Life's lessons

My six year old's views on life

2009-05-13T19:19:00.001-07:00

My Alex really says the darndest things and he puts a smile on my face in just about every conversation. He does not try to be funny , he simply is. His pragmatic view of life reminds me of innocence and truth that is rarely seen in adults . Mind you, he does analyze things before giving a response and often times it is a simple truth.

On this particular day, he is very sad and is totally consumed with a girl in his class that he is head over heals in love with. The girl in question seems to "love" another boy, as evidenced by her choosing to sit next to him. After unsuccessfully trying to calm him down with reason, I asked him " Why are you getting so upset with this Al"? He responds "because she is a girl". I said , "So?" He looks at me with disbelief and said, " Mom girls these days they look so pretty!!" I did my best not to laugh out loud (LOL) as I didn't want to give the impression I was not taking his statement seriously.

As we are driving to basketball practice my older son whose sense of direction is appalling is tryng to figure out where exactly we are and where I will be turning next. To help him alonf, Alex pointed out a couple of milestones to him and he said " when I start driving I have to get a GPS". Alex replied, well you are not getting Moms GPS. "Mom, when you die, can I get please get your GPS? "

Alex was very concerned one day about death and the afterlife, so he came over to me to find out how things are going to work out in heaven. He says " Mom, when you die are you going to heaven?" I told him I didn't know. He said, "well I think you are going as you are the best mommy ever". The he said " So how am I going to find you in heaven when I die?". Is Jesus going to show me where you live?". I of course did not have an answer, as I never gave much thought to how families will be reunited in heaven.

Out of the mouth of babes. I am constantly learning about being open, simple,truthful and logical from conversations I have with Alex. Which BTW, are the same things I want to teach him, but as you can see he knows it already.

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Mommy's day to moms. grand moms, step moms, wannabe moms, all moms. It is a challenge being a mom. No one teaches us what to expect and how to swim not sink in this role. So we learn each day by trial and error much to the chagrin of our children. So on this day I really do not wish to reflect on the kind of Mom I have turned out to be, which by the way, is the kind I never thought I would be. I will reflect instead look toward the future. What can I do to ensure my children will become well rounded, conscientious , responsible adults? How can I improve my "cool" rating in my teenager's eyes? After all, I do live to make my kids happy, healthy and most of all love me to death.

Why do we judge ...

2009-05-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning and I noticed when I smile I have new facial lines sprouting next to my eyes!! Yikes! was my first thought. I used my fingers to simulate a "pull back" like I see done on television and bingo! the lines disappeared. Then it became apparent to me that aging is not fun :(. Oh no, it creeps up one cliche day at a time and before we know it, all the signs are there, and there's nothing we can do about it...or is there.

I have begun to understand, which really means I think I have to swallow my feet, why celebs and others in the public eye would take it to the next level and go the cosmetic surgery route. And I was one of those persons who saw that as extreme narcissism and downright vain for a person to be going to those lengths to remove all signs of aging. But now I can commiserate.

While I cannot afford to get the "Hollywood freshen up" I have entertained the thought. But like all ill begotten thoughts, I realize that there is also something to say for those of us who age gracefully, and by maintaing a lifestyle that is healthy and active we can make the quality of our lives and those who will be responsible for us in the later years, easier.

So to all my natural sisters who are seeing the signs, albeit small ones, lets embrace them as another milestone. And more importantly lets us choose to live well and live long!