Thursday, January 13, 2011

Wimpy Snowbabies

Happy New Year! So, after quite a voracious start in December, I let "One More Thing" fall by the wayside during the Christmas (or should I say Sickmas, as it was referred to at our house) and New Year seasons! Praise the Lord though, I must say, He graciously allowed the stomach virus to remain in Choctaw County!! We are now off and rolling into another blessed year of life and counting down the days until we can say that Spring has sprung! (And NO, I'm not the grammar guru in this instance because I can never remember when Spring should and when spring should NOT be capitalized. Who knew you could make it all the way through the completion of a Ph.D. and still be uncertain of numerous grammar rules. Go figure!)

New Years always brings to mind the saying, "Out with the old, and in with the new." Well, today the "old" stuff I'm getting rid of is really just a random thought that just makes me go hmmmmmmm. The new is that instead of this random thought being wasted on just me, I'm sharing it with you. Yes, you really should consider yourself lucky.

Random thought #1:  Are we raising our children today to be, how shall I say, wimpier than in previous generations? This musing comes from my family's escapades in the snow this past week.

My Wimpy Snowbabies
Granted we are rearing two girls instead of boys, which is a ridiculous excuse for most behaviors I think, BUT, within minutes of walking out in the four glorious inches of snow we received, someone was crying! Seriously?!? And it was all because someone, who shall remain nameless, got snow down someone else's shirt. Then once those tears had abated, more tears from someone else because getting hit by an UNPACKED snowball apparently really hurts. This tearful event was quickly followed by another crying session because somebody "knocked" somebody else down in the snow.

The Morseman
Take notice of our sweet Allie in the window inside the house staring oddly at the Morseman. Yes, she gave up the fight only minutes into the snow fun. It was just too cold, she said. (That has to be some of her daddy's California blood coming out! ha!) Times is hard I say. So right now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Get a grip! They are kids; they are girls; they live in the city; they only see snow once a year. Whatever! Toughen up I say! Mel and I could be millionaires if someone would pay us just a quarter for every tear that falls in our house! Now let me continue by saying that I don't think the wimpiness (yeah, that's probably not even a real word!) is just my girls. At noon on our first snow day, we were the ONLY family on our street who were even out of the house!!! There were no other snowmen being constructed, no other snowballs being thrown, no other snow angels being made! I just don't get it - maybe there really is a reason "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" is such a big seller.

Oh, and just one more thing, if you are wondering, I am a very emotional person. (You know, the kind of person that cries just because they see someone else crying? Yep, that's me.). It makes me quite mad at myself, however, when I cannot control my emotions and allow it to make me appear not in control. I think that is the root of my concern about rearing wimpy kids. I want my girls to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God has an amazing plan for each of their lives, and that they are strong, smart, independent girls who will grow to be strong, intellectual, independent women who can be and do anything they desire and more. I want them to know that God did indeed create us to be physically inferior to men, (And I'm good with that - otherwise, who would open the pickle jar when the lid is stuck?!?) but that inferiority does not mean that we are weak. The phrase "suck it up" really comes to mind. There will be many, many times in life where the figurative unpacked snowball will hit them, and I want to know that they aren't just going to stand there and cry. I am a firm believer that each of us have the ability to choose our attitude each and every day. I want to know that Mel and I are rearing two girls who know how to take the figurative unpacked snowball to the face and then turn right around and smile, because in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't that bad. So, to conclude my randomness for the night, I close with this random question, with apologies to Jeff Kinney, why isn't "The Diary of the I'm-Not-Gonna-Be-Wimpy Kid" NOT a best seller.


"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Dr. Seuss





1 comment:

  1. LOVE IT!!! What a BOLD move for you to take! Thank goodness you are a parent that really wants her children to experience life and get on with it!!

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