Remember How It Felt to be a Kid

In the daily grind of life, I try, really try like most folks I know to be a good parent. Sometimes I do OK but no doubt there's a lot of room for improvement. At 39 it is hard to remember what it felt like to be a kid sometimes. So I thought I'd share the letter my daughter gave me a few weeks back as it reminded me of her perspective.

"Mommy I don't want to be mad at you all the time but you need to let me do stuff without you like I can never ride my scooter without you outside. And another thing, I am a kid. I am not a vegetarian and I would like a little bit of meat in my meals. I am a child. I am picky and my taste buds change."

So maybe my cooking could use some updating too, huh!

Carolina Christmas

When I was a kid, back in the dark ages as my children think, my parents usually took us down to Wilmington to see the "World’s Largest Living Christmas Tree." Now I kind of doubt it really is the world’s largest but when I was a kid it sure seemed like it. And actually looking at the picture posted on the web this year it really is impressive. The 79th annual lighting of the tree was earlier this month at Wilmington’s Hilton Park. I read that the massive oak tree covered with Spanish moss is believed to be more than 400 years old and is covered with 5,250 bulbs. It was first lit in 1928 with over 500 lights. Merry Christmas!

Summertime

I used to think "summer" here in Florida was kind of a hollow term, after all it's warm and generally beautiful here year round. If you really think about it the months of June- August are actually the worst weather here, at least the most extreme. But now that my children are school age, I find that old feeling I had as a kid in summer has returned. It's less about the weather and more about freedom from schedules, swimming in the pool everyday, staying up past the normally rigorously enforced "bedtime," visiting relatives and just plain having fun. I know that I too need some time out just to unwind, stop the routine and goof off. I read recently that the U.S. population has the least amount of vacation time for any industrialized country. So I plan during this summertime period to make the most of it.