The scary playroom aka the room the boys moved out way back when, which was supposed to become a playroom but instead became a catch all for the bizarre menagerie of clutter that would need to be hidden when guests came, that room, that beast that struck fear in the heart of many a brave and valiant man, woman and child, has at last been conquered. And my what a masterful use of space it is now. I will take pictures sometime. I took before pictures too.
In other news, tonight was the annual Family of the Year awards which our church and the town sponsors every year. It is with no small measure of pride that I take this opportunity to inform you that not once but twice (ie both times I got it together in time to nominate someone), have my nominees been selected from a rather large pool as Family of the Year. And how is this of any interest to you, you may ask (as you may well ask of anything that I post here), well clearly dear reader and friend, I glom onto quality people. I have impeccable instincts (ok there was that one time..) but generally, impeccable taste in the people that I stalk, and if you are my friend, or rather if you feel that you have been stalked as a potential friend at any time by me, then you may pat yourself on the back and once again consider yourself superior in every way. Nice going friend! Nice going!
These evenings always get me a bit verklempt. It is really touching to see and hear the stories of different families in our town who are doing it right in different ways. To consider all the work and every day effort that it takes to create a strong, happy family. I am always inspired by the stories of the nominees. Lest you feel disillusioned and imagine that every family is destined to some form of dysfunction these days, this event can really prove that not to be the case. Of course I'm sure they all have their problems and weird quirks but they are most certainly functional in that they love and have confidence in each other, they know who they are and what they want to achieve and they work diligently together to reach those goals. One quote that was read from a young son tonight said, "My dad is always wanting to improve himself and he often asks me what he can do better as a dad, and I can never think of a thing." That gets me teary because really, could there ever be a better tribute. This is how you make a difference in the world. It may sound trite but it is true. You make your most profound impact when you are the best you can be for the people that you influence every day. I sometimes wonder what most motivated my heroes and heroines to do the things that they do/did, and I really think that more often then we may imagine, it is not a matter of one catalyst that made them jump up and take on the world, but a series of habits, and routines and truths that they learned from their parents and their teachers every day, for years that added up to a character of greatness, one which can recognise a need, an opportunity to better the world, and then have the sense of self worth, the courage and the discipline to make it happen. So yes, that thing you say to your kid every day when they lose their homework folder may just be the one thing that makes or breaks whether they will eradicate poverty and establish world peace.
No pressure or anything.
Wow, congrats to your friends. It sounds like things are really great there. And yes, no pressure, I will think twice before getting after another child for taking at least a million years to exit the car and enter a destination before we all freeze to death. It is so true what we say influences our kids so much, I still think of many things my parents said and it still holds water. Amazing.
Posted by: Carolyn | November 19, 2007 at 10:33 PM