Throwing Rocks

   I strive to lead a very principled life.  After I had little people, I  looked for ways to enable and ennoble them; teach them good principles in a fun way that would build their character and their sense of self-worth while also helping them learn that there are (good and bad) consequences in all things.  I wanted them to learn how to look for the “good” in the world around them and then contribute to it.  I figure we have one shot at this life…let’s live it to the fullest, laugh out loud at least 10 times a day, and look for ways to ease the burden of someone else. I still shake my head at the one family night we had where I gave them each a bag full of pebbles and told them I wanted them thrown at people during the week.  Let me ‘splain…I first taught them that I was saying the word “rock”, but I was spelling it R-A-O-K…and that these letters were my acronym for Random Act of Kindness. I wanted them to empty the bag by giving (not literally throwing) a RAOK to each person they found that week to whom they could provide a kindness. I encouraged them to write down in a notebook/journal every day the stories of their RAOKs. I asked them to throw as many as they could and then bring their (hopefully empty) bag and their stories to the family meeting the next week. Each was asked to share as many stories with the rest of us as they wanted. The resulting RAOK throwing stories were amazing… helping a younger boy at school tie his shoes so he wouldn’t trip; whispering to a girl that her underpants were showing above her waistband so she wouldn’t be teased… the simplest things were SEEN and ACTED UPON.

With that in mind, I received an email today from my youngest daughter that simply said:

Within the body of her email, there were no words of explanation, introduction to or qualifications for her choice of subject.  She had simply pasted a link to Citizens Awareness Vanguard (CAV) blog.  Curious, I followed the link to their blog post from 7/16/2013 which was captioned, “21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity.”  Because this post had had such a profound effect on my daughter to prompt her email to me, I scrolled through the 21 pictures that were posted.

I have no idea the political affiliation or leanings of this group. I deliberately didn’t look because I did not want to know before I wrote this. Instead, I want to place this CAV blog into the very basket full of “Humanity” that they depicted and thank them for one of the most wonderful pictorials I have ever viewed. The pictures that CAV has posted clearly demonstrate that people around the world are paying attention and acting upon opportunities to throw RAOKs; some of these people were even risking their own safety to serve a stranger.

The genesis of my blog today started with the single line, “This kind of just made my day worth it” and is ending with my faith in humanity being bolstered. I express my profound gratitude to every person who throws RAOKs; to CAV for the courage to recognize and share the pictures of people caught in the act of throwing a RAOK; and to my daughter for knowing the positive impact reading it would have on me. I encourage you to check out the 7/16/13 CAV blog post and then toss a few RAOKs of your own.

I hope this makes you smile (think & act); and as always,

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Vicki

A Post From a Prodigy

Every once in a blue moon a rare phenomenon occurs: pigs fly. And after these pigs are airborne, and a well-known hot place suddenly experiences chilly weather, another, more frightening experience occurs. Mommy falls ill.

As a child of a single parent, Mommy sick days are accompanied with rounds of “Oh no’s” and other questions regarding meals and lack of fun things to do. When I was a much younger prodigy, I quickly learned that belly-aching was not to be tolerated on any accounts, especially when Mommy falls ill. As a youngin, meals while Mommy was ill consisted of cereal, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (still a favorite of this prodigy), and macaroni & cheese that was cooked under the supervision of the invalid. However, as a young prodigy, my viewpoint was extremely limited. I knew what it meant to be sick (like when sickness would visit this prodigy on days when a spelling test was scheduled at school), and I especially didn’t like it when Mommy was sick because she looked very un-Mommy and took on an appearance similar to The Blob from the old Steve McQueen movie.

The years have passed all too quickly and this prodigy ages quite nicely. Now I am a fully-functioning young adult quite capable of cooking meals and paying bills. And yet, when Mommy falls ill, for a moment, I regress to a younger version of myself, and my first thoughts consist of “Oh no” followed by questions regarding meals and fun things to do…for about a nano-second. Then the years of Kid-Able training kick in. Instead of cereal and macaroni and cheese, all the Life skills my Mommy has taught me over the years engage. I instantly go about doing the necessary laundry, dishes, and am more than capable of creating healthy (check that: REALLY HEALTHY) meals that are good for sick Mommy, such as homemade chicken noodle soup, which is super easy right from the pantry because we always have frozen, clearly-marked vegetables, and a pantry so highly organized that it puts the grocery store to shame!!!

All the KidAble principles that were such a huge part of my Life growing up aren’t just tested when Mommy is ill, but they’re applied!  And goshdarnit, Mommy was right all these years…I am really capable! The mind reels at the thought!!!

Because I innately know what to do and how to function because of all the super-fun and super-simple Life skills I was taught as a part of my KidAble upbringing, the household doesn’t fall apart because Mommy is ill.  (She even uses KidAble passwords so I can easily take care of writing the blog while she’s sick!)  And I know enough to make sure that she knows I will let you know that I know that I am the sunshine in the lemon storm of sickness this time.  So, as My Mommy would say,

Thanks for reading.  Hope this brought you a smile and, as always,

Prodigy (not Vicki this time!)

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Lemon-day Picnics

My mantra “Look for the sunshine” is an abbreviation for “When life gives you lemons, Look for the sunshine…because lemons only grow in the sun.” This hails from something I overheard a sweet, elderly neighbor say when I was a child growing up in West Virginia. I loved it so much and I didn’t forget it. She said, “When life gives me lemons, make lemonade”. About 15 years ago, a sweet friend used a similar statement, “When life gives you lemons, look for the sunshine.” Both of these incredible women deserve the credit and my eternal gratitude for helping me to remember to look for and find positivity in adversity always.

I went through a rough patch for several years…it seemed that “looking” didn’t always mean “finding” the sunshine while enduring a particularly crap-filled lemon storm. But, I had a revelation and began to think like a little kid…Easter eggs aren’t just lying around on the ground…I had to hunt for them.  My buddy isn’t just standing in plain site during a rousing game of hide-and-seek. Rather, I have to “SEEK” and “FIND”.  Both of these examples evoke visions of working hard in the form of opening doors, looking in dark places, moving to a different place, and sometimes reaching out to grab it.  After this light bulb moment, I decided to force myself (and work) to find the sunshine in the myriad of life-lesson lemon crap storms that were assaulting me.

After a while, I didn’t have to work as hard to find the sunshine.  I became conditioned to find the promise (sunshine) in almost any situation. I was better able to cope with lemon storms by having a positive outlook even as it was raining yellow.  Thus, my mantra was born. In this process, I realized that the steps “seek & find” were the secret to success in anything (but that’s another blog for another day because it’s a little too deep and this is a bright and sunshiny topic today!).

So, relating my sunshine mantra to a KidAble LIFE!!! and today’s topic…Lemon-day Picnics. When they are small, our wee ones can find abject joy in the simple things…like a picnic in the middle of the family room floor for absolutely no reason, but most especially when they have had a lemon-storm (crappy) day. I remember after we moved to a new home that was far away from the old one.  Nobody had any friends so we instituted lemon-day picnics every Friday night. The timing was great because our picnic coincided with a PBS showing of the the New York ballet. My wee ones loved the ballet and so we would sit in the dark, eat our picnic, and watch and discuss the ballet, the costumes, the sets. Usually, at least one of the wee ones ended up dancing which would cause peals of laughter. This always opened up dialogue about their day, their week, their challenges.  As a family, we turned lots of lemon storms into lemonade at these picnics.

Well, my youngest baby is now twenty-something and we still have lemon-day picnics on the floor, though not as frequently.  In fact, we had a friend over for dinner not too long ago and decided he needed a pick-me-up, lemon-day picnic (because he was having a rough time)…so that’s what we did.

We tossed a blanket on the floor, made homemade lemonade, some goofy sandwiches, a peach upside down cake and trifle in a jar (they’re sitting on the blue cooler in the picture). We took off our shoes, sat on pillows on the floor and had a blast as my baby re-told story after story about our lemon-day picnics she remembered from growing up.

The sunshine mantra has served and continues to serve my family and me well, and I share it with you; make it yours too if you want. Become a force for good, for positivity in the lives of your wee ones. Help them learn to “seek & find”. Together, we can improve ourselves, our families, our communities, and gee-wouldn’t-it-be-great, the world.

Thanks for reading.  Hope this brought you a smile and, as always,

Vicki

PS – You can find the recipe for the Peach Upside Down Cake (which is paleo and gluten free) on the Battinburg Cakes blog or through BattinburgCakes.com.