Help a Vet

Today panhandlers were out in droves, I think it is because the snow and ice has thawed and it is a gorgeous 70 degrees here in OKC.  Now, I have mixed feelings about these people, part of me wants to help if they TRULY need help, but part of me has seen the exposes on the news that show them making more than my husband and I do annually from panhandling.  

My son is now a very good reader, so he can read the signs these people have.  He saw one today that said "Help a vet, please help."  My son starts pleading with me to stop and help this man (he is a very tenderhearted little fellow).  I try to explain in first grader terms that if I had food or something I'd give it, but I NEVER give money.  That is my rule.  I then tried to reason with my son about how people can always find a job.   Even if you had to work at McDonalds.

My son then looked at me and said ,"Mom he doesn't WANT to work at McDonalds.  He wants to be a Vet."

Live In The Moment

My buddies on Facebook have been uploading photos of our teenage years, and wow, the memories just start flooding back to you.  As I was looking at these photos, of trips to youth camp, trips to slide rock, and just us goofing all night at our best friend's house a realization hit me.  Those really WERE the best days of my life.  Not that I don't love where I'm at right now, but wow, I never realized then just how much fun I was having.

I spent so much of my youth mopey, depressed, worried about boys and stupid stuff that was so trivial and didn't matter.  I let these things get in the way of how much fun I really could have been having.  As I look back now, I don't remember which guy broke my heart, or which friend was pissing me off that day, I remember the good times we had, and the fun we had in each moment, that is what you take with you.

That being said, I STILL do this to this day.  I never live in the moment, I'm constantly trying to get to the next moment, and I don't realize the joy that is happening all around me.  I worry about stupid stuff and make myself miserable in every situation.   If I only had this I would be happy....well then I get that and I'm still NOT satisfied...If I can only do this THEN I will be content.  If I continue in this reckless pattern my life will have flashed by me and I will have missed out on what is truly important, and that is living in the moment.  

If I could learn to live in the moment, I wouldn't worry about tomorrow.  I would not worry if the house was clean or the dishes were done.  I wouldn't be thinking about having to go to school next week, or getting the laundry done.  This is not to say let everything go, but if I learned to live in the moment, I'd drop that laundry basket for thirty minutes and wrestle in the living room with my kids.  If I could learn to live in the moment, I wouldn't worry if the kids spill koolaid on the carpet because they are only little for such a brief time.  

“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going”

-Tennessee Williams

The Older They Get

The older my kids get the more interesting things get around here.  I LOVED it when they were babies, and part of me misses that, but I have also learned to just enjoy them where they are at, and as they get older they get to be a lot of fun.

Last night my two oldest were watching "James and the Giant Peach."  There is a character on there they were arguing about.  Myah insisted that it was a caterpillar, but Brett said he was certain it was NOT a caterpillar, but something else.  He followed that with "I don't know the name of it, but I know it is NOT a caterpillar."  I listened in the kitchen while cooking dinner at this whole exchange between them.  Finally they called me into it.  I looked, and I agreed with Brett, it was not a caterpillar. 

About twenty minutes later, it was revealed that this character was actually a centipede.  Brett of course relished in the fact that he was right.  That is when the attitude came out of Myah.

Brett:  See I was right!

Myah:  No you were not right!  You didn't know what it was.

Brett:  Myah, I told you it wasn't a caterpillar, and it wasn't.  

Myah:  It was a centipede and you didn't know what it was, so you were wrong!  (don't you love this logic...)

This is when I interrupted.  I explained Brett was indeed right.  Myah's attitude still didn't diminish any.  About five minutes later she came up to me in the kitchen and here were her exact words:

Myah: Oh A.K.A. mom...I don't have anything in my folder.

I lost it.  I started laughing roaring with laughter.  I then explained the difference between A.K.A. and F.Y.I. to Myah, so she didn't repeat this faux pa to anyone else.