Gratitude, grace, and guilt

Riiiiiiing riiiiiiiing....

(Look at caller ID.  It's school.  Crap.  What the hell now!?!?)  "Hello."

"Mrs. _____, it's Mrs. ______.  There was an incident on the playground during recess.  Kev used some words that were not appropriate, and were scary for some kids."

"Can I talk to him?  Where is he?"  

"He's in the main office while I speak to you with the door closed."

---end quotes now---

WAIT, "He needs to be picked up from school immediately."

---now, I'm done with quotes.----

What he said or didn't say isn't necessarily important.  Let's put it this way, what he said shocked me and didn't, all in the same thought process.  

I went to pick him up.  Both of us sobbing.  What he said hit home.  What he said was wrong.  How do I parent this?  What do I say?  

His teacher felt terrible about calling me.  Kevin's words were violent, yet he is not violent whatsoever. His words were scary, yet he's not scary whatsoever.  We know where he got it, but that's not for this blog.  No matter where he got it, it's not okay, hence the punishment at school and at home.  

So, we get home after total silence while walking to car, and the whole way home.  We walk in the house, and the silence was deafening.  I write an apology on my part to the principal and to the teacher.  I also included a backhanded joke that he was heading to his first confession that night, and that it was an ironic event.  I digress.  Thank the good Lord, the principal knows where Kev got this.  Shortly later, I get an e-mail from the principal, "Hang in there.  We'll meet tomorrow."  Shortly after that an e-mail from his teacher letting us know how much she wanted to attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation that night, but she could not make it.  

Kev receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Somehow makes the priest laugh.  

The next day, I go to the meeting with the principal and teacher, in a closed door meeting.  Kev's teacher apologized for not attending mass the night before.  She mentioned that she apologized to Kevin too.  Kev and her talked about how God and prayer can be helpful in tough times.  SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.... WHHHHHHHAAAAAT?!?!?!?!  I thought our devil public schools banned God. I thought they banned prayer.  Wrong.  All I could do was grin.  I didn't grin because of God, or prayer, or chatting with my son.  I grinned because in that moment, she knew she was talking to a little boy, not just a nameless or faceless student.  

If anyone ever questions our teachers, think again.  The next day, I took the kiddos to school.  After saying the pledge, they all sang, "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood.  I got it on video.  Like it or not, God is alive in schools.  Better yet, I'm not sure it's God that is alive, it's humanity that is alive in our schools.  Educators love our kids.  Educators know that God, g-d, Allah, no god, many gods, or a god by any name, is ever present in our world.  

Thank you Mrs. Principal.  Thank you Mrs. Teacher for knowing my son's heart, soul, and mind.  You only know because you've taken the time to know our whole family, how we operate, our challenges, our victories, and everything in between.  Thank you.  

Bye Bye Buddy Boys

These two little boys are leaving me today.  They're leaving on their new adventure to a home about 400+ miles away.  I love them to the moon and back.  Bye bye little buddy boys... Auntie already misses you.  On to new adventures together.  Less often, yet just as much fun.  

End of 2012

 I've missed this blog.  Interesting since I rarely visit GOOGLE anymore, but when I do visit this sunshine page, I miss not seeing posts about mundane days, or even exciting ones.  Perhaps I'll do this more often again, who knows.  I thought I'd end 2012 with a few of the Pathetic Photo moments of the holiday season.

Good-bye 2012.  Hello 2013.

Compliment

I got the best compliment the other day.  I got a request for one of my fall photos.  I sent a few photos, so I'm not sure which specific one was requested.  The compliment was something like, "I can't wait to put your work on my wall!"  WOW, and amazingly enough, this person is not related to me, nor obligated.  Thanks to you-know-who-you-are!

Speaking of feeling good... Thanksgiving this year will be a blast!  We have friends from NY coming to visit, and enjoying the craziness of my family.  Oh, they're so lucky!  Hopefully we'll still be friends after dessert time.  HA!  So, this year will be my mom, her significant other, my brother, sis-in-law, two nephews, NY friends, and the 4 of us (5 if you count Shadow, who will want a seat at the table too).

Happy Turkey Day (coming up)!

All about the punkins

Happy Halloween... whatever that means!  Happy Fall!  Juliana asked me the other day why we celebrate Halloween.  HA, I giggled!  I never really thought about it before.  What immediately came out of my mouth is, "We don't really celebrate it, we have fun with it."  She wanted to know the difference, so we began talking about the origins of Halloween.  Yup, it's all strange, creepy, gloomy, and morbid.  I asked her if she ever felt like we were strange, creepy, gloomy, or morbid on Halloween. She said, "Nope."  So we both agreed that we don't celebrate it, we have fun with it.  Our next conversation was about Christmas.  It boiled down to, "Do you feel happy, joyful, and know the meaning of Christmas?"  "Yup.  I guess that's why we celebrate Christmas, and have fun on Halloween."  That's right girl, that's right.

So, whether you think all trick-or-treaters are pagans just waiting for their turn in hell, or you just wanna have fun with punkins, candy corn, ghost cupcakes, and cat costumes, I hope October 31st is a good one for ya.  Have fun!

Heated

Because we are in the midst of a heated political season, and I am admittedly, a political junkie, I wanted to say a few things.

1. If you're gonna get political, don't make it personal.  Don't get on your moral high horse and claim you want the best for your children and grandchildren, therefore differ from another persons opinion.  'Cause that makes you sound, well, arrogant, and frankly, ignorant too.  Ya know, I kinda sorta maybe kinda want a great country for my kids and grandkids too.  Just sayin'.

2. Stop pretending President Obama or (possible President) Romney has or will end this country as we know it.  It's just annoying.  Yes, they differ.  Yes, they want you to think their ideas are vastly better.  The reality is, our country will continue to move forward in some ways, and possibly backward in other ways.  Ughhh, it's so self-righteous to think the USofA is gonna end in your lifetime.  I guess it's the same as the coming of Christ, but we'll save that for another time.

3. Obama isn't fictional.  He's not a terrorist, he's not socialist, he's not communist, he's not Hitler, he's not God, he's not a foreigner, he's not hiding a gay lover in a closet, he's just not.  Romney isn't gonna sell our country to China.  He's not gonna hide our money in the Cayman Islands.  He's not gonna convert us all to Mormons.  Get over yourselves!

4. If you don't care about politics, it's a shame.  I don't care to hear about politics every waking moment either, although I do care to know who will be making decisions for me.  Not to mention, history kinda sorta matters to me.  I'd like to be able to discuss history with my grandchildren one day.  That is, if Obama allows me to do that.  I mean, he is clearly sending our country and our freedoms to hell, right?!?!

5. I'm done.  Ta ta for now (again).

Ta ta for now

Somehow I've lost interest in this blog. I love reading others. I just don't find my life THAT interesting. I'll continue it here n' there because I like looking back occasionally, but I'm not sure anyone has lost much of their life if I don't post often.

Toooo-da-loooo......