Getting Real

I haven't mentioned this for awhile, so some of you might not know or might not remember that I have two teenagers at home.  A while back, I was sitting at a group lunch with my coworkers talking with my boss about kids these days.  She said that the most challenging ages were 13 for girls and 17 for boys.  "Yippee", I thought, "I have one of each." 

Standing, as I often am, on the brink of losing my mind, it's been a really, really, really (REALLY!!!) challenging year or so.  People don't tell you that.  If you believe everything you read on Facebook, you'd think the world (or at least this part of West Texas) is populated with perfect kids and their perfect parents. (Note to self: Unfriend all those people.)

Being checked out by the dolphins in Hawaii this summer.

 

Today's poetic post is for all the imperfect parents and their equally imperfect progeny.

 

Teenagers



Teenager, teenager,

Smart as a whip

You can’t wait ‘til it’s time

For you to jump ship.

 

To take hold of your destiny;

Make your own way;

Be your own person;

Seize your own day.

But take it from me

Being grown up is hard.

It’s more than a valid

State ID card.

 

Along with your freedom

You pay bills and get bosses.

You get to pay taxes

And count stock market losses.

One day, you may have

a teenager, too.

And there’ll be no one dumber

Or more backward than you.

 

Then maybe you’ll come over

And give me a hug.

And tell me you’re grateful.

And I’ll try not to be smug.

 

For I once was also

A smarty pants teen

Who thought that my parents

Were nothing but mean.

Now I will stop,

So I don’t start to bug.

I need to go give

Your grandma a hug.

 

May the good Lord bless us today with infinite patience and infinite peace and may we share those things with all the people in our lives.

 

<3  Lori

Scenes from the Porch: A Lesson in Slowing Down

We lead busy lives around here most of the time.  I have a regular job, LeissnerArt, Creative Clearinghouse, and all the work that a household requires.   I also have a husband, two teenagers, two dogs and six cats, all of whom require varying degrees of attention.  So, although I do come home from work some days and pass out in front of the television, it's a rare occasion that I get to spend several hours just sitting on the porch in the quiet--no requests for anything, no basketballs echoing off the driveway, no guinea fowl squawking their complaints that there's not enough food in the coop, and no arguing penetrating the exterior peace from the interior chaos.   Today was that day.

Today I learned, if you are quiet and listen, you hear the ducks splashing in the tank (that's what we call natural and man made, smaller scaled, earthen bodies of water here.  Elsewhere it might be called a "pond". No self-respecting Texan would call that a "pond".  It's a "tank".)

 You may also see a beautiful butterfly reaping a bounty of pollen in the Texas Sage.

Or watch a hawk land in a tree top,

And take flight again when the big white dog barks.

You might notice the helicopter hum of the dirt daubers busy with nest building.

You may experience the ruby brilliance of the setting sun through the trees.

And, if you are especially still and especially quiet, you'll discover the favorite tiny perch of the favorite tiny bird.

Sometimes, when the noise of life seems almost too much to bear and the hurry hurry that accompanies it seems impossible to maintain, the only answer is to slow down, be quiet, watch and wait.

"Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." Job 37:14

May the good Lord bless you with quiet moments to calm your soul. 

<3  Lori