Amazing Moments

“Mike, how did you learn to solve the Rubic’s cube?”, I asked my 7th grade son.  “I YouTubed it,” he said. YouTube is a verb. YouTube it. Anytime and anywhere there is a connection to the Internet, learning can take place. Never has a time existed where there is such open access to information. YouTube, Ted.Edu, and access to SMARTphones are changing the culture of the how and where learning takes place. How fantastic is it to be able to pause, play, rewind, and play a video again?  Now it is truly possible to learn a topic at your own pace without feeling silly about asking questions. With the advent of the i0S devices, the ease of using YouTube, and network speed contribute to creating a culture that is transforming how, when, and where we learn.  Accessing and streaming videos is as simple as changing a channel on a TV. I decided to give YouTube learning a try and master a new song on the piano. I started at YouTube.com and did a search for “Apologiz...

Shoulders sagging she averts her face As she imparts on her son one last embrace The fate of the family is in his hands As he boards the ship for a foreign land She mournfully watches his ship disappear And steels herself to heartache and fear Three sons she lost to the hideous war She now mourns the loss of even one more The young German man sails weeks to the dock Where Lady Liberty welcomes him to the flock A stoic man meets him and they journey by train Across the vast land and the wide open plain Laboring on a farm in the hot Kansas sun He toils by day stacking bales one by one Ornery farm boys toss the bales out the doors But he rises above and continues his chores Day after day the mother scans the sea Hoping that God hears her soulful plea But as fate would have it the winter months came The man sleeps in the barn and warms his hands in the grain The years turned to decades, money remains tight As the Great Depression adds to his plight. His meager...

A mother is our first teacher.  They teach us all kinds of things from walking and talking to how to share and be kind.  Out of all the lessons my mom has taught me over the years, one of the best is “being a presence.” “Being a presence” is simply that, being present. Sounds simple, but it is a skill to learn and develop, just like any other. I got my first chance to learn and practice this skill when my dad was hospitalized for a week following colon surgery.  I opened his hospital room door with his favorite movies and cribbage board in hand, only to find him hooked up to lots of machines, IV’s, and sound asleep.  It was shocking and a bit intimidating to see all the equipment.  He was in no shape to watch TV, let alone visit with anyone.  I found my mom in rumpled clothes  and bleary eyes from a sleepless night in the chair next to his bed, like a sentinel keeping watch.  My mom was eager to have me take a shift with him so she could run ...

Ever want to learn something new?  Ever had the chance to teach something you love to someone else?  When do you shift from the learner to the teacher, the follower to the leader, the player to the coach? Today it happened for my youngest son.  It was SO fun to watch him run into open gym with his older brother this afternoon.  He confidently entered the gym and for the first time, was able to teach his big brother all kinds of things he knew how to do that his big brother had never experienced. First, they sprinted to the rings that are hung so high, you must climb stairs to reach them.  He skillfully grabbed the rings and did his swings, then fell into the fluffy ball pit, as his brother soaked up the moves.   As his brother took his turn, he coached him from the mat. Both of them were beaming when he was able to swing correctly!  Success! Next up, the trampoline.  This is a monster trampoline. It is as long as the length of the building. I...

Don't drink and drive.  That was it. The main worry of parents when I started driving in the 80's.  Now the dangers on the road are much worse with all the distracted, inexperienced folks driving about.  It is all over the radio to not text and drive and how 1 in 6 fatalities are now blamed on texting. Two close friends have actually been in small accidents texting and driving.  One hit a mailbox on her way to work and the other rear ended someone at a stop sign while she checked a text on her way home.  They were expensive messages, but thankfully not deadly. Both of their experiences raised my awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, but I admit, that didn't stop me from being tempted to text and drive. The event that changed my behavior involved my daughter. She was recently given a ride home. "How was the ride." "Ok, but the mom was on her phone most of the ride.  She was really into her conversation and it was kind of ...

I was sitting at gymnastics in the upper observation room packed with parents last Saturday watching my youngest son.  The dad sitting next to me got a phone call. This is how it went. "Yeah, got her signed up for the meet." "Yeah, softball practice is this afternoon." "She may have to miss girl scouts, but that is just the way it goes." "Keeping an eye on our two year old is hard, she is running around everywhere here." "Don't know if we can fit the zoo or Lauritzen gardens in." "I know it's a beautiful day, but the kids have so much on the calendar." "Be home in a little bit" That's when it hit me, these are the "generation all-signed up" kids and parents like me have the "generation all-signed up" disease.  The "all signed up generation" have parents split up driving kids to different activities in different corners of town, younger siblings who know a...

No time for dinner?  Wonder what to cook? Stuck in a rut? You need Deal a Meal!! What is deal a meal, you ask?  It is my favorite way to plan out the menu and the grocery list for the week.   Here is what you do: 1.  Write your family's favorite meals on one side of an index card. 2.  Write the ingredients on the other side. 3.  Shuffle the cards and deal out seven, one for each day of the week. 4. Take the cards with you to the store since the ingredients are on the back (no more grocery lists to write). 5.  Keep the cards handy all week (I have mine in my cub scout recipe holder). Deal a meal makes meal planning simple, random, and stress free.  Meal making is simplified since all the ingredients are in the house. The family is happy to have healthy, nutritious, home cooked dinners! Tip:  Add a new card to the deck each month so your deck of meals keeps growing.

What is a sacrifice?  I posed that question to my family, and here is the response. “Doing something you don’t want to do so that someone else benefits.” “Denying yourself something so someone else can have something.”  “Thinking of another person and going out of your ordinary way to make a change.” “Giving up your wants or needs for someone else’s.” “A sacrifice looks like how you choose to spend your time, your money, and your things.” I took a moment to reflect on the sacrifices I have made as a mother and a wife over the past few years.  I have sacrificed nights out with my husband to stay home with sick kids, watched Sponge Bob instead of Ellen, made breakfast instead of sleeping in, read books to kids instead of taking a hot bath and reading a novel, drove kids around to activities instead of resting on the couch with the stomach flu, and sacrificed time as a couple by working opposite shifts to avoid day care. But these sacrifices are so minusc...

“Why isn’t he coming home from college for Valentine’s Day,” asked my youngest son. “Why?”   I explained that he didn’t have time off and that Valentine’s Day wasn't holiday with a day off school. “But why, Mom, why? There should be a day off for Valentine’s Day.” I agree. I LOVE Valentine’s Day too.  It is hands down my favorite holiday. Why? Because that is the one holiday that we do not purchase anything.    It is still all about taking the time to tell those you love the most why you love them and show them how much you love them by giving the most precious gift you can give, your time and your presence. At our house, we make homemade Valentine’s.  These cards are a real gem.  Each card is thoughtfully crafted by its maker.  We dedicate an entire afternoon just making cards.  Everyone has access to construction paper, glitter, lots of stickers, and hearts.  Then the creative juices start flowing and the most amazing cards come to li...

SUNDAY! My favorite morning of the whole week!  I had in vision a slow morning with a tantalizing homemade breakfast.  The smell of bacon and sausage began to waft in the air when the calm morning was pierced with a shrill shriek from my youngest son as he discovered his Lego action figure, Watto, had been injured. Watto met with the sharp teeth of a puppy, the likes of which do not inhabit Tatooine.  We rushed Watto to our trauma center where he was triaged by the best of the best, our oldest kids.  The prognosis was clear, Watto needed immediate neck surgery, using the latest technology for Lego people, SUPER GLUE!  My son was not too excited about the idea, but being assured that the only side effect of super glue surgery was a shiny neck, he went with the risk of repair! Watto is now resting comfortably on top the fridge, far from harms way!  The adorable, white, furry, 12-pound opponent apologized profusely and had been banned from ...

My 6th grade son is a digital native, the iGeneration, born in a world with Internet, wi-fi, Google, and abundant iDevices. Recently, he mastered the Rubik’s Cube, and did so accessing all he needed from the palm of his hand.  What device did you use for your searching? “I used my iPod Touch, and started at Google doing a search for How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube. This led me to rubiks.com where I found a step-by-step solution guide on how to solve a 3 x 3 Rubik’s cube. There were also links to some videos.  One was from Tyson Mau. It was pretty good, so, I just watched it.” Why did you choose Google?  “Well, I went to Google because you can find anything on Google, anything you want, and anything you need, go to Google.” Why did you use the iPod Touch? “Because it was easiest.  I took screen captures of the algorithms on Rubiks.com so I could try to memorize them even if I didn’t have Internet. “ What did do once you mastered the Rubik’s Cube...

I was lucky to spend the last day of my college son’s winter break on a long run with him.  As we jogged along, I was panting, struggling to talk while he was running effortlessly, gliding along with long smooth strides like a deer. “I could do a marathon at this pace,” he said.  “We are just shuffling along.” “Shuffling along for you is hard work for me,” I replied.  “You make this look so easy.” “It’s not rocket science, mom.  You are good at what you spend time with. You spend your time watching TV and you are good at channel surfing, you spend time running you get good at running,” he said. You are good at what you spend time at.   Simple, yet so very profound.  Spend time getting good at something.  Don’t get discouraged. Know that the more time you spend on it, the better you become.  If we want to be something, we need to be the one to go after it. Don’t be our own brick wall to moving forward. Think how you spend ...