Tag Archives: MAM

Perfect Moment Monday: Instant Friends

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Life has been good and life has been busy lately. We’ve had all kinds of fall fun, and have Fall-Breaked our hearts out. This week’s perfect moment, though, didn’t involve anything seasonal or sensational, it was a simple impromptu play date.

When my friend Liz put the call out that her church was having a sale on Friday afternoon, I brought the kids over to peruse their wares. Liz was cashiering, and her children were off in a room playing quietly. After trying on a few pairs of shoes, my kids wandered off down the hall, found people their size, and started playing.

After a few minutes, I told the kids it was time to leave, and they protested. They were having fun with their new friends and didn’t want to leave. I really didn’t have anywhere to go, so I pulled up a chair and continued to visit, while Liz’s kids (who match my kids in gender and age) and my kids played like they were long lost friends. After playing for over an hour, we had to go home, under their protests.

Watching the children, meet up so easily and become fast friends was my perfect moment this week. Too often we move from one event to the next, going through the motions. Taking the time to slow down and hang out was exactly what we needed to do.

Check out more Perfect Moments on Lori’s blog, WriteMindOpenHeart!

Trying New Things : Indy WordLab

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Last week Two weeks ago, Heather, Julie and I tried something new. We trekked downtown (which isn’t seeming so far away for Heather these days, she’s there a lot) and we attended September’s Indy WordLab. It’s true. I spend my day looking at words, and for fun, in the evening, I went to an event about words.

It was so much more than that.

For starters, I finally got to see Indy Reads Books for myself. It’s a real used bookstore, located right on Mass Ave. It operates as part of Indy Reads, Indianapolis’ Adult Literacy education initiative.

So. WordLab.

There’s a speaker (usually a writer) who leads the group in some kind of writing exercise.

Our group was lead by Indy WordLab organizer and author of Nothing New: An Irreverant History of Storytelling and Social Media, Ryan Brock. He led us in an exercise that started with 30 minutes of writing, then a shorter amount of time (6 minutes?) and then finally, 90 seconds. The only requirement was that we include the phrase “autumn leaves”.

So what did I write?

I wrote about my kid, of course. Here is my 30 minute product. It kind of sums up what’s been going on around here the last few weeks. It was inspired by the fact that she learned to ride a two-wheeler on my birthday. It’s not a gift I’ll soon forget.

The end of summer is a new beginning. New shoes because her feet have grown. New backpack and lunchbox because her tastes have changed.

She’s asking for phone numbers and posting on My Big Campus. She guards passwords and tracks her allowance. The training wheels have come off as the neighborhood pool closed, and she’s taken off down the street.

Her birthstone earrings have been returend to her jewelery box, and she’s raided mine for a pair of hook earrings.

Autumn leaves turn as she leaves one place and surges head first into the next.

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After we wrote, we shared in small groups. It was like a college writing class, except it was free, it was for fun, and there was no grade.

And we’ll be going back in October. Are you interested in joining us?

Life Lesson: Mom, Every Person is Important

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It all started with a book.

Book cover of Americana

It’s a book about the USA, written about men, by a men, for men!

The other night, we read the book, “Americana Advenure” by Michael Garland. It’s an interesting book, and it held MaM’s attention for several read throughs. There are things to find, illustrations to ponder and quotations galore.

After reading it, MaM asked why I reading over the back page, which listed all of the quotations in the book.

“I’m looking through the quotations to see if there are any by women.”

“Mom, there won’t be any, there aren’t any women presidents.”

“I know, but not all the quotations are by presidents. Oh look, ‘Independence is happiness, by Susan B. Anthony.”

“She was a president?”

“No, but she worked really hard so that women could vote.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when Great Grandma was a little girl, women weren’t allowed to vote. Men didn’t think their votes were important.”

She got a look on her face, and said earnestly, as only a seven year old can, “Mom, every person is important. Why didn’t the men think the women were important?”

“Well, that’s just how things were. So Susan and her friends started protesting, and holding up signs, and working hard to get the government to understand that the women should be voting too.”

“Well I don’t know why the men were being mean the the women. I think those boys need to be taught a lesson.”

MaM and my grandma, circa 2010

My grandmother was exactly the age my daughter is now when her mother was granted the right to vote. Nearly 100 years later, the book Americana features exactly one quote by a woman.

I find it hard to accept that this is the world we live in. I mean, really.

Here’s my hope: in ninety years, when her great grandchildren are reading books about America, I hope the women are better represented. It’s not that they’re not accomplishing things, it’s that they’re not being recognized. My hope is that my daughter’s generation will change that. After all, and I quote, “Mom, every person is important.”