Be the Change

Ptolemy was thrilled to see his friend Camden, who tried to teach him how to sit up. No luck!



Thanks to all the supportive women in my world, we put together over 70 hygiene kits this morning and had a big bin of leftover supplies, which can be donated as well. That's quite a feat, considering the dozens of kids that "helped!" More important than any results we achieved was the fact that everybody's kids did help, and in the process learned that we are responsible to "be the change we wish to see in the world," as Gandhi put it. What a fun way to spend a day off from school!

Little Dolls, Big Ideas

Golda, Ruby, Alexis and Araceli are doing a little fund-raiser project. They sewed and stuffed and painted and designed wardrobes for hours to produce this little batch of Haitian dollies to sell. Emulating our good friend and role model, Michelle at Gingham World, they have put the dolls up for sale on Golda's blog. Each little doll has a Haitian name and her own picture. The proceeds will go directly to Crystal, who will immediately wire the money to her daughter's orphanage in Haiti to buy food and water. If you want to buy one for a few dollars, you'll have to act fast before the grandmas snatch them up!

I am proud of the girls for their hard work and creativity. I thought I would be working alone late into the night after the girls lost interest, but I had to tear them away from the sewing machine at ten o'clock at night! Yes, one doll turned out looking like E.T., but laughing at it kept us going long enough to finish up the rest of the dolls. Good effort on that one, Lexie! Phoooone hoooome! :) Girls, I love ya.

Heartbroken for Haiti

A friend of mine who grew up with me and adopted from China at the same time we did has a daughter in Haiti. She and her family are frantic for news out of her daughter's orphanage, and worried to death about all their friends in the region. They have a son from Haiti who is already safely here. Can you imagine having a child who is, instead of being safely in your arms, trying to hang on in the epicenter of a devastating earthquake? Just look at her picture on Crystal's blog.

When I called Crystal to ask how we could help, she told me two things. First, you can text the word "Haiti" to 90999. The American Red Cross will automatically get $10.00, which will be added to your phone bill. Also, you can get money to Crystal. She know Western Union is operating and can quickly wire funds to the orphanage director, who is trying desperately to buy enough food and water for all the babies in her care, which is difficult on a good day in Haiti.

Also, the LDS Church is sending aid primarily in the form of medical supplies and hygiene kits. I will be assembling HYGIENE KITS at my house Tuesday morning from 10:00 - 12:00 and taking them to the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake. A shipment of kits will go out next week. Please click on the link to see what is needed and join me at my house during that time if you have a minute. Bring what supplies you can to add to the supplies I will already have. We think we can't help, but we can. Most importantly, say a prayer for the children whose adoptions are completed, who only need a passport and a visa to grant them the safety of their parents' arms here in the States.

Wednesday Lunch

I'll tell you a secret. I have been getting together with some of my high school (OK, kindergarten) friends for lunch every week. It's not really a secret, but I still wonder how we get away with such a luxury! How are we all able to walk away from those dishes and carpools and worries and sit down together in a beautiful home with nice plates and eat real food? While it's still hot! I don't know why we didn't think of it sooner! Even if there are still quite a few 5-and-unders cruising about, the lunches are a sanctuary in my week. Getting to know each others' kids is just an added blessing.

Today I realized why I love Wednesday lunch so much. It was at the moment when Jen said, "Circe, I've been thinking about that problem you had last week and I'll tell you what I think." What an extraordinary thing to be able to lay a problem at my friends' feet and to have them turn it over in their minds and help me come to a conclusion. Tiffany did the same thing for me last week. It happens all the time. I just hope I can learn to be as receptive to friends' difficulties and as giving with my support. I hope I can learn to emulate all the ways in which my friends are remarkable. If you don't have a Wednesday Lunch group, go out there and create one. None of us should go through life without friends, and no matter who you are, they are there for the cultivating if you're willing to go out on a limb.

The Fakers

I am not a hypochondriac. I'm not. My kids will tell you that actually treating an illness is a last resort in our house. First I attribute the symptoms to growing pains and send the kids to school. If they throw up there or get kicked out, we'll talk about the possibility of you maybe being sick for real. Then I'll give you medicine and send you to ballet. Of course, I keep them home if they have a fever or are spraying fluids of any kind. Don't worry, all you people with kids at our school!

Even with my denial/laissez-faire approach, Xanthe has been through a whole bottle of Motrin and missed two days of school, church and a party this week, Ptolemy has been to a specialist at Primary Children's about his foreskin, of all things, and Ruby was diagnosed today with atypical migraines, after spending the night holding her head and throwing up. (These episodes have been happening since she was six, but not frequently enough to go in for confirmation that that's what it was.) Xanthe is better now, but looks like the Elephant Man due to the bumpy rash she broke out in when her fever broke. While I was still at the doc with Ruby, my phone rang with the number of the elementary school. It was Araceli. "Mom? Can you come pick me up? I'm really muddy."
"Muddy? I don't see a problem."
"I'm all wet and my pants are all muddy! I can't even sit down!" Cue tears.
"OK, I'll come get you."
"My coat is gone! It was so muddy I couldn't even find it."
"OK, OK. I'm coming."
Sheesh. Sounds like the La Brea Tarpits out behind the playground. Shouldn't they be keeping the kids away from a hazard like that?

Now all the fakers are eating Ruby's candy from church and watching Curious George. I think I'm being played. If not by my kids themselves, then certainly by the Universe at large. Muddy? I give up!

The Dog Star

I wondered how Star would react to having a baby in the house. Over-curious, jealous, protective? When we brought Ptolemy home...nothing. No reaction from the dog whatsoever. Her attitude seemed to be, "A baby. Big deal. I've had three litters of them. Good luck with that, suckers." She paid no attention to Ptolemy at all until she accidentally realized his flailing arms could kind of pet her if she positioned herself right. Now they're best friends. Tolly thinks Star is amusing and Star likes having her ears pulled. Win-win. Whenever Freestone's stories get boring, Star is there to wonder at and grab for.

Now it's Freestone who is jealous. He doesn't like Star getting all the attention. Naturally, he's ramped up the excitement factor in his storytelling and video game tutorials. He said tonight, "Tolly should really sleep in my room with me because he is mostly mine." With all his heart, Freestone believes that. And in the long run, it's probably true. If all goes according to what is right and good, Freestone and Ptolemy will still be together as brothers when their dogs...and their mom and dad...are gone. Makes me a little jealous...

Take good care of each other, boys.

It's a January Thing

Some might call it a disease or an addiction, but I can stop anytime I want. I don't keep changing my kids' rooms around because I have to. It's not like I'm compulsive. I promise to stop...right after I get Freestone's room warmed up and homey enough to relax in. He has a paint color picked out that he says is "just puhfect."

All the room changes...it's a January thing. It's because it's cold outside and stuffy inside that I just want to bring Spring to the land with a little Spring cleaning. Araceli's room was my target today because her beautiful hot air balloon bedding is untenable for her. It's heavy and there are tons of pillows that are always on the floor with dolls on them, hence perpetual messiness. I pulled out an old pink bedspread, used the brown pillows from the hot air balloon set, moved the furniture and cleaned out the closets. Some of the hot air balloon pillows are decorating Ptolemy's crib. Don't worry about suffocation; he has yet to sleep in there.

Araceli loved the new look and immediately settled in to read one of her many new "chapter books." Only after she got her dolls tucked into their cribs, though. They like the new digs, too. They were tired of sleeping on makeshift beds on the floor amid half-realized art projects and first drafts of short stories that spilled from Araceli's creative little head. The room makeover won't stop Ari from creating chaos out of order, but for tonight, it's puhfect.

Gotta Love a Challenge

Earlier today, I was pondering Emmanuel Kant's theory on deontological ethics in relation to post-modern Islamic society and...

Who am I trying to kid? Earlier today, what I was thinking was, "Oh! I can't forget to...uh...duh..." I don't think I've completed a thought since July. It's all I can do to keep the dog inside and the cat outside, and to keep track of all the kids. (I think there are six.) So I AM losing my mind. I think we're pretty clear on that. I blame it on Andrew Lloyd Webber. I used up way too many brain cells in 1989 trying to figure out the lyrics to CATS.

I have started studying the kids' homework to bolster my brain power. Freestone is doing some pretty tough geometry, and in French, no less. Sneaking his papers and translating them has really helped me in my French lessons. For science, I've been studying Golda's baked goods. She made a round cake to represent a cell, with some help from cute little Xanthe. Now if Golda will just keep making educational cakes, I'll be able to hold onto my sanity. If, on the other hand, you see me babbling and chewing on Ptolemy's walker toys, we're in trouble. I shouldn't have to go all the way back to relearning basic hand-eye coordination. As the music majors say, "If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it." As of yet, I still have full use of my arms. Well, one of them, anyway. The other one is usually holding Ptolemy.

P. S. In the interest of full disclosure, I wrote this blog to amuse Trajan, who challenged me to write a post using the words cat, Cats, Emmanuel Kant's theory on deontological ethics in relation to post-modern Islamic society, Xanthe is cute, and Baroque as a homonym for broke. Your turn, Traj! I'll text you your list of words.

Magic Powers and Wishing Rocks

This morning Freestone was late for school. Late!! (Because of lengthy negotiations over whether he could take his DS to school for show and tell.) As I was herding him into the car to drop him off on the way to preschool, I said, "There's no such thing as hurrying with kids, is there, Free?"
He replied, "Well, YEAH! Because we don't have magic powers. If we did have magic powers, we could go "Get your shoes on! Whoooosh! Shoes on! Get in the car! Whoooosh! In the car!" With plenty more spitting sounds to accompany his ideas, Free explained how a robot would also help us get places on time, by changing Ptolemy's diaper and wrapping him in a towel when he gets out of the tub. I, as a responsible adult, was concerned about the robot dropping the baby. I asked Free what if the robot dropped Tolly. There was a pause and then Free said, "Mom, he has really long arms." Grown-ups ask the dumbest questions.

The thing I love is that these ideas are sincere. We really, really could get ready for school faster if we had magic powers. Or a wishing rock. Freestone was somber yesterday when he came home from school. He sat down and said, "My crystal is gone." This is the hunk of glass that looks like it came off a big, gaudy chandelier. He was going to paint it like a rainbow, thus imbuing it with the power to grant wishes. But he gave it to Jakey for his birthday instead, and he missed it. I hope Jakey uses the wishing power wisely. It's a good thing moms don't have magic powers. We would wish away all the pain and suffering of our little boys, and they would grow up to be big pansies. If little boys had wishing rocks, would they be on time for school? Probably not. But they would be able to fight bad guys and invent robots. And fly. Even if Freestone can't fly, there is nothing tethering his imagination. Go ahead, Free! Make a wish!

Personal Progress

Golda has been working on some Personal Progress projects for the Young Women's program. Over the summer, she and three friends made skirts with Amanda's mom to fulfill an "Integrity" project. Amanda's wonderful mom, Marta, put in well over ten hours with these girls, and I think the skirts turned out darling. Golda didn't get a chance to hem hers until today, so I sat her down and showed her how.

Her other project is "learning how to clean, organize and maintain a home" for her Knowledge value. Designing and painting her new room went along with this. For me, implementing new design ideas is crucial to being able to maintain a clean, peaceful and mentally refreshing place to live. One of my very favorite things to do as a kids was "changing the furniture around." It made everything seem newer to change it up, and it's a good way to do a clean sweep. Golda organized her new closet, so we'll see how the maintenance part goes. Yesterday, I helped Golda make a list of all the details of cleaning a bathroom, and we cleaned as we went. Of course, she already knew all this stuff, but it was fun to organize it as part of the value project. Next we'll do kitchens, deep cleaning and general stuff.

Tonight was another facet of the Young Women's program, the first Camp meeting! Sister Richards talked to all the parents, asking them what the biggest challenge they have ever faced is. (Mine was preparing for my senior recital in college. Yikes!) Girls' camp this year is going to include some challenges; the girls are going to Camp Douglas, a scout camp. I'm not sure that's the name, but they will have the opportunity to shoot bows and arrows, rappel down a cliff, river raft and canoe. The theme is Women of Courage. Golda is not an adventurous sort, so this theme seems tailor-made to make her grow. It's going to be so fun! The leaders gave each girl a quart jar to save change in, as they are strongly encouraged to earn their own $105.00 for the trip. Anyone have any jobs for Golda to do? :) It takes many kinds of strength to be an adult, and it takes a lifetime to build those strengths. It is so good for these girls to be learning how to be competent at an early age, and to be learning from the examples of such inspiring women. Only when life pushes you and you push it right back can you be successful. Maybe Golda will get a taste of that hanging from the side of a cliff. (And you thought making a skirt was a challenge, G!)