Excuse me?!

I've been a parent for a long time now, twenty years! Just when I think I've heard it all, I stand corrected and am amused yet again by the fruit of my loins. Last night, Kacey and I had an enjoyable evening at Enrichment where we did our fair share of beautifying the earth with hot glue guns, Modge Podge, rhinestones and staple guns. Oh yes, we signed up for it all. It was an evening to spend with our girls and it was time well spent. Girls, girls, everywhere girls ... from ages 1 to 100. This gathering got me thinking. Rarely have I ever entertained the thought of wishing I had another daughter because Kacey and I just don't need more of that around, but we do like to visit it. So we had our fill of the estrogen filled cultural hall and we made our way home to the testosterone levels that we are used to.

I was scurrying around the house putting all of our crafty clutter away from the aforementioned event, when I heard what I heard. I can honestly say I've never heard these words uttered, nor do I think they'll ever be said or heard again ... so I just had to blog them! Are you ready? This is what I heard Kacey EXCLAIM to her larger yet younger brother. "Keaton! Stop using my tampons! They're almost all gone!" Yes, you read it correctly. So you'll understand that for a second I stood there questioning my hearing and then immediately went to investigate what I thought I heard. Sure enough, there was Kacey standing there with the blue box in one hand and a whole lot of attitude in the other.




My eyes instantly directed themselves toward Keaton and I didn't even need to ask ... he quickly began to explain. Apparently, while we were off using a staple gun, Keaton got a pretty bad bloody nose. One of his friends introduced him to a highly absorbent solution which happened to be right there in the bathroom cabinet! I'm sure he and his friend were feeling quite pleased with the fact that they had stopped the bleeding and that they had gone where few men had ever gone before. I thought that the looks on mine and Kacey's faces would have convinced Keaton to have feelings of regret, therefore giving me the satisfied feeling that this wouldn't happen again. However, the grin on Keaton's face did just the opposite. All it did was make me stand up straighter and realize that my parenting is far from over. So I guess I've got another hundred years to go before I've heard all there is to hear, but this little exchange of words between Kacey and Keaton confirmed my peace with having only one daughter. I can truly say that arguing over tampon theft is probably not something I'll have to deal with on a regular basis. However, if it happens again, I'm pretty sure that Kacey will know how to stop the bloody nose on Keaton ... which she will have caused.

God Bless America

When I was younger, I made some really dumb choices.  So did everybody else I’ve ever met ... ever.  I still make poor choices!  Unless we’re perfect (and we’re not), that’s just part of life.   Luckily, we usually learn from our choices and we become better for it!  This is how I feel about The United States of America. 

When she was younger, she was still learning about everything. I imagine it’s not easy to start a nation from scratch.  No doubt that some stupid choices were made. Can you believe that we actually thought that slavery was normal?  What the heck, right?!  Women couldn’t vote!  Shut the front door!  Shoot!  Shut the back door!  But guess what. That’s not who we are anymore. 

That’s not who we are anymore because we are inherently good and wise. We began to learn from our mistakes how people should be treated. That’s how history works. Our history shapes us, reminds us of our progress, and gives us some really helpful hints on what to do moving forward!  We should be so proud of our country today! It’s still not perfect (neither are we), but look how far we’ve come!  

So when we choose to be offended by our history, and actually begin to remove the landmarks, statues and images that refer to our past ... we’re erasing the piece that we grew from. We’re also erasing some really impressive work that should never be dismissed. Betsy made a grand ole’ flag!  And she’s a girl!  Atta girl, Betsy!

Today we celebrate our independence. Freedomthat some still don’t have.  This freedom recently allowed people to express their feelings about Betsy’s flag. This same freedom allows me to express my feelings about people who choose to be offended by Betsy’s flag rather than measure the growth we’ve experienced since then, and to appreciate the work and the good that was put into that flag!  Are we done learning and growing?  Nope. Can we be better?  Always. History has shown us this.  

So today, on The 4th of July, my gosh celebrate what we have. Light a sparkler and take a bit to rejoice in the good things the USA has offered us.  We’re the luckiest.  We’ll pay it forward.  We always have.  God bless America.