ack by popular demand (and by popular demand, I mean two people asked about it). In case you forgot, the purpose of Keeping It Real is as follows: I am reminded often that blogging has become a medium for us to present our "best selves": from detailing homemade crafts to posting stunning photos of our kids, a blog can become a show-and-tell for moms that glosses over the hard parts with good lighting and soft filters. I love reading blogs and feeling inspired - really I do - . . .
brought to you by the letters i,k,j,k
Just after Karis was born, my friend Heather sent me a little homemade gift for our family. I've never even met her in person, which made it all the more generous. Heather is one of my co-writers at Mama Manifesto, and has her own gorgeous and creative blog at Cookie Mondays, Ice Cream Sundays. She made an adorable set of letter shirts for my kids, and sent it to me over the summer. When I opened the shirts and saw the fourth shirt, with a K, I cried. It meant . . .
fixing the main line
Mark and I bought our house about seven years ago. It's a very old house, and not many repairs had been made since it was built, so we've had a fair share of problems. One of those issues was the main sewage line in our front yard. Tree roots had intertwined around the pipe, and were growing and blocking the passage of water. Every couple of months, this sewer line would get so backed up that our toilets and showers would start draining slowly. Eventually, they . . .
the paradox of choice
I've been thinking a lot lately about the paradox of choice - the idea that when people have more choices, it actually leads to greater anxiety. Kembe's homecoming from Haiti has caused me to analyze many of the ways we live life here in America. I am not one of those people who subscribes to the idea that internationally adopted children are "lucky" because they now get to grow up in America. I think that children benefit from life in a family instead of an institution, . . .
celebrating mediocrity
I am not one of those moms who does a lot of fancy stuff for the holidays. It just seems like a lot of unnecessary work. At Christmas, I'm lucky to get a tree up. Every year at Easter my mother-in-law takes pity on the kids and dyes eggs with them. On Valentines Day she makes heart-shaped waffles with them. She always buys them cute seasonal shirts. I'm beginning to see a theme . . . But I am the mom who then forgets about the cute seasonal shirt . . .
Springing Forward and Spinning Around
I feel like we are spinning our wheels these days. There is still so much uncertainty as to how to finalize Kembe's adoption. After several weeks of seemingly endless phone calls and forms, I did at least get the beloved state health insurance card in the mail. When it arrived, I held it up like the father held up Simba in the beginning of the Lion King movie. I might have sung a little operatic "Aaaaahhhhhh!!" I was a little excited. A lack of health . . .
stuff white people like
I got a Stuff White People Like flip calendar for Christmas. I am enjoying it very much. This was last night's entry:The Daily Show/Colbert makes up a duo that is held in such high regard by white people that to criticize it would be the equivalent of setting the pope on fire in Italy in 1822. It just isn’t done, in fact it isn’t even considered! White people love to make fun of politics, especially right wing politics. It’s a pretty easy target and makes for some decent humor, but . . .
honeymoon, interrupted
In all of the adoption books we read in preparation for Kembe's homecoming, the experts described a honeymoon period, which would be followed by a period of limit-testing and acting out.We had a wonderful first couple of weeks. Oh my word, it was lovely. Kembe was happy and exuberant most of the time. He and his siblings got along so well. He was sad on occasion, but he just cuddled into us, so it was cute and endearing. We were trying to minimize his transition trauma, so we were letting . . .
convert
Well, will you look at that?Guess who's sold on ice cream?Now all I have to do is get him to fall into a tv-induced coma for the 30 minutes that Diego is on.(And to stop calling the soccer ball a football.) Then our family indoctrination will be complete. . . .
the “s” word at church
We had a great night at church tonight. Mike was speaking on poverty. He referenced the Glenn Beck call for Christians to run from churches promoting social justice (the one that got me hot and bothered last week). He talked about how completely opposite this is from the Jesus we see in scripture. And then, he "went rogue".He encouraged people who felt that they had an excess, to think about giving. He encouraged people who have skills that they could donate, to meet up and make a list . . .
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