With the snow spitting outside my window, I sit down to write today’s blog post and think, “What do I write about today?” What can I possibly have to say that is worth saying on a day like today? I could write about the weather. I mean, the winter is hopefully drawing to a close but here in New England you couldn’t really tell. Just a couple more weeks and it will be officially Spring, yet outside my window I see flurries spitting down from the sky like an insult. But are people going to want to read about the weather? I suppose it shouldn’t matter what people want to read. I should write about something that moves me. So what moves me these days? My kids move me.
My lovely daughter Allison recently got her braces off. Her smile is beautiful. Not that it wasn’t before, I mean, let’s face it folks, my daughter is a cute kid. I’m not just saying this because I am her mother either. Objectively, she is cute. She has very pretty curly hair. We argue about its color – she says it’s brown and I say it’s strawberry blonde. She might be right but I still think it’s strawberry blonde. Her skin is like porcelain – smooth, pale and soft. She hates how she burns so easily…I mean it only takes 45 minutes in the sun even with sunblock protection and she is crispy. I however, love how milky-white her skin is. She has just a hint of freckles and a touch of pink, indicating how healthy she is.
I love seeing her smile or laugh. Her whole face lights up and she engages all of her face in the act of smiling. Her eyes sparkle and become wider and her eyebrows arch. When she is laughing she is truly beautiful. And now that the “jewelry” is off her teeth, she looks even better. She is trying to get used to her retainers and hates how they make her mouth feel. She has a slight lisp right now and it’s interfering with her attempts to learn French. I however, think it is pretty darned cute. There is some soreness, but so far that has been bearable for her.
Allison has a wide range of interests that make talking with her both a challenging and thought-provoking. She reads all the time. She knows about so many different things. She likes science, debating, technology, vegetarianism, politics, dogs, cats and music. She is thoughtful about the topics of conversation she has and what she chooses to contribute to them. She is a woman of few words. She makes the words that she uses matter. The vocabulary this girl has makes my mind spin! She is so bright.
So that is Allison. My middle child Christopher, is a charmer. He is cocky, confident, and adorable in my humble opinion. He has hair that is a straight as you can get it. Not one curl. His eyes are blue, like his older sister’s, and the color of his hair is similar to his sister’s as well. But his looks aren’t the most interesting thing about him. Christopher is a funny guy who has loads of confidence. He is tough, fair-minded and athletic. Watching him run while he is playing baseball or just around the yard while he plays with his cousins brings me such joy. I know it might sound odd that his running would bring me joy, but to see him move is to see one of God’s most coordinated creatures move.
We played Pickle yesterday. The whole family did. It was such fun. We so rarely have the time to just play games with our kids like this but yesterday the weather cooperated and we had a blast. For me, some of the best fun was seeing how agile Christopher truly is. He has long, coltish legs that seem to carry him like he is floating through the air. To see him move is to truly see poetry in motion. He’s not afraid either. He commits to his moves thoroughly and never seems to worry about getting hurt, which is probably why he so rarely DOES get hurt. I mean, how many times have you hesitated on something only to regret the hesitation later? I wound up face down in a brook one time while hiking with a fifty-pound pack because I hesitated about jumping on a rock while crossing the brook. Christopher seems to possess none of that hesitation. He commits fully and if he gets a little banged up in the process, he’s okay with that.
Finally, there’s Daniel. Daniel is a sweet, adorable, friendly, creative guy. With lots of curly hair and blue eyes he is a stunner. Again, not to focus on the physical aspects of my kids, Daniel is sensitive and affectionate. He is my artist. He loves to cuddle, draw, paint, and read.
Recently Daniel did some public speaking “for fun.” I had to laugh that he thought that this was fun because public speaking is one of the biggest fears most people have. But not my Daniel. He got up in front of his audience (a group of parents there to see their children participate in 4H Visual Presentation Day) and spoke like a pro. He was very much at ease and knew his material very well (Minecraft – not a hard topic for an eight year old to engage his audience with). He and I had worked together on the visual part of his visual presentation – a 3-panelled foam board display illustrating the various “Minecraft Mobs” and I was so impressed with him. Working together is not really that accurate a comment as he did all the work and all I really did was to make suggestions. He was so confident and comfortable with what he wanted to present that he was able to take suggestions for improvement in stride and he managed the whole project so well. I think it was due to his familiarity with the subject, but for an eight year old to have the poise and grace he did about presenting is very impressive to my way of thinking.
Okay, so enough of the love-fest for my kids. By now you are probably tired of hearing this mother go on and on about how terrific her own kids are. I mean, after all, aren’t ALL kids impressive? In their own way, yes, all kids are impressive. Watch any of them for a period of time and you will marvel at how they grow, learn and change. That is part of what I am doing here as I sing the virtues of my progeny. But more than that I truly LIKE my children. I find them to be interesting, engaging, funny and intelligent beings in their own right. Marvelling in their awesome-ness just seems natural to me. Doesn’t it seem so to you?
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