we celebrated by eating CAKE.

Cooper pointed to a corner piece with a giant red icing flower on it, "I want that one."

"Of course you do, " I thought, with my eyes rolling in my head. What I said was, "Coop, we are going to be eating junk all day, how about half of this piece which is already cut."

"OK, but I want the whole piece."

I gave in, he ate it. Then we dashed from the Baptism celebration to a friend's birthday party. During which he had bubblegum ice cream and CAKE. Oh boy, I am thinking we are on sugar overload.

Then last night, we had our family celebration for Jackson (my middle son who turned 9). I should preface this next sentence with the fact that we did eat a nice big, healthy, home cooked meal, but we all also had...you guessed it...CAKE! And for Cooper, it was his third round of cake.

I was thinking about this as I tucked him into bed and he was completing melting down - I guess coming down off his sugar high. It's often all or nothing, feast or famine.

When there's too much cake it just isn't special anymore, it doesn't seem sweet or like it's something to be savored. Like too much soccer, too many parties, too many emails, phone calls. It all just becomes ordinary and we don't savor the fun and celebration of life.

But, also when there's too little cake we crave something more, so we search and search for something to satisfy that hunger. Like when there's too little love, too little forgiveness, too little enjoying what we are given.

Feast or famine, all or nothing. It leaves us with a stomachache.

What was it Jesus prayed? "Give us this day our daily bread." Give us what we need, what satisfies our hunger. I truly believe that we are given more than we need. Saying it's all about 'moderation' seems way too easy to me - we know that. I think digesting all that fills up our lives is more about savoring....

Monopoly

I have a friend who is incredibly passionate about economic justice. While many of us agree that oppressing others is wrong, I think there are very few of us who really speak out and own our part in the injustices of the world.

Earlier today he and I were talking about life - the struggles we all face, our failings, our dreams and hopes and I noticed a piece of art on his wall. It was a Monopoly board which he had turned into a three dimensional representation about economic justice/injustice. In case it's been a while since you've played Monopoly, the pieces are Chance cards, property cards, houses, and Community Chest. The game is all played with a role of the dice. It's about luck, but it's also about buying up everything you can get your hands on to secure your winnings.

My friend glued the Property cards around the outside of the board and wrote on the cards in permanent marker the median annual income for a family in different areas of the country. The statistics took me by surprise (even in our current economic devastation). Washington DC - $49,000 (the center of government) as compared to Pine Ridge South Dakota - $5000 (an Indian Reservation - the outskirts of America).

$5000 - seriously! For a family to try to exist on $5000 a year is appalling to me. When I was an intern I made more than that as a stipend! I don't pretend to have all the answers to how to fix the huge disparities which exist in the world, but I am certain that a large part of peace in the world, in our communities, and in our families is tied to justice. I may sound juvenile, but "it just isn't fair" for some to 'have' and others to 'have not'. We don't have to wait for a government to bring about peace, or justice, or fairness; it begins with us.

Life does involve a lot of chance, but also involves a lot of community. Life is not a game to be won - a Monopoly of sorts. Rather Life is waking up to see what we have been given each day whether it's a small thing or a big thing - and sharing that with the world. The giving away of ourselves is when true Life happens.

My friend said something like, "Working out there {South Dakota} - that would be something worth giving my life to." Made me think about what I am giving my life to. What about you?

Reverance

I have a cat named Moses; he's about 13 years old and an outdoor cat. This means a few other outdoor cats have become friends with Moses via food stashes. About two months ago a new cat emerged on the scene - a very striking Siamese cat. I would see him often darting off in the mornings.

Last Tuesday I was returning home about 9pm and I saw the Siamese cat on the side of the road right in front of my house. I knew immediately he had been hit by a car, but as I pulled into my drive he lifted up his head and looked at me. Another car had stopped too. I dashed inside to get my flashlight to check on the cat. Since he had looked up at me I was hoping maybe just his leg was broken and we could take him to the Emergency Vet Clinic.

As soon as I went over to check on the cat I knew he had died. And I knew he had died a painful death. I felt awful.

The passengers of the other car and I knocked on my neighbors' doors to see if anyone knew who owned the cat. No luck. My dad was visiting last week and decided to call the police. He ended up calling 911 - who promptly told him they did not handle dead animals (which makes total sense to me). They did transfer him to our local police who said they would let animal control know. All day on Wednesday - no animal control, but many sad children and adults as they passed by the poor cat. Late Wednesday afternoon my dad physically arrived at the police station to ask animal control to come out. He was told they had no record and he could talk with the dispatcher (which he did). Still nothing.

By Thursday afternoon my dad could no longer stand it. His words to me, "It's just irreverent!"

I've thought a lot about that and how we each are distinct, valuable creatures. And I have thought a lot about my response - I could barely look at the poor creature. I felt awful, but I also didn't really do anything.

Later on Thursday the cat was gone. My dad had gone out, scooped the cat up and buried him in my backyard. In some small way he returned the cat's dignity. A 'proper' burial - a little reverence.

I wonder what would happen if we all appreciated and revered the dignity of others instead of covering up our eyes or closing our ears to the things which are hard to see and hear.