The Apple Doesn't Fall Far....

I remember every boy I ever had a crush on.

I remember my first, Eric Meek, who lived behind my house and whose older brother married us in the backyard after preschool one day. My kindergarten crush, J.D. Thurman, once kicked me because he didn't speak my language of flirt, i.e. taunting him at recess with his full name, John David. Sadly, I didn't mind the kick, but I did lose the crush. No worries, someone else held my attention moments later.
I held onto my 8th grade crush with such vehemence that even after we "broke-up", I still daydreamed about being his Sister or Mrs. ______. We'd play basketball together, he'd go on a mission, and I'd be that sweet spirit waiting for him to come home and marry me. (Insert here the Garth Brooks song about "Unanswered Prayers" being a blessing we didn't know we wanted.)

One "crush" was to a best friend in high school, whom I thought dearly of, and confused that with another sort of love. I caught him hugging, heavens forbid, my best girlfriend. That was it, instantly I deserted that crush and what remained was all friend. Sadly, moments later, and I'm not joking, within minutes I was in crush with another one of my best friends. If only my girlfriend had hugged her way through my college years, I'd have been better off. Maybe not, but it's worth a thought.

I thrived off the bi-polarness of being in like, I wasn't in any position to listen to anyone explain to me the different forms of like and love. It just was one, the one, the crush.

I spit all this out because of two things.

First, I have this unformulated theory about my kids. I like to look at them and say "_______, what are you going to have to deal with in this life that is
1: my fault but at least I understand it and can help you,
2: all your own but your dad can fix it, or
3:(the worst) something that I totally can't help you with and will feel helpless to help you overcome it."

There is this awesome Coldplay song (and you're right, every Coldplay song is awesome, but I digress) that says:
"The hardest part was letting go, not taking part. I tried to sing, but I couldn't think of anything."

Which, as a momma bear who is protective of her young, that is the hardest part of parenting. Let them do it their way. Knowing when to back off. Knowing when to say something, or having something to say.
I have great parents, who taught me a lot. But sadly when it came to boys, I didn't grasp enough or maybe I am just a slow learner and had to learn through life.
A college friend's mom, an angel, once told me that she liked me better when I didn't come around with my then boyfriend. I love it when people are blunt. I totally got it. I had tried breaking up with him, he tried dumping me, but we just kept finding our way back to each other. Like two magnets, but not in a good way. But having this momma tell me straight up, well, it helped, it sunk in.

And the second reason, and the point of all this madness, is that I think I've passed on this wretchedness to my daughter Sierra.
I was in her kindergarten class today helping out and noticed something. I recognized six of the boys names in the class because my little 5 year old has only mentioned them about a dozen times each. Little Daniel R., the paragon, was an adorable little kid with a prized medal pinned on his shirt. The twin brothers (remember the earlier post about the two boys who happen to have the same dad AND backback - what a coincidence, right?) they are these stout little guys with bashful smiles.
And the "cool" kid, Johnny, with his cool shoes and beautiful blue eyes. She doesn't even know the names of the girls in her class. I asked CC to go get a certain girl for me, and she didn't know who she was, but would send her other friend Reese in. Reese is a pretty cute little boy too.

So, what to do? Do I expound upon her the virtues of having lots of friends, girl or boy. Do I explain to her that she will like some more than others, but to keep it simple? Am I overkilling it? Yes, probably. But, it looks like history repeats itself in our children, and hopefully, from my mistakes and madness, I can help her through the highs and lows and tell her it's okay. You can be obsessed with boys, and still find one that can make all the rest seem like practice.

CC's thoughts on Kindergarten

Me: "How was school CC?"

CC: "There were these two boys and they had the same dad .... and the same backpack....and we didn't get to play and we didn't get to go potty...and no one got sent to the Principal's office... and one kid cried...and mom, the kid with the yellow hair has a Christmas tree that can fold up and he has a little door that can get to the t.v."

Gingerbread Haka vs. Timberlake's "Peg"

Let me just preface these clips, first is the Gingerbread Haka. Nic and I are on a crazy vegan/detox diet for the next month. Veggies and fruit only. I'm not kidding. It's crazy hard and as a result, I'm craving carbs, and this clip just makes me laugh too.

The second is the SNL that was on last night. That justin Timberlake is amazing. Usually the Target lady skits are owned by Kristen Wiig and her great voice, but Timberlake's "Peg" wins hands down. He even had Kristen losing it mid-skit.

So here for you on a lovely monday, enjoy! And someone please eat a cookie for me ;)

Weekly update

Busy week, where to start...

















p.s. Today is Nic and I's 10 year anniversary, yep, 9-9-99, now 9-9-09. Cool anniversary date huh.

Portland To Coast Year 2

Year 2 (I'm going to make this extremely brief but long, sort of like a run on sentence if it were a relay.)

Awesome, we had 12 great walkers, decorated my car to look like a pig, people were taking pictures of themselves with my car, which made me wildly giddy, I walked a 12.9 minute pace for 4+ miles, Tucker and Patrick beat me with their 11 minute paces, and their amazing "crouch walk", walked in the rain, and water dripping down my face, my husband was a stud, he and I are both down 30 lbs from last year, Melissa was a maniac and walked 15+ miles! Uphill, in the rain, with a vendetta to beat the girl in green. Couldn't walk for 2 days, all good now, can't wait for next year! phew!