Monday, August 12, 2013

Why 4 inches is better than 6 inches




      Okay…get your minds out of the gutter. I’m talking protractors. For those of you who are lucky enough not to have a fifth grade back-to-school supply list, protractors are those half-moon shaped thingys that kids use in math and come back to you at the end of the year snapped in half and covered in glue stick crud. My husband thought I was referring to the thing that looks like a nutcracker with a sharp point at one end and a place for a pencil at the other.
     “That’s a compass,” I told him.
     “Compasses are for navigation,” he replied.
     “Then you can navigate the back-to-school list.”
     Oh how I love those back-to-school lists! Every year, they are more and more like treasures hunts. This year, our list includes things like: green two pocket folders and marble notebook, must be 8 ½ inch size.
     And of course, the wonderful 4-inch protractor.
     I ran around Staples, Rite-Aid, Target and CVS like a nut trying to get a four inch protractor. Every place carries only the 6-inch kind. But the list said: must be four inches. I started imagining the terrible moment when my daughter’s teacher asks all the kids in the room to whip out their 4 inches and my daughter pulls out her six. What kind of mother am I? What next? Am I going to forget to cut the crusts off my daughter’s bread?
     Well, at least I didn’t fail the green two-pocket folder test. I almost couldn’t find a folder in Kelly green. I was about to settle for a teal-colored one (sort of green-ish?) when I found one in grass green. Social services would certainly have been after me then…
 



Saturday, August 3, 2013

Something to think about...


     The other day, I wrote down all the things that make me frightened, worried or depressed. Here they are:


--Hunger
--Falling
--Being Scared
--Darkness
--Feeling Pain
--Speaking When I Shouldn’t
--Winter
--Losing Someone I Love
--Tears
--Rejection
--Roadblocks
--Nightmares

     Then I wrote down everything that made me happy and comforted. Here they are:

--Feeling fulfilled
--Rising
--Sharing my fears
--Dawn
--Being touched
--Being heard
--Spring
--Remembering Someone I Love
--Laughter
--Achievement
--Overcoming a Hurdle
--Dreams

     And guess what I realized? There can be no second category without the first.

Without…                                There can be no…
           Hunger                                   Feeling fulfilled
           Falling                                    Rising
           Being Scared                           Sharing my Fears
           Darkness                                 Dawn
           Feeling Pain                            Being Touched
           Speaking When I Shouldn’t    Being Heard
           Winter                                     Spring
           Losing Someone                     Remembering Someone
           Tears                                       Laughter
           Rejection                                Achievement
           Roadblocks                             Overcoming a Hurdle
           Nightmare                               Dreams

      Something to think about…