On This Miraculous Planet, On Real Food, On Union with all that is
“Which one is the easiest one for you to teach Momma?”
“Jackson - the bullfrog.”
“Jackson, not Jeremy - the normal frog?”
“Jackson.” Immediately, Dragon moves both hands and holds them up for me. “This is Jackson.” He then untwisted his hands and slows down his finger movement as he narrated along for me to follow him.
Read MoreBean, your hand reaches over from my peripheral vision as I am driving and reaches towards the radio controls. “Mom, I don’t like the song.”
Oh my gosh, Bean is changing the channel and sitting in the front seat! What is going on?!
“Bean, it is really weird for your Momma to not have you in the back seat anymore.” And have volition over the radio and also not have a full front table for me to spread out my stuff.
“Mom, I am over 4’9”. That is the rule.”
Read MoreDearest Dragon,
Your lovely teacher quickly realized (though she never called me out on it directly) that I had been coddling you with spelling words when we were homeschooling. I would spell out the words you wanted to write. I took away your ability to try - by spoon feeding you the correct spelling.
Mrs P., very quickly nipped that in the bud (glorious woman). Over the course of a month or so she weaned you away from such hand holding and you are now forging ahead with writing regardless of accuracy. (Hooray Mrs P!)
Read MoreThe bus squeals as it comes to a stop at the end of our road. I am clutching the mail for the day. Dragon, hops off the bus and proudly announced. “Momma, I made it to level six!”
Is he talking about the computer game? “That is so exciting, level six of what?”
“Mooom, of Gravity Run!”
You are SEVEN! Your brain is barely functioning. Why are you playing video games at school?!
“Of course! Congratulations!”
“My goal is to get to level 20.”
Read MoreDearest Beloveds,
Gone are the days of midnight feedings and chasing you around the kitchen - more physically taxing situations. Now I seem to spend a lot of time with mental situations. Where I need to figure out how much to share about the bigger world around you. It feels more and more that my job is less to tickle you and more to act as a buffer for your curiosity and fears as we enter the big world together.
Questions such as “How much does this cost?”
“Do we have enough money?”
“What are you all talking about?”
I don’t want to burden you with things like taxes and the minutea of your Mother’s health shenanigans. I also don’t want to lie to you.
Read MoreDearest Beloveds,
When I was in my early tweens I came home from school after a parent presentation from Senator Al Gore about the J curve and global warming.*
I was very upset and Baba took me on a walk. “Dad! There are too many people on this planet and not enough resources! Did you know there is trash in the ocean? There is rain that has so much acid in it that statues are MELTING!”
I remember him taking a deep breath and turning to me. “Don’t worry, Corinna, technology will save us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, there are very smart people out there who are working on this now and it will be okay.”
My beloveds, I am never going to tell you that technology will save us from the mess we have made on our Mother: the Earth.
There are three reasons why: 1) the physical needs of technology directly harm the earth 2) technology separates us from the present moment 3) technology is the latest iteration of human supremacy that created the schism in the first place.
Read MoreBackpacks were shrugged off as we reached the end of the gravel lane. Bean declared to her brother, “I look on the left - you look on the right.”
“I always look right!”
Let’s stop this before it balloons. I interjected, “I will look both ways too,” and waded onto the domed center of the asphalt road. High stepping with the thrill of illicit I called out as I scanned the horizons for cars. “Why is it so much fun to go into the road?”
The crickets sang to us from the tree line.
“Because it is cheating!” A big grin split Dragon’s face.
I laughed. “It is cheating.”
He continued, “because you are breaking the law and nobody knows!”
“I hear a car, let’s go back to the side. Don’t run.”
We have a long stretch of straight road on either side of our lane where we need to meet the bus. At least half a mile on either side keeps us safe during the slow traffic times in the morning.
Read MoreDearest Beloveds, as the two of you navigate the world of capitalism and your own want monsters - I want to reiterate a thought.
I just read Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money:Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness. My key takeaways are threefold:
#1 Compounding interest does its magic only if you give it enough time.
#2 The unexpected will happen and your life goals will shift.
#3 It is preferable to be wealthy than rich.
All three of these are important to grok as you grow. The first is a mathematical fact. The second is common sense.* It is the last nugget I want to expand.
Read More“Dragon, I am not paying for you to play with the digging tool. I am paying you to weed.” Argh, I do not like that sentence. Boss Woman Hat doesn’t feel good. But - I am paying him and he is faffing and he needs to learn this.
“Okaaaayyyy.” Halfhearted swipes recommenced.
I look over at his pile. Corinna, he is 7. Do not compare his pile with your pile. “Dearest, if you want to do something else. I understand.”
“No! I want the sword! We figured it out. I work an hour for four days and I will have enough to buy it with my own money.”
Read MoreDearest beloveds,
The fun thing about where we live is that very different places are within half a days drive. For one week north to visit a different country, a new city, and practice another language. For another week southeast to eat freshly shucked oysters, watch sea birds, and do puzzles when it rained. Back to back. As my dear friend E said, This sounds like one of those ideas that seemed perfect in December.
Be that as it may, it has given your mother ample time in the car to contemplate travel: why people do it, the point of it, and the different tourist modalities.
Read MoreDearest Beloveds,
Parenthood can be quite humbling.*
One of the most confronting parts of being a parent is realizing you are passing down your neuroses/limitations/Cranky Monster baggage to your children.
Many teachers over many years have all taught me the same thing. We are energetic beings in physical bodies. Our energy body/aura surrounds us like a glowing multidimensional egg of vibrational me-ness.
In that aura there can be blockages. Blockages made of past habits, memories, things that trigger us, woundings, fears, etc etc. Rob Wergin likes to call them mud pies. Mucky, dark, heavy glurpy goo that sticks within our aura and blocks energy flow. Meme told me when I was 12 that 4th dimensional creatures live in our auras - called in as helpers when we are afraid or in pain but then they never leave and become a handicap.* Perhaps those two are the same thing.
I spend a great deal of energy and attention cleaning up my personal mudpies - but sometimes I think I splash mud onto you two when I am not thinking.
Read MoreDearest Beloveds,
I recently ran across an interview with Dr. Tony Nader and Daniel Pink about motivations and rewards. Your Momma was cringing as I listened to their discussion because it dawned on me that all day long I am offering you contingent rewards. As Pink calls them, an “if then” reward.
“If you don’t eat your breakfast we can’t go to camp.”
“If you don’t set the table, I will dock you one strike. As you know, after three strikes you won’t get your allowance.”
“If you don’t do you math lesson, we can’t read stories.”
Read More
My life vision is to love, be curious, identify my Cranky Monster, and be brave enough to speak from and for The Good.
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