Wednesday, March 31, 2010
To The Beat Of His Own Drummer
I really enjoy the peace and quiet that comes after all the kids are put away for the night. Sometimes I just sit and listen...to nothing at all. The white calm rejuvenates me and I feel the stresses of the day slip away. I begin to breath deeper, and the "Amazing Race" going on in my brain slows. Ahhhh.........
Then, in the back of my mind I am disturbed by the tiniest sound; a rhythmic tapping that rises above all the other quiet thoughts. It moves rudely to the front of my mind and I can't seem to push it back down. Soon I am no longer blanketed by a peaceful calm. I am mind-searching for where the sound originates. Is it external? My senses kick in and my ears guide me...
I tilt my head up and to the left (my good ear). Curses fill my mind, taking the place of all the peace and quiet in less than a second.
"Jasen, STOP DRUMMING!!!" I shout through the ceiling. My peaceful moment shatters!
Jasen has a drummers heart. He carries drumsticks and taps incessantly. When I take the drumsticks away he uses his fingers or his feet or ANYTHING he can get his hands on. I imagine most of the time he is unaware...as he does it regularly during family prayer, Sacrament meeting and Math class. He is actually quite good, and carries a rhythm for long periods of time. Unfortunately, regardless of his intent or talent, it is driving me CRAZY! A majority of the time I can tune it out, but lately...I feel like I am treading on the brink of insanity.
I have tried to come up with solutions:
*cut off his hands
*duck tape him to the wall
*Chinese water torture
None of which will sit pretty with the Department of Social Services so...I think what I will do is:
*buy him a drum set and set it up in the garage...after all, once legitimate practicing comes into play he will quit.
Then, in the back of my mind I am disturbed by the tiniest sound; a rhythmic tapping that rises above all the other quiet thoughts. It moves rudely to the front of my mind and I can't seem to push it back down. Soon I am no longer blanketed by a peaceful calm. I am mind-searching for where the sound originates. Is it external? My senses kick in and my ears guide me...
I tilt my head up and to the left (my good ear). Curses fill my mind, taking the place of all the peace and quiet in less than a second.
"Jasen, STOP DRUMMING!!!" I shout through the ceiling. My peaceful moment shatters!
Jasen has a drummers heart. He carries drumsticks and taps incessantly. When I take the drumsticks away he uses his fingers or his feet or ANYTHING he can get his hands on. I imagine most of the time he is unaware...as he does it regularly during family prayer, Sacrament meeting and Math class. He is actually quite good, and carries a rhythm for long periods of time. Unfortunately, regardless of his intent or talent, it is driving me CRAZY! A majority of the time I can tune it out, but lately...I feel like I am treading on the brink of insanity.
I have tried to come up with solutions:
*cut off his hands
*duck tape him to the wall
*Chinese water torture
None of which will sit pretty with the Department of Social Services so...I think what I will do is:
*buy him a drum set and set it up in the garage...after all, once legitimate practicing comes into play he will quit.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spray Paint
I just sprayed black spray paint into my face! I know what you are thinking. What the heck?! Let me explain...
Tomorrow is Jasen's play. It is entitled "A Musical Disaster." The plot revolves around Dorothy being blown away from the land of Oz by a tornado, only to find herself being chased by a winged monkey through many different musicals. I will post video later...that is if I dare step foot into public later.
I realized that we hadn't finished the tornado portion of the props and so, even though it's super late and I am a little bit drowsy, I went into the garage to finish spray painting the tornado...I am just good like that.
Well, I sprayed a little black and then I sprayed a little tan. Then I decided it needed more black, so in a rush to be done I picked up the can and pressed the little blue button on top. PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!
I took a shot straight to the face! I gasped, dropped the can(which by the way, sprayed my bare foot as it hit the ground)and ran into the bathroom praying the damage would be limited.
I swear on everything holy, I looked like I had a full moustache and beard. BLACK, I might add. I threw off my glasses, also now speckled black, and began scrubbing my face with a hand towel and water. My new color didn't budge. Whimpering, I scrubbed harder and slowly the black began to fade. I grabbed a bottle of nail polish remover and wet the towel. After 10 minutes of serious exfoliation my face and neck seem to be mostly normal.
If you see me in the next few days and notice a dark tint to the lower half of my face, just please ignore it. If I rudely run into you or ignore you all together just chalk it up to the fact that I am out of contact lenses and I just spray painted my only pair of glasses black!!
Yeah, me!!!
Tomorrow is Jasen's play. It is entitled "A Musical Disaster." The plot revolves around Dorothy being blown away from the land of Oz by a tornado, only to find herself being chased by a winged monkey through many different musicals. I will post video later...that is if I dare step foot into public later.
I realized that we hadn't finished the tornado portion of the props and so, even though it's super late and I am a little bit drowsy, I went into the garage to finish spray painting the tornado...I am just good like that.
Well, I sprayed a little black and then I sprayed a little tan. Then I decided it needed more black, so in a rush to be done I picked up the can and pressed the little blue button on top. PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!
I took a shot straight to the face! I gasped, dropped the can(which by the way, sprayed my bare foot as it hit the ground)and ran into the bathroom praying the damage would be limited.
I swear on everything holy, I looked like I had a full moustache and beard. BLACK, I might add. I threw off my glasses, also now speckled black, and began scrubbing my face with a hand towel and water. My new color didn't budge. Whimpering, I scrubbed harder and slowly the black began to fade. I grabbed a bottle of nail polish remover and wet the towel. After 10 minutes of serious exfoliation my face and neck seem to be mostly normal.
If you see me in the next few days and notice a dark tint to the lower half of my face, just please ignore it. If I rudely run into you or ignore you all together just chalk it up to the fact that I am out of contact lenses and I just spray painted my only pair of glasses black!!
Yeah, me!!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Resilience
Resilience…resilience….I have been thinking a lot about the word this morning.
Yesterday I went to a FOCUS “counseling” session with Ben. FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress) is a program designed for military families and children facing the challenges of multiple deployment stress. It is an eight-week, instructional….well, for lack of a better term… intervention that addresses difficulties that families may have when facing the challenges of military life, particularly deployments. It was recommended to us by a friend and, while not fully convinced that we REALLY needed it, we made an appointment.
The session was interesting. We talked about our children and their reactions to this up and coming deployment. We talked about ways we have adapted our lifestyle to be in symmetry with military life. We talked about ways we have learned to cope with stress or emotional situations. Ben and I described our “emotional thermometer” over the last 8 years, specifically during times or events that impacted our family as a whole. We talked and talked…for 2 hours we talked.
When we were wrapping up the session one of our instructors said, “I am so impressed by how resilient you are…and how resilient your children seem to be.” It was intended as the highest of compliments, I think they were wondering if we REALLY needed their services as well, but I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since.
Resilience means to me:
Strong
Enduring
Adaptive
While all of these characteristics are desirable, even awesome, I can’t help but wish that my children could be described by more child-like terms like light-hearted, joyful and carefree. Can ‘resilient’ coexist with ‘carefree?’ Can ‘enduring’ coexist with ‘light-hearted?’
I want to find a way to teach my children that when the winds of trial blow their way they can not only bounce back, but bounce forward. But, I also want to teach them how to make spit balls and play MASH. I am in a thoughtful and slightly discouraged state. I suppose resilient children grow to be strong adults…that’s awesome…but is the emotional trudging through childhood worth it?
I am certain that my emotional thermometer is peaking near red today, the eve of Ben’s departure, and next week ‘resilient’ may not seem so bleak or cold, but today…today I don’t want to be resilient. Today I want to feel light-hearted and carefree. Today I want to skip across a sunshine washed field of daisies and then spend my evening wrapped in a blanket kissing my sweetheart under the stars.
Resilient? I suppose so…I mean, we don’t really have a choice. Joyful? Well, I think I might be able to pull off the “kissing under the stars” bit! I will have to get back to you!!
Yesterday I went to a FOCUS “counseling” session with Ben. FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress) is a program designed for military families and children facing the challenges of multiple deployment stress. It is an eight-week, instructional….well, for lack of a better term… intervention that addresses difficulties that families may have when facing the challenges of military life, particularly deployments. It was recommended to us by a friend and, while not fully convinced that we REALLY needed it, we made an appointment.
The session was interesting. We talked about our children and their reactions to this up and coming deployment. We talked about ways we have adapted our lifestyle to be in symmetry with military life. We talked about ways we have learned to cope with stress or emotional situations. Ben and I described our “emotional thermometer” over the last 8 years, specifically during times or events that impacted our family as a whole. We talked and talked…for 2 hours we talked.
When we were wrapping up the session one of our instructors said, “I am so impressed by how resilient you are…and how resilient your children seem to be.” It was intended as the highest of compliments, I think they were wondering if we REALLY needed their services as well, but I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since.
Resilience means to me:
Strong
Enduring
Adaptive
While all of these characteristics are desirable, even awesome, I can’t help but wish that my children could be described by more child-like terms like light-hearted, joyful and carefree. Can ‘resilient’ coexist with ‘carefree?’ Can ‘enduring’ coexist with ‘light-hearted?’
I want to find a way to teach my children that when the winds of trial blow their way they can not only bounce back, but bounce forward. But, I also want to teach them how to make spit balls and play MASH. I am in a thoughtful and slightly discouraged state. I suppose resilient children grow to be strong adults…that’s awesome…but is the emotional trudging through childhood worth it?
I am certain that my emotional thermometer is peaking near red today, the eve of Ben’s departure, and next week ‘resilient’ may not seem so bleak or cold, but today…today I don’t want to be resilient. Today I want to feel light-hearted and carefree. Today I want to skip across a sunshine washed field of daisies and then spend my evening wrapped in a blanket kissing my sweetheart under the stars.
Resilient? I suppose so…I mean, we don’t really have a choice. Joyful? Well, I think I might be able to pull off the “kissing under the stars” bit! I will have to get back to you!!
Monday, March 22, 2010
"5" Changes Everything
The advancement from 4 years old to 5 years old is remarkable at the Dawson home. Everything from clearing off the table to proudly announcing a perfect hiney wipe is followed by "'cause I'm 5 now!" This morning he asked if he could have a facebook account and drive himself to pre-school..."'cause I'm 5 now!"
Just imagine what he will ask for when he turns 6!!
Just imagine what he will ask for when he turns 6!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
