The Olden Days

How does one go about teaching a kid all the things she needs to know? How did I learn the things I know? How do I pass those down to her?

I was thinking about this last week while sitting in a meeting where there was much singing. Mostly hymns. Older hymns for the most part. I came in late and did not end up with a song book, which was ok, because I knew the words to most of the songs. Well, at least the first and last verse--if we sang the ones in the middle it was more of a crap shoot.

We didn't sing religious songs at home that much, that I remember. Did I pick them up in church, or at camp, or in choir? I don't know. If you had asked, I never would have answered that I knew the words to those songs, but it seems some things sink in and stick with you.

These are the things I wonder how to teach my daughter. The things that make her a part of our family, of our religion, our culture. The things that she won't know she's learned, or that won't make a difference until she's grown and startled to discover it was inside her all along.

Loki and the Ball

I stole these pictures off of the Husband's phone. He and the Loki dog seem to love nothing more than playing catch (well, Loki loves to catch balls and Husband likes to catch the catch on film). The last two are my favorites.

Thankful for Snow

1. I love the snow. I'm glad it's been snowing all weekend.
2. My car drives amazingly well in the snow, thank goodness.

3. We were supposed to go tree hunting today, but Husband had a migraine so we went to a tree farm in town instead. I haven't picked out a tree that way since I was a kid.
4. Decorating a tree takes longer than I remembered.
5. So does hanging Christmas lights. Especially in the freezing cold. 

6. My husband's family is much quieter than mine at Thanksgiving dinner. And they don't eat nearly as much.

 
7. It took three whole days off of work for me to relax and finally feel peaceful. Now I have to go to work in the morning.

8. Making jewelry always takes longer than I expect as well. I wanted to be ahead for the holiday shopping season, but of course, I'm behind. 

9. And that is all I can remember. Happy Thanksgiving to you.

Who Has Bits?

So this is a fun week in blogger world. Meg is talking about sex and Cate is talking about vaginas. You really should go join the conversation if you haven't already.

And I really am curious... what do you have? We mostly have "bits" around our house now, for boy and girl "private parts." However, growing up it wasn't a topic of discussion and if you had to refer to that area you said "pee pee." I always thought that was weird because that was also what you did from that area. Hmmmm.

Incidentally, I suppose it wasn't NEVER discussed. My mom was watching a TV show once when I was a little older that must have been about how parents don't use real words when talking to their kids and how sexuality should be a comfortable topic. I remember oh-so-clearly when she came into the bedroom where I was folding the laundry and started talking about how she has always been clear about things like vaginas and vulvas and whatnots. And she wanted me to agree that she had, in fact, been a good mom by talking about those things as we grew up. I agreed but mostly so she'd stop saying these horrible words that she had never, ever used around me before.

Just to be clear... she IS a good mom. But she certainly had not been as clear about sexual things as I think she thought she had.

And one last thought... if you didn't learn that stuff from your parents, where did you learn it? I didn't have girl friends who talked about sex. At all. I learned everything I know about sex and "bits" from a previous boyfriend and now from my husband. Does that seem weird to anyone else? 

Vintage Photos

I don't know if you follow the Sartorialist but he's been doing a reader submitted Vintage Photo Contest. It's been fun to see people's relatives and look at the places they've been and the things they wore.

At our wedding we had a folding screen set up that held a display of photos. A couple of Husband and I, but mostly our parent's and grandparent's wedding pictures and photos of further-back relatives. This was one of my favorites:

That's my great-grandma Alice (my dad's mom's mom) and her first husband. And that's her car, that she owned before they got married. How fun is that?

I remember coming to visit my aunt and grandma Alice when she was very old. At the time, we lived in California and she lived in Washington. In fact, in the very town I'm living in now. Family history can be as fun as family photos.

A Mother's Love

My mom just texted this to me:

Death

My uncle's wife is dying. My mom hasn't called yet this evening so I assume that means she's still living. But certainly not for long. She's had a vigorous cancer for awhile now and recently took a turn for the worse.

Truthfully, I don't know her very well. In fact, I don't know my uncle that well either* but every interaction with them has been wonderful. They are just the sweetest, nicest people. They live big and love big and give big.

And now they're suffering deeply. And my uncle, who has had a rough life, finally found the right woman--the best woman. And he's just taking care of her as she dies.

I don't really have a point here. Except to pray for my uncle, if you're the praying type. And to go hug your love, if he or she is still around.

*Except for my immediate family, I do not come from a close-knit clan.

Merry Christmas!

We are celebrating Christmas this year in Seattle with my sister and my parents. Husband's sister also lives in Seattle so tomorrow we have Christmas with his sister and her husband and parents.

Right now all I can smell is the monkey bread my brother-in-law is preparing. Yum!

Wishing you all a wonderful day...

Photo of my brother-in-law from my mom's iPhone from last night's tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve.