Big Boy

The daycare was closed for the second half of the week. Usually that means trying to have Jo in the classroom with me, or taking days off to be with him at home. However, our JK teacher was very gracious in allowing him to join her class for those days. So we all packed lunches into backpacks and drove off to school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

After the usual nervous "something unfamiliar" arrival, Jo quickly made friends with other children and played on the school playground with the fierce delight that he plays everywhere else.

On Friday morning he went outside before school to play with his big sister and her friends. LK was on duty and popped his head into my room on his way by to report that they were tromping about in the bush on the hill, having a grand old time.

Then on Friday he brought home a package of his "work", which he proudly shared with us. He and Fi then commences to spend a chunk of their Friday afternoon "working" together at the kitchen table.

I think that Jo is just about ready for the big transition to school.

Mama Bear

We have new neighbours; a mother bear and her only cub. They have taken up residence in the bush somewhere close to the teacherages and make an almost nightly visit to our garbage bin. At first we thought they were so cute. It is great evening entertainment to watch them wander around; especially the nightly opening of the garbage bin that she struggles through.

Clean up after her isn't great. She is such a sloppy guest, leaving garbage strewn all over the place. LK is such a curb-appeal guy that he cleans up after her every time.

The mother is gorgeous - her coat is healthy and glossy. She takes her time strolling around and lets her Little Bear explore while they walk. She is the first bear that I have ever heard talking. She grunts almost like a monkey to him quite constantly as they walk. It sounds like she is telling him everything she knows about life.

The cub is the size of a small dog and was very nervous and shy a week ago. Now he seems to have settled in and is quite comfortable cavorting around his mama's legs. He is adorable with cinnamon coloured ears and a jet-black body. If he didn't have such a fierce protector it would be totally tempting to snuggle him like a teddy bear.

Last night Mama Bear was having her evening meal in the garbage bin - she climbs right inside and the lid shuts on her. You could easily walk up to it not knowing that she was inside... Anyway, she was having her evening meal and the poor cub couldn't figure out where she was.

He cried and whined piteously. No answer. He moaned and groaned like he was dying. No answer. Finally the scared little guy went tearing off into the bush looking for his missing mama.

Well, when her tummy was full, Mama Bear climbed out of the bin and grunted to her little guy. No answer. She grumbled and groaned. No answer. Then she showed why you should never mess with a Mama Bear and ran across the clearing in a second crashing into the bush after her cub. Not even a track star could outrun her!

I think this is a neighbour that we don't want staying in the neighbourhood, as our own little bears like to play and wander outside in the evenings. Somehow I don't think that Jo and bears are a healthy combo...

15

In the first few years we were wrapped in a cocoon of newlywed bliss. We lived entirely for our relationship. We poured energy into building our new family of two with all the passion in both our souls. We were determined to build a marriage that was strong enough to withstand the struggles over money and time and the conflicts of life. They were years rich with emotional intimacy and love.

Then the honeymoon stage passed and we poured energy into building our life in our community through our work. We began to build connections with other families and establish roots to more than one another. We were blessed to know people who were chosen-family; honourable aunts, uncles, grandparents, and siblings. We are fortunate that some of those relationships are still strong to this day, even though stressed by the challenges of distance and busy lives. They were years rich with interpersonal intimacy and love.

Then we added to our family and the entire focus of our lived shifted. Now we build for our children. Every day, rain or shine, we rise and do our best so that our Sprouts will know the love of their parents and between their parents as unconditional and unreserved. These are years rich with partner intimacy and love.

It has been fifteen years of building a relationship of love. I am beyond thankful for the partner with whom I have been blessed to work. I am excited to continue to build and have adventures with my dearest husband for at least fifteen more years (hopefully fifty). I anticipate love that continues to grow rich and deeper with each year.

LK, you are my heart, my laughter, my strength, and the very best partner I could ever hope for. Thank you for building with me for these past fifteen years.

The Cost of Peace

My Nan is remembered as being a lady who valued peace above all. She went to great lengths to maintain peace in her home between family members. She never spoke out in public in any way that would cause a rift or offense to others. As a result I imagine there were things in her life that were very frustrating for her. But she valued peace more than anything else and chose to live with the consequences of that value.

It is not an easy thing to commit to a value and then live it. Values often require of us a sacrifice of our own comfort or desires if we commit to truly living them. For Nan it meant keeping quiet about her own wishes and spending much of her time mending fences between others. For that I hold her in great respect.

We each choose the values that are most important to us. Sometimes two values come into conflict with one another. Then we have problems and struggles. When our values are in conflict with those of other people we also have conflict between individuals or groups.

Conflict is not usually pleasant. But is it always bad? Can we take something positive out of challenging or difficult situations? Absolutely. In fact, research on successful leaders indicates that they are not those who have the fewest conflicts, but are those who learn the most from their choices.

I believe that peace is important. I value honesty more. And I value excellence the most. I struggle daily in all aspects of my life to balance those values. They cannot always function together in harmony. Sometimes I have to choose which one will be honoured in a moment.

Those choices can be really hard to make and to live with. But live with them we must.

That is when it is most important to look closely at ourselves and learn from our choices (whether they were successful or mistakes). It is how we grow.

Treat(y) Day

Treat Day is what Jo called it when explaining on Wednesday morning to his Nana why we were not at school. That description sounded great to me as it was a day without work that I got to spend with the Little Man.

Now that the weather is consistently lovely his constant refrain is, "Can I go play outside?" and that is often followed up by, "Mama, I want to go for a hike."

Since it was Treat(y) Day we splurged and went to for two hikes; one before lunch and one after.

As previously mentioned, Jo is not a quiet hiker. He likes to engage in a running narrative about what he sees, and what he thinks, and what he wonders (a lot like his Mama). Sometimes I feel the need to engage in his narrative and correct his grammar (jumped, not jumpded) or indicate my listening with questions. But not this time. It was lovely to just walk behind him and listen to him ramble as he explored. All he really needed was a smile and lots of patience while he stopped every ten metres or so to examine something amazing that he "discovered".

It was just both of our speed.

Mudslinging

There is a picture in my parents' photo album of my sisters and I wearing mud suits (one pieces splash-pants and jacket) in the late 1970s. We are playing outside in the mud in May. The following picture is of my face, splattered in mud. One of the other girls had thrown a handful of mud at me; literally slinging mud. I made the crankiest face possible while my mom suppressed a grin into the camera.

After supper tonight the Sprouts wanted to head right back outside to play with our little neighbour (who they are delighted to have living next door now). For about ten minutes there was blissful peace while they made mud pies and various other ditch water delicacies. Then Jo went careening into the ditch to get a shovelful of water to add to his bucket. Unfortunately he didn't quite lift his feet high enough as he stepped down the bank.

Howls of upset rose into the air and he stomped up onto the porch. He was plastered with splashes of mud from head to toe. I tried to restrain my smile as he moaned his distress. He wasn't hurt, just irate that he was wet, muddy and cold when mere moments before he was having so much fun.

I had a flashback of muddy spring days in northern BC when I was a Sprout. And I didn't envy the poor guy at all.

Three for One Deal, Not So Much of a Deal

It felt like three days.
It surely can't only be Monday done.
I am sure that there was enough stuff crammed into this day to fill at least three.

No?

Oh.

Then why am I so drained?

Three for the price of one... in sales I like those numbers. In my workday, not so much.

Let's try a one to one day tomorrow.

Growlings

All I have to say for today is... FINALLY a connection to the internet! Grrrr! Inconsistent, unreliable.... Grrrr!

Overpriced Bell service is looking better and better these days.