2013’s Top Ten

It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m doing some cleaning and organizing and reminiscing.  This has been a great year for my blog (My first year at that!  More on that tomorrow) and I thought that it might be fun to take a look back at some of my most read posts.  A couple of these surprised me and, happily, two of them were my favorites.  What’s really interesting is the wide range of topics that are covered in this list.  Not only is my mind all over the place, but apparently you like it that way!  This list is compiled using the number of views across all of my platforms (WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Blogher).  Also (and this just blows me away), the first two posts on this list had over 2,000 views each! I recognize that there are much bigger blogs with a much larger audience, but I started this blog one year ago with no goals, no expectations and no idea what I was doing.  I just like to write.  This is extremely humbling.  Thank you! ♥

1) It’s Not Just About Trayvon

2) What Color is Your Doll?

3) A Lesson For Parents From Nelson Mandela

4) Intent Is 9/10 of the Law

5) The Last Time That She Knew Me (a personal favorite of mine)

6) Back to School Basics: The Parent/Teacher Partnership

7) We Partied Until Dawn

8) Finding My Christmas Spirit

9) FAT! (another personal favorite of mine)

10) ‘Tis the Season for Pumpkin Pie (this one surprised me).

Preparing for the New Arrival

In those last weeks leading up to the birth of a new baby, every expectant mother spends more than a bit of time preparing for the birth of her baby.  She’s nesting.  Cleaning and painting the nursery, picking out the perfect decorating theme for the room and stocking up on all of the necessities.  I won’t talk about all of those things that I considered necessary that no one else did.  My favorite part was buying all of the tiny clothes and, oh…those shoes!  Babies really don’t need shoes because obviously, they can’t walk, but it’s my weakness.  Tiny nail clippers, pacifiers, body lotions and butt-rash potions!  I loved it all, every single time because it was all a part of preparing to bring home my new son or daughter.   Like you,  I had spent the majority of my pregnancy day dreaming about what kind of person I thought my child would be.  Would he love science and technology or lean more towards the arts.  Would she be tall or short? Would his or her talent lie in his athletic prowess or was he or she to be a great thinker.  Yes, I got very deep even before I had given birth.

This time of year, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, my mind always wanders back to his mother, Mary.  The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy and His birth were extraordinary, but I think that she and Joseph were probably very ordinary people.  Ordinary people of extraordinary faith.  I wonder what was going through her mind as she and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem?  Was she apprehensive or nervous?  Was she looking forward to kissing her baby’s little feet and staring into his eyes?  Was she at all frightened?  If so, it would be understandable.  After all, in addition to the back aches, constantly full bladder and swollen feet, her child was to save His people from their sins.  As much as I  like to think that every child that I’ve given birth to is something special (and of course they are because they are mine), Mary’s child was indeed very  special.

I doubt that either Mary or Joseph had any idea just how the birth of their son would affect mankind.  Yes, the angel told her that he was to be the savior, but there is no way that they could have grasped the enormity of that in its totality.  It’s probably better that way because no mother would want to know the weight that her son would carry.   Even if it was all part of God’s plan.  Very little is written about Mary after the birth of Jesus so, we really don’t know much about how she and Joseph managed as they raised their son.   However, we do know that Mary was obedient and joyfully served the Lord.  We know that whatever fears that she may have had as an expectant first time mother, she put her trust in God and moved forward in Him.  Kind of awesome, huh?

On behalf of Big Poppa and the Crew, we wish you and all of your loved ones a very merry and blessed Christmas.♥

That Ugly Christmas Sweater – Wordless Wednesday

You know, that awkward moment when you wear a sweater to the Ugly Christmas Sweater party only to meet someone who owns the sweater for real? Yea, I know it, too.

Santa as CEO

Santa’s Workshop

Yesterday morning, through the speaker I heard the sweet, small voice of my five-year-old singing:

“I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar”

So precious. And, that’s how I started my day.  The usual fussing and rushing and morning banter ensued. We hurried.  Well, I hurried.  They more like lounged.  Excitedly laughing because it was Field Day at their school and the day that I got to read to each of their classes.  I was excited about reading, as well.  Maybe even more so because I love going to their classrooms and getting a glimpse into their school day.  Anyway, you get the picture? It was a busy morning.

Somewhere in all of this they started perusing the Christmas catalogs that have already started to come in the mail.  They’ve begun compiling very extensive lists, as usual.  I see that the iphone is back (cracks me up!) as is the ipad or “tablet of your (Santa’s) choice”, another American Girl doll, assorted games, a bike, etc.  Craziness!  I listened to them politely, then took the opportunity to remind them that first of all, Christmas is really about Christ – no toys necessary.  Then, I told them that Santa Clause operates on a budget and they’re not going to get all of that stuff so choose wisely.  They understood the reference to Christ but, the other part was received with blank stares.

Flashback: The year was 1995 and my oldest son, Mr. C was 5 – years – old.   The movie Toy Story had just come out and the toys from the movie were hot that holiday season. I wasn’t for taking him to see the mall Santa and he was good with that.  I think we both thought it was a bit creepy.  Besides, he had already hammered out his list and mailed it to Santa so everything was going according to plan. By the way, there was not one Toy Story toy on his list.  Not even a Buzz Lightyear.  However, my mother thought it down right a dereliction of my motherly duties not to take him to see mall Santa.  Mind you, I do not recall ever seeing a photo of me with mall or real Santa.  Really, Mom? Really? Funny how grandmothers are totally different people from the woman you call Mom.   I digress.  So, she did it and insisted that I come with.  I guess she wanted to show me how to do this whole Santa thing right.  I figured that it was going to be harmless, slightly weird and pass quickly.  Not so much. My precious little boy climbed up on mall Santa’s lap and proceeded to add to his already carefully planned, already mailed and already purchased list a Buzz Lightyear….in silver.  It was one week before Christmas and Mr. C had asked for the hottest toy of the season.  Really, this should have been my mother’s problem, but it wasn’t, it was mine and I was doomed.  Darn that mall Santa!   Why didn’t he say “Are you kidding me?  You’re way too late for that, kid!”  No, it was up to me to be the Christmas crusher.  I did ask him why he added Buzz to his list.  His response? “I don’t know.  It sounded like a good idea!”

 I returned to work on Monday morning and informed my admin that we really were not going to be working that day.  We called Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Toys R us, etc. in multiple states looking for a silver Buzz Lightyear.  Things were looking bleak when toward the end of the day, one of my friends then living in Colorado called to say that she had located one and was having it sent to me.  I am forever in her debt. Rejoicing ensued and I vowed to take action to make sure that this never happened again. That day I decided to tell Mr. C. the truth about Santa.  After work I sat down with him and said “Sweetheart, you can’t ask Santa for everything that you want and expect to get it.  You must prioritize because Santa runs a corporation.”  He looked at me and said “a corporation?”    “Yes, a corporation.”  What truth did y’all think that I was talking about?  I’m no Christmas crusher, destroyer of dreams or killer of imagination.  Anyway, I went on to explain that the elves were his employees and there were budgetary  constraints – pension plans, health insurance, 401(k) and don’t forget the factory shut down during the months of June and July.  It’s a good gig if you can meet the height requirements.   Therefore, each child has a specific dollar amount that Santa can spend on their list and everything may not be possible.  When I was done, he paused for a bit, then said “Okay, Momma.”

Listen, I’m the mom that told her kid that Goldilocks was at the very least guilty of trespassing, if not breaking and entering. Therefore, this should not be surprising to you.

So, on this past Friday morning I repeated the whole North Pole corporate scenario to the Dynamic Duo in hopes of lowering expectations.  They actually had a lot of questions.  I had to think fast.  Note to file: Girls ask A LOT more questions than boys.   They seemed more than a bit skeptical, but eventually, they got the hint that they needed to focus on only a couple of things on each or their lists.  They gathered their things, put on their shoes and waited by the door.  Just then Thing 2 said “Just think, if Mommy and Daddy say that dogs cost a lot of money to take care of, what about reindeer?!”

Mission accomplished.