Family History

My favorite book of all time is The Red Tent. I love many things about this book, but one thing that touched me personally is how the women in the book would pass down their stories to their daughters so that they would not be forgotten after their death. The author writes:

"If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistful silences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows the details of her mother's life - without flinching or whining - the stronger the daughter."

I think this point is lost in our busy and hectic society today. How many women in this country could tell someone what her mother's dreams were, what her disappointments were, what her triumphs were? Probably a good number, but definitely not all. What about if they were asked about their grandmothers? The number would be significantly less. Their great-grandmothers? I would be surprised if any woman could answer. It seems that today's society has trained it's younger generations to be so focused on themselves and so hectic in achieving their dreams that they fail to realize the importance of learning about the women whom they came from.

I missed out on this chance with my grandmother, as she died about three years ago. I won't miss this chance again. In the coming weeks, my cousin and I are going to sit down with my great-grandmother. We are going to bring a tape recorder, paper and pens, and most importantly, our open ears, hearts, and minds. My great-grandmother is 96 years old, but looks 75 at the most and has the clarity of mind of that of a 50 year old. She writes for a local paper, is active in the senior center, and has a social calender that is busier than most. She has lived through the Great Depression and numerous wars. We will ask her what her dreams were, what her triumphs were, what her life was like. We will record her stories.

I will share her stories with my daughters, along with the stories of my mother and my own stories. I want my daughters to be two of the few women who, when asked about their maternal ancestors, will smile and pull up a comfy chair and pour a cup of tea, because they will have lots to tell.

What about you? Will your daughter know what your dreams were? Will she know about your accomplishments, about your heart breaks, about your triumphs? Will she pass it on to your grandchildren and great grandchildren? Or will your stories die when you leave the earth, leaving only a name and dates on your tomb stone.

Family History

It Just Never Ends

There's some kind of virus or something going around in our area and it came into our house about two weeks ago. Since then it has decided that it really doesn't want to leave. First the Mermaid caught it, and came down with a congested nose, sore throat, and fever. The kind of fever that had both the Knight and I up at 1:30 in the morning debating on whether or not to take her to the hospital. We settled on calling her pediatrician who gave us some hints on how to bring down the fever, which thankfully worked. As soon as the Mermaid appeared to be recovering, the Guppy came down with the same symptoms. Her illness lasted about a week and yesterday she finally had no fever, no congestion, and was a happy baby once again. So, I really wasn't surprised when, this morning, the Mermaid announced that she wasn't feeling good and then promptly got sick all over the living room floor.

*sigh*

So, as you can imagine, my life lately has been hectic. And not the fun kind of hectic. When the girls are sick, especially the Guppy, they want to be held and cuddled constantly. I am more than happy to oblige, but that means that the housework goes on the back burner for a while, the laundry piles up, and other daily tasks are ignored.

In addition to these adventures in Sickville, my great grandfather passed away this past week. He was 99 years old and would have turned 100 this December. I'll always remember him as the quiet, gentle man who could barely hear and had trouble remembering who was who. He had a long, happy and fulfilled life.

So, now the Mermaid is on the couch watching a movie (I generally throw the no TV rule out the window when she is sick, as it helps keep her calm and distracts her from the fact that she is miserable). She's had her vitamin C, her homeopathic remedies for nasal congestion and upset tummy, and I prepared a lavender mist for her as well to help her relax. Hopefully she will get well soon and this ugly virus will leave our house for good.

It Just Never Ends

Pictures, Because They Are So Cute

Some pictures I took of the girls yesterday and today. The Guppy is such an adorable and affectionate child, I can't help but take pictures. And the Mermaid went to her first non-family children's birthday today, and she looked adorable. And to me, a little older.....*sniff*

Pictures, Because They Are So Cute

I Knew It Was Too Quiet...

Earlier today, while I was sitting in the recliner nursing the Guppy, I noticed that the house was awfully quiet.

In our house, silence is not a good thing. The Mermaid is a very active and loud child, and normally she is only quiet when she is either sleeping, or doing something that she knows she is not allowed to do.

I called out to the Mermaid and sure enough, when she finally padded into the living room, I saw why it was so quiet. She had colored her entire face with magic marker.

Not only that, but she had also colored in her teeth to match.

What could I do? I had to laugh and take a picture. Even though it took over an hour to scrub the marker off her face and teeth. And even when I discovered that she had used my makeup brushes to "blend" the marker in, and I had to throw them away.

After all, was it not just two days ago that I, her mother, colored on her entire face for Halloween? And we had had a lot of fun doing it as well. So, in her mind, she was just doing something fun that she had done with me a few days ago. In her mind, her makeup was beautiful.

So, we laughed, we took pictures, and we had fun washing it off. If only I could deal with ALL my messes in life the same way.

I Knew It Was Too Quiet...

Halloween

I haven't been around much. The Knight took the week off from work so we could do some serious house shopping. It was nice having him home all week, helping to school the girls and to get caught up on some stuff that had been on our To Do list for a while.

For Halloween, both girls dressed up as matching clowns. I wasn't really big on the clown thing, but the Mermaid insisted that she wanted to be a clown, and I thought it would be really cute if they matched. Our town always has a parade and costume contests every year, so the girls participated in that and then we took them to about three or four houses for trick or treating. The Mermaid is allowed to keep five pieces of candy and the rest she trades in for a toy or book. All in all, it was a good night.

Halloween

Mamanista Sling Giveaway

As a lover of babywearing, I am always on the lookout for ways to expand my carrier collection on my tight budget. Mamanista is offering a great sling giveaway that I would love to win! To find out how you can win a Rockin' Baby ring sling, head on over to enter in the contest today!

Mamanista Sling Giveaway

Old Sturbridge Village

In our local area there is a museum called Old Sturbridge Village, the largest outdoor museum in the Northeast. It's a literal village built and run like a typical village in the late 1700's to early 1800's. As school children, the Knight and I took many field trips there to learn about our country's past and what life was like for our ancestors. Along with the 40 original buildings from that time period, the village also offers a staff of history interpreters, who wear authentic costumes of the time period and answer any questions that the visitors may have.

I have a lot of fond memories of my many trips to Old Sturbridge Village, from field trips as a student to bringing our foreign exchange students to the museum so they can experience our history as well.

Luckily for us, the Knight's company offers a free weekend at the museum to all its employees and their families. This past weekend was the free weekend, and although we were very busy, we made sure to squeeze in some time to take the girls. The museum often hosts "homeschooling days" for those families in the area who homeschool, and we can't wait until the girls are old enough where we can take advantage of that great program.

We had a lot of fun, although the Mermaid received her first bee sting. She was a real trooper about it, and at least we are pretty sure that she is not allergic. Here are some pictures:

Oxen, with one of the costumed "history interpreters."

The Mermaid was afraid to pet the oxen.

She felt much more confident when there was a fence between her and the animals

In one of the original buildings

The gazebo, overlooking the lake.

Here the Mermaid is helping to "clean" the clay before it goes onto the potter's wheel. She is powering the mill that churns the clay, causing all the rocks and other debris to sink to the bottom of the barrel. The potter then takes the clean clay off the top.

My favorite picture: our little prairie girl.

It was nice to be able to take the Guppy as well. It reminded me how last year when we went, I was pregnant with the Guppy and the Mermaid was only around 18 months old! :o)

Old Sturbridge Village