The Solstice

MMMmmm summer!

I have discovered that I need about 8 hours of sleep at night to feel rested and ready to go the next morning. I tried to get by with seven but it just wasn't enough. If I set my alarm for 8 hrs & 15 mins from the time I climb into bed at night, then I usually wake up a few minutes before the alarm sounds in the morning-- I like that. It is a better way to start the day.

The tricky part is going to bed 8 hrs and 15 mins before the time I absolutely have to get up in order to get to work on time.

Did you know so-called Beauty Sleep is the sleep you get before midnight? I haven't been getting much of that! And Summer - glorious summer - the sun doesn't set until 9:05. The evenings are so cool and pleasant for walks or chatting on the deck with Mr. Bee or letting the kids play Ghost-in-the-Graveyard well past bedtime.

I'll catch up on my beauty sleep this fall. ;-)

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

My dad was an amazing listener. He had that rare combination of intuitiveness, seemingly non-judgementalness, and a kind and gentle nature. He was able to wrestle confessions of misdeeds out of his children by barely uttering a word.

His philosophy was if you give a guy enough rope sooner or later he'll hang himself.

As a parent I see how often this is true. What should have been a simple yes or no answer turns into a very long tale that obviously took some time to conjure up. Truth usually isn't very complicated. Talk, talk, talk and before you know it you've got yourself tangled in a web of deceit.

That's when Dad would kick the chair (figuratively).

I'm not nearly the good listener my dad was (I'm more like my mom). But sometimes I do get it right.

Potential

(Hat tip to the discussion of Onan at Daughter of Wisdom)

Pictured above is a peek into a Robin's nest that was under my deck this May.

Every year Robins build a nest somewhere around my house. Usually in a terribly vulnerable spot - in a small bush, in the rain gutter, or on the brick ledge by the front window. And every year the eggs or chicks are destroyed. Usually crows find them. Sometimes a cat. Sometimes a storm disrupts the nest and spills the tender contents on the ground. Most often I don't know what happens - one day a bird is sitting on the eggs in the nest and the next day the bird is gone and so are the eggs.

The Robins' nest always becomes a "circle of life" lesson.

However, failure does not stop the Robins. They keep trying year after year. They build the nest, they lay the eggs, and they guard them as best as they can from enemies who are much bigger and stronger. When the chicks hatch they tirelessly feed them and defend them until the violent end.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” Genesis 1:20-22

The birds, acting on instinct, are faithful to God's plan for them. They do it, even though the situation is never ideal. They do it, even though odds are that their work will be destroyed. They do it, and work very hard to preserve and protect it. They do it because the ability to do it is a blessing from the Lord.

They do it because if they didn't do it they would surely become extinct.

The Lord commands:

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28

And the Lord promises:

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127:3-4

If only being faithful to His Word and trusting in His Promise was as easy for us as it is for the birds.

As for the Robin's eggs in the picture above - three of the four hatched and after about 2 weeks they fledged. It was wonderful!

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:25-26

Backseat Parenting

Two cases in the news in our region:

1. A Wisconsin mom, Leilani Neumann, convicted of murder because she did not seek medical attention for her ill 11 year old daughter and her daughter died. She tried to heal the girl with prayer.

2. A Minnesota mom, Colleen Hauser, is on the run to prevent court-ordered chemotherapy for her 13 year old son. She claims she wishes to treat his cancer with natural therapies for religious reasons.

It sure is easy to quarterback from the armchair. Or drive from the backseat.

I wonder what Mrs. Neumann would say to Mrs. Hauser? Probably keep running...

Update (5/26): Mrs. Hauser has had a change of heart: Parents agree to chem for boy who fled

Lessons Learned

I've been thinking about what is different in my life now that I am a Working Outside the Home Mom (WOHM). Stuff I've learned, observations I've made etc etc.

1. The only difference in housework: no lunch dishes. Otherwise, I have just as much housework to do in waaaaaay less time.
2. Daycare is not as bad as I thought, nor is it as good as the centers advertise.
3. Teenagers sometimes feel neglected too!
4. As a SAHM I usually had my weekends free. As a WOHM I work 7 days a week.

More thoughts to come...

When I Gets to It, I Gets to It

It seems women my age forgot to make babies:

More Women Than Ever Are Childless, Census Finds

I like the explanation: "Clearly women have competing alternatives for the use of their time..." Like we choose between motherhood and taking Pilates.

When I first read this I thought, "Twenty percent, no way! Everyone I know has kids." But then, the more I thought about it, the more women I remembered who do not, or did not give birth (adopted kids). 20% has started to seem plausible.

Another benefit of a feminized society?