My weekend at home (for my mom’s successful 5k!!!), via Instagram:
Clearly, a good time was had by all.
(Especially Mom! Congratulations on a job well done!!!)
Tag Archives: parents
staying real : things my parents say
Dad:
When we arrive at a restaurant for dinner at 4:30pm:
“There’s nobody here! I can’t believe it!”
Mom:
During the Masters:
“What do the different colored shirts mean?”
“What do they do if they have to go to the bathroom?”
“It’s really cool that he won it in overtime!”
(Again…football family. It’s all we know.)
Oh, they make me so happy. So, so happy. I loved being home.
good things : my parents
My mom is an enthusiastic conversationalist. She usually takes the lead on most of our family phone conversations. But tonight we had a Skype date instead and my dad had a bunch of things to talk about from the get go. This visibly dismayed my mom, and when a break came in the conversation she said, “Well I’d have a few things to add if I could get a word in edgewise!”
To which I couldn’t help but add, “Um, Pot? You’re pretty much calling the kettle black.” (Channeling, of course, Pheboe and Monica.)
My mom said, “Pot! Yeah, who’s the pot now?!”
Then this, from my dad: “No, Martie, pot is something we do at Christmas.”
PRICELESS.
(And if you’re horribly confused right now – we don’t actually do pot, or any other miscellaneous drugs, at Christmas – just go back and read the post in the hyperlink and everything will make sense.)
I love my parents. Especially today, a year after what started as an unpleasant morning but ended up being the biggest lifesaving blessing in my life to-date. Dad, I’m so grateful that one year later we can Skype and talk about pot. And Mom, I’m glad some things never change. Thank you both for making life so much fun.
and that’s when the cops pulled into our driveway.
Last year’s Christmas story featured some classic Mom antics. Trust me, she had her moments this Christmas as well. (At church: Me – “Who’s that?” Mom – “Yes, I’m excited about the rolls, too!”) But this year, it was all about the police and marijuana.
Don’t worry, the two are not related. This story doesn’t end in prison.
First, we’ll start with how we all awoke this morning. It was kind of like a poem. But kind of not.
We set our alarms for 7am. I was up at 5am because I’m ridiculous and still get just as excited for Christmas morning as I did when I was 5 years old. But shortly after 7 we all heard the sound of silver bells…or security alarm bells. My dad tripped the alarm on his way downstairs which caused my mom and I to spring from our beds to see what was the matter. We didn’t spring too quickly because accidentally tripping the alarm is something that happens on a daily basis often around here.
After the alarm goes off the security center calls the house to make sure there isn’t an actual perpetrator on the premises. They usually call immediately afterwards, but since we are so good at setting the alarm off they probably run a few errands, grab a cup of coffee, maybe send out some belated emails before calling our house.
Except for this morning, they called back while we were in the middle of setting the alarm off for a second time so we weren’t quite able to get to the phone in time.
So they just sent the police over.
Merry Christmas! There’s a cop in the driveway!
We gave him a plate of cookies and brownies and our condolences.
About 30 minutes later we were opening Christmas presents. At which time my dad, who is 77 and does full-time prison ministry, felt compelled to utter, “It makes you wonder: how many people are opening Christmas presents this morning, and there’s marijuana inside?”
At which time my mom, who wouldn’t know marijuana from marigolds, felt compelled to sniff the envelope to her card and utter, “Mmmmm, pot.”
And that’s how my senior citizen parents and I started Christmas morning.
Here’s hoping that all of your mornings were equally joy-filled. And less filled with cops and hash.
beka stays relational : questions and answers
Annie is one of the kids I nanny for. She’s 3 years old. And as a 3 year old, she has many, many, (MANY) questions about the world. Almost every sentence ends in, “but why?” And the ones that don’t end in “but why?” end in just plain “why?” I like coming up with creative answers to her questions that will make her think even more about her (inevitable) next question. Half because it’s good for her imagination and half because it gives me an extra few seconds in between questions. But this time around, she was the one who made me think about my own questions and answers. We had this conversation while tying shoelaces last week:
“Beka?”
“Yes, Annie?”
“What’s your daddy’s name?”
“My daddy’s name is Don.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what his parents named him.”
“But why?”
“They must have really liked that name.”
“What does Don do?”
“Well…he helps people.”
(The best way to avoid an answer that involved prison, inmates, and other details that would have boggled a 3 year old mind.)
“How?”
“He gives them Bibles, and teaches them lessons, and tells them about Jesus.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s important for people to know how much Jesus loves them.”
(Momentary pause to think it all over.)
“And what’s your mommy’s name?”
“Her name is Martie.”
“But why?”
“Because that’s what her parents named her.”
“What does Martie do?”
“She helps kids in school.”
“How?”
“She helps them get on and off the bus and she feeds them lunch and she makes them smile.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s important to help kids and make them smile.”
And in her simple stream of questions, Annie helped me understand fundamental truths about my parents that I’d never given much thought to before: I was born into a family of helpers, to parents who care more about doing something that matters than doing something that makes money. Besides raising me in a home that put faith first, it’s the most important lesson they’ve ever taught me, and it was never once spoken. It was enacted.
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for living lives that reflect your values and for imparting those values to me. And thank you, Annie, for asking an incalculable number of questions throughout the day. Especially ones like these.
