Nov 11, 2019
Parenting Do-Overs
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Parenting Do-Overs
Sometimes Jesus Grants Us a Do-Over
Sometimes Jesus Grants Us a Do-Over
My dad went to be with Jesus in 1988. It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen his face or held his hand.
Last fall, I had one of the most vivid and real-feeling dreams I’ve ever had. It was about him. I was with my parents at my childhood home. I didn’t see my mom, but knew she was there. Dad had, apparently, had another heart attack that left him unconscious and unresponsive; somehow I knew my…
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The Big Do-Over
Tom is at his Samaritans shift, and I am getting some thoughts down before I go to sleep.
I think the first time he left me alone here was to go to one of his shifts. At first it would make me uneasy; it was the middle of the night and the flat was unfamiliar and if I let myself think about it for just a bit too long, I’d trip over the idea of how the whole of England was--strangely--just outside, stretching in all directions. I still have those “I live in England, wtf” moments, every now and again. Maybe I always will, I don’t know. But at night it’s easy to forget; the darkness hides the differences, and the cars on the road sound just the same as cars in the States.
(However, I am very much enjoying the differences this evening, namely in the form of millionaire’s shortbread. You can’t get little tubs of millionaire’s shortbread in the States. I love millionaire’s shortbread.)
Anyway... now I revel in all my alone time, and tonight is no exception. Right now I’m getting acquainted with this new keyboard. Yesterday I finally took my new laptop out of its box! I got surprisingly used to using Tom’s Mac--and very cozy with trackpad gestures--but it never stopped feeling like I was sleeping on someone’s couch, lol.
Anyway, something occurred to me tonight that I wanted to reflect on, so: I realized that with every day that goes by, with every success at university, I get further and further from being the person who was consumed by the desire to go back and do the first failed attempt over again.
This, all of this right now, is the big do-over. It didn’t happen the way I had been wishing, and certainly not in a way I could have come close to guessing, but it’s happening. And I hope that on the other side of it I’ll be someone who doesn’t feel defined by her failures. I hope I can define myself by what I’ve done, instead of what I didn’t do.
If you’ve ever been through something terrible, something you wish you could erase, rewrite... I hope you find your way to the point where you realize you wouldn’t trade what happened, if it meant you had to sacrifice the person you’ve become.
Circ desk vs. executive desk - We compromised on the circulation desk to save money, and I thought exec desks would at least make up for the work space I would need, since I would not have a separate work area. If I could have a do-over, I would get a smaller desk (okay, maybe two small desks) instead of an “executive” desk. These are so intimidating looking and just god-awful for a school library. Plus they elicit all kinds of envious comments from other admins and teachers :( I would also not put it by the entrance. I’ve managed to fill my desk with books and bins but they still feel oversized.
Have You Taken Advantage of Do-Overs?
Have You Taken Advantage of Do-Overs?
As all students know, here at SHS we have a do-over policy on tests. My policy adds a caveat. I will not retest without doing a reteach. That is, you must visit me 9th period, so I can explain any errors that were made thereby preventing you from making the same mistake on the do-over. During a subsequent 9th period, you can attend to take Form B of the exam in question.
The one thing many…
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As you have probably suspected, there are a full thousand years lost out of the Lower middle Ages. History ran up to the year fourteen hundred and fifty-three once, and then reverted to the year four hundred and fifty-three. It was a much different year four hundred and fifty-three than it had been the first time, though. The Millennium really has been and gone, you know. It's forgotten now; it wasn't what had been expected, but it was what had been promised. “Nobody promised us that it would be a thousand years of peace and prosperity; nobody promised that it would be an era of learning and suavity; and certainly nobody promised that it would be a time of ease and gentility. “It was the Millennium itself, and the Devil was bound for a thousand years. But he surely was not quiet about his binding. He clanked and howled; he shook the whole world, and he caused land tides and sea tides. He caused mountains to collapse and people to go fearful and even to die literally petrified. And then the people discovered a cloud-capping and roaring humor in their fearfulness. A giantism appeared, a real awareness, a ridiculousness which has always been the authentic rib-rock of the world.
R.A. Lafferty, “And Read the Flesh Between the Lines”
My Patio Failure
I just put in a patio… for the second time. That seems to be how I do things … twice. I try something with zero planning and no idea what the heck I’m doing. It’s pure adrenaline and inspiration, and usually, I have a lot of fun despite my first-time failures. I wrote a book that way. Zipped through it, scribbling like a lunatic, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 30 days I wrote 189,000 words. I…
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