by jphilo | Apr 4, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
Our youngest grandchild turned 1 last weekend, and that momentous event got me to thinking about the differences between parenting my own kids and grandparenting their kids. Here are the top ten things that came to mind.
10. Parents make sure their little ones eat healthy food at every meal. Grandparents introduce them to things like pie, cookies, and ice cream.
9. Parents connect every buckle, clip, and button of car seats, high chairs, safety gates, and strollers with astonishing speed and deftness. Grandparents require repeated demonstrations of how to connect everything and still make a mess of the process. Every. Single. Time.
8. Parents get very tired of reading the same board books to their babies and toddlers over and over and over. Grandparents never do.
7. Parents spend hours scraping stickers off of walls, baseboards, furniture, and windows. Grandparents spend hours finding the perfect stickers for their grandkids to plaster on every wall, baseboard, piece of furniture, and window they can reach.
6. Parents steer clear of craft projects that require glitter. Grandparents love to do glitter projects with the grands. Always at the grands’ house, of course.
5. Parents buy educational and useful presents for their kids. Grandparents purchase whatever they couldn’t afford to buy their kids back in the day.
4. Parents see their children’s first four years through a fog of sleep deprivation. Grandparents see their grandchildren’s first four years through a cloud of indescribable, goofy, and subjective love.
3. Parents have constants knot in their stomachs trying to protect their kids and keep them safe from themselves. Grandparents have constant smiles on their faces because they know that even though children can’t be kept completely safe from themselves, they will learn from their mistakes.
2. Busy parents pray for their children on the fly. Grandparents have time to pray for their kids and grandkids every day. So they do.
1. Parents love their children’s cuddles and the feel of a small, soft hand in theirs. Grandparents deeply cherish cuddling with the grands on the couch and walking down the street holding their sweet, trusting hands because they know these moments will pass, never to be experienced again.
Grandparents, what do you have to add to the list? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Mar 29, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
The Man of Steel and I cleaned the attic on Saturday. We found too many treasures to mention, but here are my top ten.
10. My 4-H record book, circa 1966–1973.
9. The Man of Steel’s marbles, which he thought he’d lost years ago.
8. Several high school play scripts and the dog dishes from when I played Snoopy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
7. The dance marathon trophy won by the Man of Steel in college. He also won a trip to Kansas City and Worlds of Fun. Guess where we went for our honeymoon?
6. A 39-year-old disintegrated wedding bouquet.
5. The journal I kept the first few months we lived in Camp Crook in 1978. Perfect timing as I work on the second novel in my mystery series.
4. 1 wooden block from a 1980s era Fischer Price block set (the kind that came in the little wheeled cart with the pull string) given to Allen when he was a baby. Where in the world is the rest of the set?
3. A little pillow bearing my son’s 4-year-old hand print. It made me cry.
2. A bin filled with my daughter’s old dance costumes. They made me cry.
1. Crumbling mementos in dusty cardboard boxes that are reminders of adventures shared with friends and family, who are priceless treasures that make life worth living.
What surprises did you find while spring cleaning? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Mar 25, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
Though she’s a Gloomy Gus, Debbie Downer has a way of making people laugh. So did this personalized Debbie Downer list from March of 2012. Hopefully, it’ll turn you into a Perky Polly on this Fantastic Friday.
10. Spring is way too early this year. See this post for further explanation.
Wah. Wah.
9. It’s been cloudy and rainy. Which is poking holes in my summer drought theory.
Wah. Wah.
8. I caught a cold on the Ides of March. Etu, immune system?
Wah. Wah.
7. I didn’t take out stock in a tissue company before this cold started.
Wah. Wah.
6. My recent upgrade to OS X Lion has not gone as smoothly as Apple promised.
Wah. Wah.
5. iCloud is looming on the horizon.
Wah. Wah.
4. The agent who promised she’d be in touch soon about my proposal still hasn’t.
Wah. Wah.
3. I can now order from the Senior Citizen menu at I Hop.
Wah. Wah.
2. No chocolate since Ash Wednesday.
Wah. Wah.
1. Debbie Downer would be ashamed to post this list, but I’m not.
Wah. Wah.
by jphilo | Mar 22, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
Between visiting our kids’ families and speaking engagements, weekends at home are becoming increasingly rare. Here are 10 reasons to love the occasional weekend at home.
10. There’s something so luxurious about 2 days of mostly unscheduled time.
9. A free weekend means spending 5 days looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning…though it rarely happens.
8. A free weekend means spending 5 days looking forward to a Sunday afternoon nap, which usually does happen.
7. Free days means time to something spontaneous like going to a movie or out to eat–the latter being more likely than the former.
6. An open Saturday means the opportunity to check an item off the “to-do someday” list. At the top of the list this March…spraying chickweed in the flowerbed or cleaning the attic.
5. A weekend at home means getting a leg up on blog posts for the upcoming week.
4. Ditto for next week’s cooking and baking.
3. The kids are more likely to call to chat about their weeks when they know we’re home for a couple days.
2. The Man of Steel is a nice person to be with for a weekend.
1. A free weekend means we’ll go to worship at our home church. Great music, great fellowship, great preaching. Who could ask for anything more?
What do you like about free weekends at home? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Mar 15, 2016 | Mystery Update, Top Ten Tuesday
The wait for news from publishers about the fate of the mystery novel See Jane Run! continues. Pretty typical in the book world, so instead of checking email 10 times a day, I’m plowing ahead with the second book in the series, See Jane Sing! Since the last update on that book’s progress, I’ve written her out of the snowdrift, where her cherry red VW bug was stuck fast during her return trip from Thanksgiving with her family in Iowa. I am quickly discovering the challenges of writing mystery novel sequel snowstorm scenes. Here are ten of them.
10. Creating a recap of the previous book that gives new readers enough information to read the second book in the series and is so captivating, they are compelled to purchase the first book in the series.
9. Perfecting the timing so the driver has gone too far down a desolate, gravel road to turn back when the snowstorm hits while leaving enough miles and time for the formation of a large snowdrift, so the beaching of a VW Beetle to seem plausible.
8. Describing how to substitute an empty orange juice can for bathroom facilities when snowbound without providing TMI.
7. Unearthing a variety of verbs for walking through deep snow. As in wading, plowing, plodding, etc. (Your suggestions welcome in the comment box.)
6. Finding verbs for putting on winter gear. As more ways to describe donning gloves, hats, boots, coats. (Once again, your suggestions are welcome!)
5. Cooking a variety of turkey leftover dishes popular 30 years ago. (Yup, your suggestions are coveted.)
4. Deciding what mistakes to fix and what changes to make immediately and which ones to leave until the second draft.
3. Writing dialogue when the character who rescues Jane and her snowbound car hardly says a word.
2. Conveying the joy an elementary teacher feels when she returns to school after vacation and can once again enter the world of childhood with her students.
1. Keeping from getting in the car and heading west when writing about a tiny, fictional, South Dakota town makes a writer homesick for the place where she once lived.
by jphilo | Mar 8, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. The pre-March Madness gives everyone something to talk about other than this year’s debacle of a presidential race.
9. The sun’s up in time for an early morning walk.
8. Plus this March 8th predicted high is 61°.
7. No ice storm is predicted to follow the beautiful weather…as happened in 1990 that left most of the town without electricity and our family (the Man of Steel, a 1 1/2-year-old and a 7-year-old) moved in with friends for almost a week.
6. Easter is only 19 days away which means only 19 days to continue this year’s no snacks Lenten fast, which has thus far been an epic fail.
5. Every teacher friend has a twinkle in the eye in anticipation of spring break.
4. Nineteen years ago, my mom, siblings, and I were amazed by how many people remembered Dad and came to his funeral.
3. Nineteen years ago, the Man of Steel agreed to share his birthday with Dad’s funeral, so in future years its anniversary wouldn’t fall on the anniversary of my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding day.
2. Every March 8, I get to ask the Man of Steel if he remembers that his twin is celebrating a birthday. That joke never gets old…at least for 1 of us.
1. March 8 is the Man of Steel’s birthday, which means our family gets to celebrate the birth of the best man I’ve ever know. Happy #60, Hiram!
What do you like about March 8? Leave a comment.
