Dear Emi,
It is exactly 1:30 on a Friday afternoon. And with a great sigh of relief I am here to report that the first week of school has been survived - ISH. (One night I was taking Holly Rust home from babysitting my children. I turned to her and asked if she got the kids in bed alright. She said, "um....ish." Meaning, "it wasn't alright, but it happened." Which pretty much describes 98.5% of my life :)
I remember Friday school nights when I was growing up. Mom and dad usually headed to the temple, which left my sisters and I at home, to entertain ourselves with old 80's music, the tv, and things really got interesting when our neighbor's nephew, Tad, was around. (We were all the definition of HOMEBODY. Not because it was the cool thing to do...just because we had a lot more fun with each other than anyone else.) Eventually, the parents would wind into the driveway bearing bags and bags of groceries from Broulims. (Yes spellchecker, Broulims is a real word). We would all unload the groceries and find ourselves feasting on bananas and Brach's candy....whatever happened to real Brach's candy!
When I was in college it was a little tougher to be a homebody, but more often than not, I would find myself leaving Logan, and driving to my sister's in Smithfield. At which point Brynne and I would settle down for a nice night of CORY and TOPANGA :) (Boy meets World, which rivals Saved by the Bell for the most ridiculous sitcom ever created.)
A few years ago I was visiting Logandale 5th ward (?) and Bishop Barlow was talking about having good family traditions. He had his young daughter (who just graduated from high school last year) get up and tell the congregation about "Friday Fun Night." She said that every Friday when her dad got home from work the family would pick a fun activity to do TOGETHER.
I went home and told Jared that Friday Fun Night was being instituted immediately. And so it has, for the last 5 years, been our stolen tradition. It usually includes some yummy food (pizza, crepes, or anything you can eat with chopsticks!) and a yummy treat (orange chicken and somoa bars are on the menu tonight :0 Then we watch a movie, and let our kids fall asleep on the couch. :) It doesn't sound like much....but when Joe (the 3 year old) runs into your room at 6:30 a.m. and announces (waking up the rest of the house) MoM! It's Friday Fun Night....you know it is more than just ish!
Emi - Be happy! You can make it through another day! Friday is on its way :)
Love, Your Grandma, who can't wait for your Grandpa, and the bus to get home!
P.S. This week we celebrated your Great Grandpa Bolton's 72nd Birthday. We ate spaghetti for dinner :0 Every time we visited Bluebell, I would wake up to your Great Grandpa sitting at the head of the table enjoying a Large bowl of Spaghetti (at 6 in the a.m.) Happy Birthday Grandpa!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Dear Emi,
To say that this mornings routine was interrupted by one very grouchy child, would be understating the entire affair. Knowing that the unnamed child was tired and adjusting to a new school schedule, I tried to be kind and patient...and then kind and patient...and then I tried to just be quiet because Patient and Kind were quickly leaving the scene.
Finally it was time to walk to the bus stop. As we walked, and got closer and closer to his peers, his demeanor seemed to MAGICALLY change. At first I was relieved, and then I was MAD. As the bus drove up the street I said my last goodbyes and I love you's and then I turned to him and said, "Please try to be nice happy at school, not like this morning." With utter disdain he turned to me and said, "Ugh! Mom, I always act nice at school!"
He obviously missed Grandma Foster's Family Home Evening at Bear Lake this year when she taught us about being kind to our FAMILY members. Saying over and over, "Be NICER to your FAMILY than you are to your FRIENDS" (which is not an excuse to start treating your friends badly).
Whenever I see people treating their family badly I think of a quote from one of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, said the expert devil to the devil in training, "The great thing is to direct the malice to his IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORS whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary.
And no, I am not going to start quoting C.S. Lewis to my 7 year old, but I might quote his grandpa It reminds me of the times I heard him teach the church lessons on "love thy neighbor." He would ask, "who is your neighbor?" The class, with a sense of pride, would say, "EVERYONE." In turn he would say, "That is a sad excuse. It does little good for your character to feed the children in Ethiopia when you can't even help the people you live by."
Emi, mind your grandma and be nicer to your family than you are to your friends.
Love, your Grandma, who is currently planning and early night for a 7 year old.
P.S. Miss Maudie, Atticus Finch's neighbor once said of him. 'Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.' Today (and most days) Atticus is my hero!
To say that this mornings routine was interrupted by one very grouchy child, would be understating the entire affair. Knowing that the unnamed child was tired and adjusting to a new school schedule, I tried to be kind and patient...and then kind and patient...and then I tried to just be quiet because Patient and Kind were quickly leaving the scene.
Finally it was time to walk to the bus stop. As we walked, and got closer and closer to his peers, his demeanor seemed to MAGICALLY change. At first I was relieved, and then I was MAD. As the bus drove up the street I said my last goodbyes and I love you's and then I turned to him and said, "Please try to be nice happy at school, not like this morning." With utter disdain he turned to me and said, "Ugh! Mom, I always act nice at school!"
He obviously missed Grandma Foster's Family Home Evening at Bear Lake this year when she taught us about being kind to our FAMILY members. Saying over and over, "Be NICER to your FAMILY than you are to your FRIENDS" (which is not an excuse to start treating your friends badly).
Whenever I see people treating their family badly I think of a quote from one of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, said the expert devil to the devil in training, "The great thing is to direct the malice to his IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORS whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary.
And no, I am not going to start quoting C.S. Lewis to my 7 year old, but I might quote his grandpa It reminds me of the times I heard him teach the church lessons on "love thy neighbor." He would ask, "who is your neighbor?" The class, with a sense of pride, would say, "EVERYONE." In turn he would say, "That is a sad excuse. It does little good for your character to feed the children in Ethiopia when you can't even help the people you live by."
Emi, mind your grandma and be nicer to your family than you are to your friends.
Love, your Grandma, who is currently planning and early night for a 7 year old.
P.S. Miss Maudie, Atticus Finch's neighbor once said of him. 'Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.' Today (and most days) Atticus is my hero!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Dear Emi,
The first day of school has been conquered and EXHAUSTION is the end result. However, it did not go exactly how it had been planned. In my minds eye, I pictured a day where I finally regained composure and started on that To-Do list that turned into a BOOK over the summer. Yet, as I looked at the clock just in time to run and pick Gary up from the Kindergarten bus, I glanced at the sink full of dishes and realized that I had not even accomplished the basics and my BOOK gained another unexpected chapter.
I have been losing my grip over the last month. Three cardinal sins have been committed in a matter of 2 weeks. FIRST, I opened my pantry to find that there was not one drop of KETCHUP left in the entire house. What kind of mother am I? No Ketchup. So I call Jared in Vegas and send him to the store. To my UTTER DISMAY he returns with a bag full of KROGER ketchup. REALLY? To my knowledge, there is only ONE kind of ketchup and it is spelled HEINZ...what kind of name is KROGER anyway.......SECOND, the bathroom closet contains NO MORE deodorant. (Yes I realize that this is worse than ketchup, but not worse than KROGER ketchup). FINALLY, my BENNY card has been SUSPENDED (Insurance is never EASY)!
So what did I do....I woke up this morning, went on a run, read my scriptures, and PRAYED really hard that I could get it together. On my run, I listened to a conversation between Sherri L. Dew and Elder Cook. Sister Dew posed this question....."There are some today that feel like life is almost becoming nerve racking....what is your counsel?" Elder Cook's response, "I just feel exactly the opposite! I don't think there is anything more significant that we feel joy and we rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Now I realize that Sister Dew wasn't talking about ketchup and deodorant....But Elder Cook was talking to me. I have much to be happy about! And the To-Do Book can wait....until tomorrow :)
Be Happy Emi! You know how this all turns out :)
Love,
Your Grandma, who is currently learning to cope with bad ketchup
P.S. Did you know that your clothes dry quicker if you shake them out before you put them in the dryer...it is Physics! Ask Grandpa Foster about it before your journey begins :)
The first day of school has been conquered and EXHAUSTION is the end result. However, it did not go exactly how it had been planned. In my minds eye, I pictured a day where I finally regained composure and started on that To-Do list that turned into a BOOK over the summer. Yet, as I looked at the clock just in time to run and pick Gary up from the Kindergarten bus, I glanced at the sink full of dishes and realized that I had not even accomplished the basics and my BOOK gained another unexpected chapter.
I have been losing my grip over the last month. Three cardinal sins have been committed in a matter of 2 weeks. FIRST, I opened my pantry to find that there was not one drop of KETCHUP left in the entire house. What kind of mother am I? No Ketchup. So I call Jared in Vegas and send him to the store. To my UTTER DISMAY he returns with a bag full of KROGER ketchup. REALLY? To my knowledge, there is only ONE kind of ketchup and it is spelled HEINZ...what kind of name is KROGER anyway.......SECOND, the bathroom closet contains NO MORE deodorant. (Yes I realize that this is worse than ketchup, but not worse than KROGER ketchup). FINALLY, my BENNY card has been SUSPENDED (Insurance is never EASY)!
So what did I do....I woke up this morning, went on a run, read my scriptures, and PRAYED really hard that I could get it together. On my run, I listened to a conversation between Sherri L. Dew and Elder Cook. Sister Dew posed this question....."There are some today that feel like life is almost becoming nerve racking....what is your counsel?" Elder Cook's response, "I just feel exactly the opposite! I don't think there is anything more significant that we feel joy and we rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Now I realize that Sister Dew wasn't talking about ketchup and deodorant....But Elder Cook was talking to me. I have much to be happy about! And the To-Do Book can wait....until tomorrow :)
Be Happy Emi! You know how this all turns out :)
Love,
Your Grandma, who is currently learning to cope with bad ketchup
P.S. Did you know that your clothes dry quicker if you shake them out before you put them in the dryer...it is Physics! Ask Grandpa Foster about it before your journey begins :)
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Dear Emi
Dear Emi,
This is the beginning of multitudes of letters and file cabinets full of advice - STORE them. One day you will find them worthy of your perusing. This is also the beginning of my blog, taking a new direction. You see, your Great Aunts (#2 and #3 in particular :) told me that I can be a little preachy when I provide the world with my sentiments. So, I thought I would provide it in a different way.
My sentiments were always meant for my children and their children. And Yes! I was always preaching to you, it is my job. (And this way, not even the grave will deprive me of my favorite pastime:). As for the rest of virtual world, lucky for them, they were not born into the "clan" so they can choose to enjoy the journey of young motherhood or not. No guilt, no offense, no strings, to them , just sentiments. To you, WISDOM...consider it carefully!
Why Emi? Well, we were only blessed with one girl. We named her Ally, simply because we wanted to leave the hospital with a name. For months, her name was considered. I wanted Emma, Cory, anything with a little depth, meaning and history. Jared wanted Ally.....Ally it was. (It seemed to be a moment of weakness on my part, after all, I had just endured 23 hours of labor and had never known the meaning of TIRED until that moment). However, in the long run, it all works out. I kept reminding Jared that he got to name the first one and all following (Sam, Gary, Joseph, Daniel) have been named by Yours Truly :) It wasn't until recently that I fell in love with a girl's name.....Emi.....but the children have all been named, and Ally seems to be content with her title, so we will look to the next generation. Emi! It is!
Tomorrow we start school. Ally is a 4th grader, Sam a 2nd grader, and Gary a kindergartner. I never sleep the night before school starts. Not when I was in school, and especially not NOW! The world seems to rest on my ability to meet nutritional, emotional, and "perfect first day outfit" needs. Talk about stress.
It is times like these that I want to absorb myself in some sort distraction. Anything crafty would do, or physical (hours at the gym-never sounded like a break until now) or even intellectual. A full day with a good book could erase all of my worries. But I can't...because I have serious guilt issues.
Sister Beck came to your Aunt JoDee's stake several years ago to talk to the Relief Society sisters and engaged them in a session of question and answer. According to your Aunt's account, a tired young mom got up and asked a forgettable question, but Sister Beck's response has been burnt into my mind......"Just remember, young motherhood is where it is at. It is the time that you learn about the God's purposes for the family, or you learn to be distracted."
Emi, don't get distracted!
Love, Your sleepless Grandma!
P.S. Last night I browsed through a book..."Dear Me" where actors wrote letters to their 16 year-old selves? Do you know what I learned? You can actually be dumber at 65 than 16.
This is the beginning of multitudes of letters and file cabinets full of advice - STORE them. One day you will find them worthy of your perusing. This is also the beginning of my blog, taking a new direction. You see, your Great Aunts (#2 and #3 in particular :) told me that I can be a little preachy when I provide the world with my sentiments. So, I thought I would provide it in a different way.
My sentiments were always meant for my children and their children. And Yes! I was always preaching to you, it is my job. (And this way, not even the grave will deprive me of my favorite pastime:). As for the rest of virtual world, lucky for them, they were not born into the "clan" so they can choose to enjoy the journey of young motherhood or not. No guilt, no offense, no strings, to them , just sentiments. To you, WISDOM...consider it carefully!
Why Emi? Well, we were only blessed with one girl. We named her Ally, simply because we wanted to leave the hospital with a name. For months, her name was considered. I wanted Emma, Cory, anything with a little depth, meaning and history. Jared wanted Ally.....Ally it was. (It seemed to be a moment of weakness on my part, after all, I had just endured 23 hours of labor and had never known the meaning of TIRED until that moment). However, in the long run, it all works out. I kept reminding Jared that he got to name the first one and all following (Sam, Gary, Joseph, Daniel) have been named by Yours Truly :) It wasn't until recently that I fell in love with a girl's name.....Emi.....but the children have all been named, and Ally seems to be content with her title, so we will look to the next generation. Emi! It is!
Tomorrow we start school. Ally is a 4th grader, Sam a 2nd grader, and Gary a kindergartner. I never sleep the night before school starts. Not when I was in school, and especially not NOW! The world seems to rest on my ability to meet nutritional, emotional, and "perfect first day outfit" needs. Talk about stress.
It is times like these that I want to absorb myself in some sort distraction. Anything crafty would do, or physical (hours at the gym-never sounded like a break until now) or even intellectual. A full day with a good book could erase all of my worries. But I can't...because I have serious guilt issues.
Sister Beck came to your Aunt JoDee's stake several years ago to talk to the Relief Society sisters and engaged them in a session of question and answer. According to your Aunt's account, a tired young mom got up and asked a forgettable question, but Sister Beck's response has been burnt into my mind......"Just remember, young motherhood is where it is at. It is the time that you learn about the God's purposes for the family, or you learn to be distracted."
Emi, don't get distracted!
Love, Your sleepless Grandma!
P.S. Last night I browsed through a book..."Dear Me" where actors wrote letters to their 16 year-old selves? Do you know what I learned? You can actually be dumber at 65 than 16.
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