There's A Lot Riding on Your Tires...

She wants to know what Martin Luther King Day is. So I take this opportunity to tell her about who he was and why we still celebrate his legacy today. Which isn't easy when she doesn't know what racism is in the first place. Also not easy since she is five, and sweet as pie. I think pretty fast about how far to go on this. I know my time will be short, as attention spans are not long at this juncture!

So I begin to tell her that he was a very important man to many people who were not treated as equals. I struggle about whether to tell her that he was shot; she's very tender and caring of course...but I decided that telling her that reality in a gentle way is the way to make racism understood a bit better.

So I tell her someone shot him long, long ago...and that he died.

She of course was immediately horrified and I continue so as to make my point, telling her he was shot because he was an African American man who was very special, and some very bad people who did not like people of other colors did this to him.

I know I only have a short window of opportunity here at this point, so I go on to say that we of course like ALL people of ALL colors and for someone to kill another person is terrible.

She asked me, "Was Martin Luther King like Jesus?"

I thought that was pretty smart. "Yes, kind of, he was." And I said a few things about Jesus, and how this could be considered similar....

She then asked me if Jesus was shot!

OH boy.

And then she asked me if her friends who are "brown," are going to be shot!

Uh oh.

I am digging myself in this hole and her attention span is about to go. So quickly I try to fix what I broke! Soon, she seems secure that her friends will not be shot.

And then she says: Momma...?

Me: Yes?

Her, after a thoughtful pause: Why is there air in tires?

Try, Try Again

Sydney's Granny and Grandaddy take her skating on occasion when she visits their home in Hurst. I only learned yesterday that the rink is one that Brian, Sydney's Daddy skated in as a child too! How sweet is that?

Sydney has apparently progressed to such a point that she no longer needs the training "locked" skates. For the first time this weekend I got a chance to go with the ever-wonderful grandparents and see Sydney in action!

My daughter skates!
She moves, arms a'flailing, a few dramatic falls in the name of sympathy perhaps...
But she skates! And when she's down, she gets back up (eventually, she does!)

Watching her make her way around the rink, slow at first, gaining strength with practice, makes me proud, and it's a bitter sweet thing! I thought she was just a baby! Now I see her working so hard at something, not so mindful of the skill levels of others around her, but caught up in her own fun.


Ah but here is a perfect example of life in its ups and downs, with a little limbo thrown in for good measure.


It's a lesson all should heed,
Try, try, try again;
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try, try again.
Then your courage will appear,
If you only persevere,
You will conquer, never fear!
Try, try, try again.

My mom used to say that to me when I was a kid.
It's hard to wait for things, but it's true when they say
we must practice fearlessly.

Sydney seems to be getting this message. Thanks and love to the grandparents who help to show and teach her new things and teach her to believe in none other than herself.

What We Did For Spring Break!

We spent a day at the gorgeous Dallas Arboretum. A picnic, long walks, playing in the water...we had the best time together. They even had a "Herbie" car covered in flowers that was a hit! Also, Sydney got a shorter haircut and a second visit from the tooth fairy! We went shopping, went to the nature perserve, slept late and cuddled, played with our new bubble machine that Sydney got as a reward for doing awesome new portaits. Wednesday we had dinner at Beni Hana with Brian, and then off she went to spend the rest of the break with him. They went to the Dallas Aquarium, the Fort Worth Zoo...we really packed it in and Sydney had a blast.

Was she ready to go back to school?
This morning she told me she would miss me and told me "your voice is as nice as you are."

Is that cute, or what?

Two months til Syd is six years old! Gotta start planning that party. She seems to want to invite kids to a ceramics shop, and the theme is colorful SMILEY FACES!
I think that is fitting for her, don't you?