A Tiny Thing to be Thankful For

In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd post about something for which I'm super grateful. It's been 12 longs weeks but my strict "no caffeine" regimen has been lightened in favor of a light caffeine rule. So, my iced tea breaks are back, even if not for every day. Oh Sonic, how I missed ye.

... of course, that is not the only tiny thing we are grateful for this season :)

Family Portrait, redux

Golf is a, uh, .... Wonderous Sport?

We recently went to Academy to do some early (ish) Christmas shopping. The plan was basically that the boys would play around on the little practice putting green while Juliet and I did the more civilized shopping . . . like in the children's shoe section . . . or the outdoor cooking section . . . or the pretty much anywhere but the golf section.

Yet, somehow, there we all four were while Juliet and Robby battled for ground on the green, each sure that his/her golf ventures were more crucial than the other's. My attempts to lure Juliet off the putting green were entirely unsuccessful, and the final whisking away involved real tears (just hers, though I don't think a few tears on my part would have been wholly unjustified...)

I have heard all of the great benefits of golf. Trust me, golf runs thickly in the veins of both sides of the family. But, when I think of being a golf mom, all I can picture is my mother walking 36 holes in both pouring rain and scorching heat without being able to really talk to anyone or getting breaks to eat. No thank you. I am resigned to having one golfer in the family. But, two? That is just cruel.

I have hatched plans already to prevent any further interest on my daughter's part for this strangely alluring sport. My plans include new clothes, new toys, a later bedtime, access to sweets.....in short--whatever it takes.

Though, now that I think about it, maybe my real plan should be highly encouraging her to take up golf. It seems to me that even at the tender age of one, she has figured out that if Mommy thinks it is okay to play with, there is probably something more fun to be had somewhere. Of course, golf clubs are just destructive enough that she might figure out that they are actually a great thing to get her hands on after all.

Why am I starting to feel like I am already sunk on this one?????

Proud

This is a picture from the Tarleton women's basketball game tonight. The amazing woman shooting the free throw is my sister-in-law Jenna, wife of my very lucky brother. In the span of less than a year, she has faced ACL surgery, multiple bloodclots that arose as a complication from that surgery, long recovery and lots of hardwork to overcome the effects of both of those, and most recently, a foot injury.

Yet, there she is, out on the court being a superstar. She never gave up on her dream, and she worked incredibly hard to get there. We are so proud.

The Boys Club

I have been aware since I was a little girl of the existence of a phenomenon that I have come to call the Boys Club. While this is not a physical, card carrying, dues paying organization, it is very much a living and active organization.

To find proof of this organization, simply observe any two males who are in the proximity of one another. Often, these males are immediately drawn to one another simply due to their gender. They not only bond over the pure fact that they are both male, they revel in proving their manliness to one another through an extremely wide variety of activities that expand and broaden as they grow older, but it doesn't seem to change entirely. The other option is competitive facing off, but that is the stuff of another post.

When Robby was born, Bryan and his brothers would collectively hold Robby while softly (for them) chanting, "Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!" I thought that this was cute--a playful gesture. Little did I realize that it was actually an iniation process into the club, which I have now learned is something that boys are aware of from birth. I don't think I was quite prepared for this.

I am constantly amazed at how Robby identifies himself so proudly as a boy. If he sees a pair of pink converse shoes, he is quick to point out that he can't wear them because he is a boy. If Juliet tries to play with his toys, he sometimes tells her that she can't, citing that it is because she is a girl (or a baby, or both, but you get the point).

If we can't convince Robby to get dressed in long pants or a long sleeved shirt, despite the need due to the weather, (for some reason, Robby strongly prefers shorts and short sleeved shirts--and short socks come to that) Bryan can simply go put on something similar, and then Robby will want to wear it too. Because they are boys, and those are the clothes that boys wear.

Which leads me to the problem of belts. Because Bryan is so skinny, he needs a belt all the time. But, Robby doesn't have a belt. So, he gets upset because he is not dressed enough like Daddy. So, Daddy ends up going without a belt. Santa, if you are reading this, can you bring Robby a nice belt for Christmas so that his daddy won't run the constant risk of losing his drawers in public?

(both are wearing grey baseball shirts, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes...no belt)