Princess manners or; Lessons from my Mom 2/28/14

I had a 'princess tea party' with a four year old last night.  She was adorable.  I think it was an excuse to con me out of a cookie and some ice cream, but we had fun.  Real sweet tea in the teapot, Disney princess cups, the works.  She asked the cutest question along the way:  "Do princesses always have to use their manners?" I answered very thoughtfully (this not being my child.....) "Of course they do!  But every now and then, a princess might be hanging out with her other princess girl friend and they might not need quite as many manners."  Answer accepted.  A few minutes later, when she said something about dog poop, I surmised that I was now a princess girl friend and the tea party was over.

She made me think of all the wisdom that women give their little princesses all through life. Some is fun, some very serious. I made a little list, just to honor all the fun, loving and very important things I learned from my mom....and her mom, her aunt, and others along the way!

A few of the royal rules:

1.       “No” can be used as a complete sentence.  Often.

2.       When nobody else gives you flowers for a while, buy them for yourself

3.       If I set foot in the ocean, every sailfish, grouper, whale, salmon, ray, octopus, turtle, dolphin, hippo, shark, and anything else out there will come bite my toes.

4.       Any creature that doesn't live in the ocean is welcome in my house. (Except big snakes.)

5.       Every now and then, you just gotta buy yourself a Camaro.

6.       Always wear your lipstick and polish your toes, you never know who you’re going to meet.

7.       If you’re good at something and it benefits others, say ‘yes’ more often than you say ‘no’.

8.       Electronics purchases are based on how pretty the lights are.

9.       Wear a slip.

10.   Call when you get there.

11.   Whatever your creative self does, do it to make yourself happy.  Don’t worry about getting rich or famous, just do it for fun.

12.   There is no stopping point to the acquisition of jewelry (that one is really mine…)

13.   Plants are friends.

14.   Shoes are not friends.

15.   Dogs and cats are equals.

16.   Any recipe can be adapted.

17.   A good tan hides a lot.

18.   Every now and then, spending the entire Saturday with your best friend is just necessary.

19.   Kids are everything.  Until grandkids come along, and then there is a new category of everything.

20.   Pray without ceasing.

I love you, mom!

But Peeps have always been yummy!! 3/23/13

Yummy - that's what I thought of Peeps.  Yes, Peeps - the marshmallow treats, chicks and bunnies, pastel colors, most people only buy them for the Easter baskets because they're pretty.  I even joined the "Peeps fan club" once upon a time.  I've got the t-shirt, cap and member card to prove it!  But I was crushed this week when I bought a box of Peeps and tried to eat a few on the way home (car calories don't count, right?) - they tasted like cardboard!  How could this have happened?  I was the Peep queen - my mom would mail them to me when I was in college!  When I lived in England, I learned the term "gone off".  It means you don't like something anymore.  "I've gone off Chinese food since it made me sick..."  I guess I've gone off Peeps.  Have they changed?  Is it my taste buds?  Did I simply age out of the marshmallow/sugar taste?  Why can't things stay yummy?

Yummy was Easter with little four and six-year-old girls. They had beautiful new dresses with white buckle shoes and lacy socks.  They truly believed that the Easter bunny had eaten those carrots and left those dirt prints on the carpet.  They went to church with me and listened and bowed their little heads to pray.  They ran all over the back garden after church, hunting the eggs that Dad had hidden, the older sister helping the younger one, and even sharing with her.  Those were yummy years. 

I suppose I would have gone off the four and six-year-old age had we managed to get stuck there.  Anything can grow old.  As I write this, I'm thinking "What's yummy about the college age kid?"  There are answers.  True answers.  The college age kid has to do their work on their own and make decent grades.  That's happening.  And it's yummy.  It's just not as cute or frilly or fun.  The college age kid has to decide what kind of adult they are going to be.....no small task in today's world.  I find it extremely yummy that my 18 and 20-year-old girls always find themselves on the fair side of any issue.  Right now, they are almost fair to the point of being liberal bleeding hearts, but that's college kids, eh?  Those are the kind of people that can end up making a difference in this world, and I'm so pleased to see that little truths I taught them at ages four and six have matured into caring, sensitive attitudes-sometimes mixed with outspokenness and activism-at ages eighteen and twenty.

So, come to think of it, there is still some yummy around here - it's just a much more mature flavor of yummy that the child-like sweets.  I've gone off a few more things besides Peeps in the past fifteen years, but I will never go off loving my children and the adults that they are becoming.  I can only hope that they find their own yummy - in every stage of their lives.  Happy Easter, everyone.

Spring Break doesn't mean you have to break something! 3/17/13

I walked out this morning to warn the next-door kids to watch out.  They were riding bikes and scooters in the cul-de-sac, swarming everywhere like bees.  When I told them that a wrecker was bringing one of our cars to the house, the nine-year-old girls' face lit up with curiosity.  "What happened?" "Why won't it go?" "What were they doing?"  Evidently, my college-age daughter's experiences are like an episode of 'Gossip Girl' in her eyes. 

You see, college-age kid (I'll call her '18')  went to Galveston Beach with three other college-age kids.  Spring Break.  No "gone wild", but kids, probably some beer, cars, bikinis, sun, waves.....it's an eternal theme.  So, 18 thought that since everyone was driving onto the sand, she could, too.  She knew not to drive on loose sand, but somehow got stuck anyway.  When you're a teenager and get stuck - and somebody offers to help, you say yes.  Some big pickup truck tried to loosen the car from the rear - and the front bumper got caught on the sand and came off.  Well, mostly off.  It was hanging loose with a lot of broken plastic underneath.

18 was wise enough to call me at that point, when there is evidence, my kids always know to own up right away.  What could I say, but "tie it back on and come home"?  Unfortunately the car shut itself down - some electrical issue, no doubt - and they ended up stuck on the side of the road.  We had roadside assistance tow it to a friend's house, because the 80 miles to home would have cost over $200.  I drove the hour down there to pick up the crew and delivered them all safely home. 

Hubby is always away when these things happen, so he sends decisive answers at 3 am by e-mail.  "She takes your truck back to school.  Pay to have car towed home.  You drive other car."  Short and sweet.  I like it that way, because it makes me think that he took the news very calmly.

I sent her back to school in her sister's car, and found a tow for under 200.  So when I saw the swarm of bikers, I knew I had to not only warn them to be careful, I had to get that little zinger in to their dad- "Enjoy the bike years, they're over before you know it!"  Based on how interested his daughter was in the college kid's exploits, he had better stay on top of things - you keep looking out through the same old eyes, but life changes mighty fast.