Perhaps I've just watched Steel Magnolias one too many times or maybe it's the dreary Chicago weather, but I feel compelled to note that being a mom (well, THIS mom, anyway) isn't all about obsession with my wrinkles and shoe wear. When it comes down to it, focusing on fashion and crow's feet help me get through the looooooooooooong mommy day. If I actually allowed myself to think about the things that do niggle at the back- and frequently the forward- of my mind ("Am I raising good human beings?" "Is this a typical virus, or the beginnings of something more sinister?" "Do I push the boys harder or just let them know I love them the way they are?" "Is this surgery necessary? Can it wait until he is older? Stronger?"), I would be too paralyzed to be the mother they need me to be.
Motherhood, like all of life, takes balance, I suppose.
"Our children aren't ours. They simply pass through us."
So, here's to the children: May they pass through us and come to realize how wonderful they are. May they have the strength to overcome all the odds before them. May they see that their beauty isn't what is on the outside. May they realize it is they who determine the course and the happiness of their lives. May they be good to each other.
And may they learn the balance that is necessary to find the strength to get up and make it through another day...even if that day brings wrinkles and knock-off shoes.
Love you, boys.
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11 comments:
Beautiful sentiment.
...high fever, eh? :0)
High fever, YES. On the anti b's. Congested. Nose completely raw. I had a feverish dream that I was trying to adopt another child. Clearly, the infection has worked its way to my brain.
Clearly.
Sorry you're feeling poopy. Had I lived closer, I'd be that best friend who stops by the house, gets you cleaned up and in fresh jammies, pours the chicken soup down your gullet, dabs your fevered brow with a clean (allegedly), cool, damp washcloth and then kidnaps your kids for the rest of the day.
But I'm far. And they'd come back saying "yah hey der."
Instead, I will offer up a sacrifice in our 3 season porch to a major deity of my choice to speed your healing...also, to summer up the place a little. I'm going out riding again today, and it's still just a touch chilly. I just gotta find that neighborhood white squirrel... :)
Kuj,
You= good person. Me= dizzy and unable to focus.
Is the neighboorhood white squirrel the sacrifice of which you speak? Whoa--is there a legend, like the groundhog/spring legend, that says the sacrifice of a white squirrel will bring back warmth?? I was not aware of such a legend!
Beware white squirrels. Beware.
Hi.
Yoiu have no contat email on your blog but wanted to show you something cute-
http://stephanieklein.blogs.com/greek_tragedy/2008/03/and-you-say-hes.html
If I reach back in my head some, I recall the druids being all ga-ga over the birth of a white bull, because it was a rare thing. Of course, this immediately meant they had to kill it. Can't remember if it was for visions or fecundity. Hey, now THERE'S a word that doesn't get used enough.
Tangent: Hey, did you check out Jen's post about "splendid" not getting used enough? Me-> use it every day. Or darn near. What's yours?
So
Trish, I hope you're feeling better. I find no email contact here, either, so will leave this here with you. And since I am a winner with NO BLOG OF MY OWN, you have to reply here.
Your plea to win the Weiner book was very moving. Your self-centered SELF-PROMOTING has PAID OFF. I find myself SO moved by your plea that I would like to (I don't really think it is paying it forward...) I would like to pay-over (over to you, that is) my book winning.
So please let me know if you accept my offer.
(Does that make any sense to you? What the heck is this that I'm drinking... Captain Morgan something.)
But I really mean the offer. Do you accept the book?
Karla with a K,
Oh. My. God. Bless Saint Karla (with a K) and Captain Morgan! Yes, Karla, I would dearly, dearly LOVE the book. I am sitting here DUMBSTRUCK with happiness (and Mucinex) that someone I don't even know is so amazingly generous (and quite possibly drunk).
But Karla, you are not getting off that easy. Oh no. Now I get to do something for YOU. And don't pull one of those, "Oh, I don't really need anything" cop-outs. Karla, what would make you happy right now? Give me a list. I will make one of them happen. So, your job is just to ask, "What would make me happy right now?" Now, type away!
And my email is trish.weidig@live.com. I guess I ought to figure out a way to put this on my site, eh?
Anonymous,
LOVED the Stephanie Klein Greek Tragedy story (the first one on the blog--I figured I'd start at the beginning.). At first I wasn't quite sure why you directed me to that site. I thought, "Is Anon telling me that I, too, would be ostracized at a sorority shindig? Or did Anon notice that Stephanie Klein and I both have crazy red hair? Maybe Anon thinks _Moose_ would be appealing to me--because it certainly looked good! Must Amazon THAT novel!"
But then as I read on, I saw the beauty of the piece. It's really about doing what makes you happy and not allowing anyone to stand between you and the joy you have within yourself, right?
My thanks to you, Anon. Whoever you are. I got your message, and you are soooooo right. I send to you a hug from my keyboard. *squeeze*
OMGosh! Would you look at when you went to bed?!! No wonder you're sick - jk! (I'm always up late.)
Are you feeling better yet? I'm so glad you want the book. I'll go email ya.
Have a great weekend.
Love your blog, btw.
ps (Saint? bwahahahaha - but thank you)
Sometimes, I think that children are just carrying on what their parents once taught them. So this world, instead of growing and changing, is really just a continuation.
But then I realize that each individual is (hopefully) part of their parents, but also individual and unique that they can bring some hope, a candle in the darkened world, to this earthly planet.
So I guess, everyone changes the world somehow; some by their writing, others in sharing experiences, or a discovery. But most people change the world by their children. If they can't change the world single-handedly and in the amount of their given lifetime, then they pass on the hope to their children, to change the world in a way that is bigger than themselves.
And eventually, the world is changed.
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