A Letter to My Daughter on Her 15th Birthday

Dear Princess,

Happy birthday, missy. Fifteen. Wow. As I type this, there’s a letter for you on the counter from the local Driver’s Training place, so we’ve got that coming up. Soon, you’ll be taking lessons and then soon, I’ll get to hang out in the passenger seat while you drive me around places and get all the hours you need to get before you get your license, and I gotta say, I’m kind of looking forward to being chauffeured around. Well, I’m looking forward to it when I’m not feeling terrified… or old.

Your freshman year of high school is nearly over and… I think it’s been a good year. As the year comes to an end, I know you’re bummed that you’re getting a B in biology but I never worry about your grades because you’re a smart cookie and you work hard. You have adjusted to high school pretty well, and I’m ready to see what the next year has in store for you. You auditioned for (and made it!) to Honors Choir, so I look forward to more singing in the year ahead. You did a solo at your choir concert last weekend… your voice was so beautiful, and when you sang tears came to my eyes.

You have three weeks left of your rest from gymnastics – it’s been a tough road, I know, trying to recover from your injured clavicle-slash-shoulder-slash-‘part where the ribs meet the sternum.’ I know it’s been discouraging to not get to do anything when you go to practice, and that you’ve been afraid of losing your skills… and even that it’s been difficult to be in pain. But I have faith that you’ll be back at it in a few weeks, that you’ll recover and get back to where you were. You had an amazing season this year – so many medals, so many PR’s. I know it feels like you won’t get that back… but… I have faith.

You are organized and meticulous. You are bullet journals and to-do lists. Your room is clean and you like order. You’re a good helper, and I appreciate that. Sometimes I get very overwhelmed and you help me get out of my noggin and figure out what to do next. You’re super funny and I like when you send me texts.

I love that at night, you and your sister tuck a stuffed animal into my bed along with my book.

While I’m bummed that you’re not starting your birthday with me today, I’m looking forward to when you and your sister come home and we can celebrate with presents and brownie pie. It warmed my heart when you texted me last night, upset that your sister was spending the night at her friend’s, sad that she wouldn’t be at your dad’s with you when you wake up today. I loved that you wanted her there with you, but also that you recognized that it was a fun thing for her to get to hang out with a friend, and you let her be excited about her fun evening. And even though the two of you fight a lot, I know that you both have each other’s backs. As a mom, that makes me tremendously happy too.

You are my persister. Nevertheless. You challenge people to think outside of what they know, what is accepted. You don’t keep quiet. You don’t accept status quo. I love that you are the one other kids are afraid to argue politics with. I love that you make noise, that you think. You believe that the world could be and should be better, and I am so excited to see what you make of your life, and who you will become. Who you are already is pretty great.

You said you wanted to try a Couch to 5k. I know you may well hate running, but I look forward to running with you this summer. It makes me happy that you want to try. Maybe we’ll do a race and get matching medals.

Sigh.

Fifteen. Wow. Fifteen years ago, I held you in my arms and I became a mom, and now you are taller than me and just a few years away from college and what happened. When did I blink? How did the time pass so quickly? I’ve always been so excited at each new phase of your life, because watching you, your sister, blossom into these amazing people has been so rewarding, so great… but oh, now it’s going too fast. It could slow down a little, please.

This year will be full of phenomenal things for you, of that I am sure. I hope more musicals, more singing, more stacks of books to read, more things crossed off the list of to-dos.

Hurry up and come home. I’m excited to celebrate your birthday with you. I love you so very very much and I am looking forward to seeing what this year brings for you.

Happy birthday, Princess. I love you lots and lots of tater tots and I’m so lucky to be your momma.

<3

 

Thursday Ten: There’s A Million Things I Haven’t Done edition

  1. I used to be a better blogger. I wrote more often, and sometimes I was even amusing. These days, I can’t seem to get myself together to string a few words into a post and that makes me crazy because so much as happened since I last posted, things that all warrant a post of their own and here I am writing a Thursday Ten and let’s face it, a bullet point for these things is just not even enough.
  2. Working backwards, most recently been dealing with the stress of my brother being quite ill, in the hospital and intubated, unable to breathe on his own. I can start with this because yesterday they were able to take the tube out and he was able to breathe on his own, though he is raspy, coughs a lot, and is quite pissed at the world. (He also really would like to eat something but… yeah, that’s going to be awhile.) Not sure how he got so ill, and I’m not sure how it got so bad… but it was bad and now he’s on the mend, and there are probably some things that will have to change for the sake of his health. Scary things aren’t good – but I’m glad that at the very least, it might bring about some much needed change.
  3. I found out my brother was so ill on our way back from Chicago where we had just seen mother-freakin’ HAMILTON. It was absolutely everything EVERYTHING I dared hoped it would be. I am so glad to have gotten to share that with the girls and Chris. It was magic.
  4. It was SO magic that by the time they got to “Yorktown,” I was just in such awe that I started crying – it is one of my favorite songs in the musical, and everything was perfect: the music, the staging, the choreography. ALL OF IT. And I was thinking to myself, “Oh my god. I’m really here.” I’d go again in a minute. Worth every penny of the ticket prices…
  5. You know what else, y’all? I ran a half marathon! It was difficult and kind of scary, but I did it. I cried when I crossed the finish line. (I’m doing a lot of crying lately) I just was so damn proud of myself. I can do these things. I can set these goals.
  6. So… I signed up for another half. I’ve got five more months to train for it, but even though I thought I was “one and done,” I’m totally doing another half marathon and that just kind of blows my mind a bit.
  7. And then I signed up for a ten miler, too, because the timing was perfect so why the heck not? NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW.
  8. Before THAT? I went for my yearly appointment with the amazing team in Iowa and…it was good. Better than I could have hoped.
  9. See, you guys. There’s been so much stuff. And now the school year is almost over, my kid turns 15 in just over a week, and I’m a freaking half-marathoner, and you’ve missed it all because I’m not a good blogger.
  10. But. I miss writing. I have to do this more often. I do.

Thursday Ten: Probably Not Really Okay edition

  1. I am tired. Oh my god, am I tired. I am stressed out, exhausted, and easily made anxious by stuff that really shouldn’t be that big deal. I feel like a bit of a mess. I hate it.
  2. I would think that I should expect that dealing with the diagnosis of progressively failing vision might cause some amount of being massively bummed, but I wasn’t expecting it. And here it is. I am so bummed, so often. It is a phase I am going to have to pass in and out of, but in the meantime, as I wallow in it, I hate it and I am angry with myself and the universe.
  3. That’s probably a bit too much truthiness considering I haven’t posted in ages.
  4. The half marathon training is going pretty much okay except for the massive hip and knee pain. So I’ve also started physical therapy which has been an interesting adventure and ends up with experiences such as cringing as the therapist leans into my hip with her elbow in order to break up a massive knotted muscle. (THAT’S GONNA HURT.)
  5. But I ran nearly 20 miles last week, and…I’m doing it.
  6. I am on a mission to learn how to bake chocolate babka.
  7. I bought another pair of running shoes. I’m not sure I even need running shoes.
  8. The thing about having a busy brain is that I’m not getting enough sleep.
  9. Gymnastics season is now over for The Princess – so that’s a relief.
  10. Tell me something happy.

Thursday Ten: It’s Been A Little While

  1. I am not even gonna lie – 2017 was supposed to be better than 2016 and so far it really just isn’t. Life is busy, work is busy, weather is cold, president is terrifying. I’m exhausted all the time. I had a meltdown on Tuesday that had me in tears for an hour. I just don’t even know, man. So far, 40 can suck it.
  2. On a brighter side though, after saving for years, I finally had the 15 year old carpet from this house ripped out and replaced it with some super durable flooring that will be able to withstand dog barf and spilled milk. I haven’t wanted to do this for YEARS and was so excited to finally be able to pull the trigger on this project. It’s beautiful. And now the next thing is to ditch this beat up sofa… and figure out what of my existing furniture goes and stays. There’s my dog modeling the new floor in the picture below.
    Lucky on the new floor
  3. One thing at a time, Sarah.
  4. The thing about feeling so worn down is that I’m starting to feel as if I look worn down too. So this week I decided to subscribe to Beachbody on Demand – a streaming video service that lets you work out from home, streaming video to any of your screened devices, and offers up a variety of video options to choose from. Did my first workout yesterday – Cize. Wowza. Fun and intense and I was dripping with sweat by the time I was done. Can’t wait to try the next one.
  5. We’re expecting temps in the 50s this weekend. While this has felt a fairly mild winter compared to recent years, I’m still super stoked to get a sneak peek of spring.
  6. The warmer weather will help force me out the door for my runs – I’m training for a half marathon! For the first time, I’m using a program that incorporates speed intervals and tempo runs. The overall mileage is lower but i’m hoping they know what the heck they’re doing – that the speed runs will help me over all, so I can slog through 13.1.
  7. This Saturday is National Drink Wine Day.
  8. Next week is National Margarita Day. FYI, Margarita Day in February seems stupid timing.
  9. Why does the brain get louder at night time? I can be fine all day, but come 9:30, 10 p.m., my brain starts swirling and not in a good way.
  10. Reading the news, reading Twitter… it ain’t good. Every day it’s something new and it’s all awful. Tell me why people voted for that guy again?

When everyone is that Facebook friend you want to ignore

Saturday morning I opened my eyes and the first thing I thought to myself was, “Huh. Well. I didn’t think that would happen.”

It’s not that I thought the world would entirely blow up in the middle of the night but I went to bed Friday evening with such a heavy sense of dread. What would come next? I had no idea.

I spent Friday in a fog, alternately working and scrolling Facebook, in a state of utter disbelief and refusal to fully entertain the thought that America done messed up. Big time.

And I don’t know what to do about that besides keep showing up. Keep making phone calls. Keep working to make my world better.

It’s hard because everywhere I go, there is so much negativity to consume. I’m tired. I’m frustrated. People say, “Just wait and see” without fully understanding that for many of us, waiting doesn’t feel like something we have the luxury of doing.

I am scared. Sad. Confused. Angry.

I am worn out.

I am so worn out.

Every day it’s something new, something awful, something “IS THIS FOR REAL?” Every day I have to force myself to rise above it, scroll beyond it, not absorb too much of the negativity and instead push push push to do what I can to make change where I can, and leave the rest of it behind.

I just want to be a better person. I want to raise good children. I want to see a bunch of stuff while my eyes still work. I don’t want to feel afraid all of the time. I don’t want to feel angry this often. I want to be kind.

Everything is just so hard right now. And I’m so tired.

What we’re probably not telling our kids about social media

Psst. Hey parents. Yeah, you over there. C’mon over a second. Can we talk?

This parent gig is hard. It’s hard and it’s probably tougher than it was for our parents back in the day because times are different now and there are a lot of different elements we’ve gotta look out for that didn’t even exist when we were kids. We’ve gotta find that balance between how much we care and not being helicopter parents. Raising good people but not raising special snowflakes who feel entitled to everything without putting in the work.

It’s exhausting. Totally rewarding, but… it’s tough work.

And it just seems like it’s forever getting tougher. Take a look at your kid’s social media accounts.

No really. Go take a look. I’ll wait.

I spend a lot of time on my kid’s channels – I look at what she posts, what she comments, what people comment on her posts. I click over on the profiles of the people who comment and like her posts. I randomly take her phone and scroll around.

It’s one of the conditions for getting to be online because I know that it’s kind of a weird space, online. I’ve been active in social media for very nearly ten years (my Twitter profile says I joined in 2007) so I’ve watched it evolve over nearly a decade now. Back when I first joined Twitter, my oldest kid wasn’t even in kindergarten yet and I had no idea how the very existence of social media would impact my parenting or their childhood experiences. I’m not sure if, at that point, any of us were.

I started blogging over 11 years ago… Generally, I’ve been ALL UP IN THE INTERNET for over a decade of my life and so while it’s a passion of sorts for me – this whole web and social thing – my presence in this environment for so long means that I tend to be wary about things because, you know, that’s what happens over time.

I’ve watched Twitter grow up. I’ve watched Facebook change faces. Instagram bloomed.

And then our kids got old enough to sign up.

My daughter got series of unkind messages from a girl whose requests for a follow she declined. The details of this are not entirely important to the scenario. The decline of the follow request was not with malice or with the intention to hurt, but more of a, “My social space is private. I am choosing to let in the people I interact with on a day to day basis.”

[In retrospect, perhaps my kid could have verbalized this. However she did not.]

But, anyway, the girl got upset and in this string of messages referred to my kid as “being a bitch.”

Well. That’s not how you win friends and influence people. And I’m not sure what her motivation is – annoyance at not being granted entrance into a “private” online space (private being what it is on the internet, I’m no idiot) or truly hurt feelings.

Here’s where it gets tricky, moms and dads and parent-type people:

It’s a FINE LINE. How do we teach our kids to be kind and inclusive and yet that they are allowed to set and establish and preserve healthy boundaries for themselves and their environments (online or in the real world). If we consider ourselves a house with a fence around it… it is up to each of us to decide to whom we open the gate. Admittedly, that’s a lesson I learned far too late in life.

I was always trying to be nice, to not rock the boat, and to not upset people. I let people have access to me when I’d have preferred to keep to myself. I didn’t realize for a long time that I could shut that gate at any time. That no one needed to be in my figurative (or literal, for that matter) yard if I didn’t want them to be there.

So here we are: no one is entitled a follow. No one is entitled access to your child’s space. If your child wouldn’t invite them to your dinner table, why would he or she be obligated to grant them entrée into his or her social media world – where they share pictures and videos and sing songs and show off the family pet chinchilla or whatever? Having boundaries is healthy. It’s not mean.

That’s where, I admit, it gets murky to me. Because I’m still inclined to go along to get along – accept the follow, it hurts nothing… because I want to raise good and loving people who are kind and inclusive. I never want anyone to feel hurt feelings, and it’s tricky that creating boundaries for oneself brings with it animosity from those who don’t want to respect those same boundaries.

So, parents, what do we do?

I think we need to have those conversations with our kids about those boundaries. We need to establish how you can be protective of your space firmly and kindly without being a jerk but you can’t stop other people from being bent out of shape about it. We can talk about how your number of followers doesn’t define you. We can talk about what the social media experience actually means to you, the story you want to tell, the person you want people to know you as, and how again, it’s just one small facet of you as a whole person.

My gosh, I’ve wished so many times today that I was raising kids in the 80s where the biggest issue was jelly bracelets and trying to catch your favorite song on the radio so you could record it with your cassette player with minimal amount of DJ blathering before and after (don’t even ask how long it took me to record Debbie Gibson’s “Lost In Your Eyes” because man, I loved that song, but the DJ always talked through the whole piano beginning of that song and it drove me bonkers).

It’s a different world and we have to understand it so we can teach our kids how to navigate it. We have to be present. And we have to be willing to admit that we have a lot to learn and that we don’t know everything… and be willing to learn, evolve and adapt to help our people be good people.

It’s tough stuff, people. Are you ready?

 

Because my heart needed a bit of help this Christmas

I am reeling today, you guys.

And every time I think of what happened, I get this feeling that takes over… this feeling that tells me that no matter how I’ve felt lately, no matter what kind of fear I have about the world or what’s ahead, if we all can just remember to do kind things in small ways we will make big impact.

It started with a gift card.

My friends Nate and J Money (Y’all probably remember them from Love Drop) decided to launch a new project: The Rockstar Community Fund. And because I’ve basically been waiting for the Love Drop reboot for a couple years, when Nate told me about RCF, immediately I was all, SIGN ME UP.

Then my $20 Visa Gift Card arrived.

The guys weren’t really persnickety about what we needed to do with the #GivingCard. Spread some kindness, make a difference. Immediately, my mind reeled with all of the possibilities for this card. Some of the ideas were quirky, some were fun, some had long range future potential, some were goofy. There were so many things I could do, and I was excited about the possibility of it all.

And then on Tuesday, I got another idea. Scrolling through Twitter I saw a tweet about school lunch programs, and I thought to myself, hmmmmm. There’s something here.

As a parent – it’s one of the most basic things we do for our children, we keep them fed… but what if times are tough? I wanted to contribute in a way that parents didn’t need to worry about whether their kids could get a warm meal at school and I wanted to ease that worry for kids, too.

I reached out to our local school food services department. I didn’t have a lot of money, I told them, but… if I wanted to pay it forward, pay down some students’ negative lunch balance, would that be possible? The head of Food Services wrote back almost immediately – yes, yes it would. So, next, I emailed some friends. I had my $20 #GivingCard, and I could certainly chip in some of my own cash – but… what if I wanted to do more?

Immediately, a friend emailed back with an offer for a donation. Then my sister forwarded the email around her office. Now, we were getting somewhere.

Wednesday, I reached out to Facebook. I told them:

I’m collecting funds that will be given to our local schools to pay down student lunch debt for families in need. Families should not have to worry about whether their kiddo has a warm lunch at school… and kids shouldn’t have to worry about it either. I’ve been in touch with the awesome folks at Food Services and they will determine how best to apply whatever funds we can collect.

Donations streamed in. Friends in other states donated – something that I had never in a million years pictured happening. My daughter even chipped in a few dollars of her own money.

Sarah with Visa gift card

I was getting excited counting checks and Paypal donations. Suddenly, this was feeling big.

This morning, with all of our donations tucked into an envelope, my daughters and I went to drop off the donations. The person I wanted to speak to wasn’t there, and that was disappointing. I thought about the time I spent trying to get this right, to make an impact, and I forgot to actually coordinate a time to deliver the funds. Small potatoes, I guess. The staff let me write a note, and I tucked the note and my envelope under a stapler on the manager’s desk.

Our $20 gift card had grown to $330!

High five to my kids as I sent them off to their respective school days. I drove to work, feeling pretty dang good. (Doing good, it feels SO good.)

The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.

The manager emailed me, “We got your funds! I will get this into accounts today and let you know how many families this was able to help.”

Awesome. I was relieved, to be honest, to know that the money was there when she arrived, safely tucked beneath the stapler.

Another hour later, she shared with me that our $330 donation cleared up every negative lunch balance for the middleschool. The Food Services team coordinated with the counseling office to determine the greatest need for funds, and the balance of our donations went to fund the lunch accounts for six students with an extenuating financial need.

All told, we helped 43 families with our donation.

I still can’t even believe it.

I even received another donation tonight, so we can continue to positively impact the families in our school district, and lighten their load.

Our school district posted about it on their Facebook page – which kinda made me feel weird. They referred to our group of donors as an anonymous donor, and I’ve been so cautious of how it makes people feel: every dollar donated matters, and every person who donated was a huge part of what we were able to accomplish. As of this writing, that post has been shared sixty times, and has received over 600 likes. It’s a little mindboggling and I’m glad they didn’t name me (though I so wish they had mentioned how many people had a hand in making this happen).

The reaction has been so favorable, so as weird as I feel, I guess my biggest hope is that someone else sees it and maybe donates some more money to the schools. Or does something to bring about kindness in their own way, somehow.

Maybe somehow we can keep this cycle of good stuff going.

As for me, this reinforces what I already knew: this is the kind of work I am meant to be doing. I feel so fulfilled by knowing that through the work we did, so many families were helped. Every donation that came in felt like its own little Christmas morning to me. I haven’t felt this satisfied by any thing I’ve done in a long time.

I’m ridiculously happy.

It started with a gift card. Just twenty bucks. I’m so grateful to Nate and J for allowing me to be a part of this project. I’m grateful for the opportunity, through the Rockstar Community Fund, to find new ways to make an impact on the world.

In case you hadn’t noticed lately, the world is kind of scary. These times feel uncertain and I’ve felt this massive range of emotions since November 8… but I swore that I was going to try to put more positivity in the world, and I tell ya, I’m not always good about doing that… but today we did.

We did it.

High five, people. We just might be okay after all.

Thursday Ten: Is It Over Yet edition

  1. Not going to lie, i’m ready for 2016 to be D-O-N-E. Yeah, it’s been a tough year, but beyond that? I’m just TIRED. So tired. Planning a bit of time off around the holidays and I think I need it.
  2. We’re expecting a bunch of snow today and you all know how I feel about that. We’re a week into December and we haven’t gotten slammed with snow yet so I probably don’t get to complain much – but I’m still not looking forward to it.
  3. I was looking forward to sharing with you guys the awesome stuff in my StrideBox subscription box which I recently signed up for… but according to the USPS website, it’s undeliverable due to an address problem. My first box was super cool – it’s got a lot of great treats for runners, but I’m bummed about this lack of service, and I’m hopeful they can resolve this error soon.
  4. Not that entirely matters – it’s way too dark most of the time for me to go running.
  5. I decided to treat myself to a Christmas present. I drank the KoolAid and bought myself an InstantPot. And since, I’ve been hesitant to take it out of the box or find recipes. I’m afraid I won’t love it like everyone says I will.
  6. Hairspray Live. Underwhelmed.
  7. I’ve been pretty lucky in the school game for my kids. Until now. Pumpkin has a teacher that I’m struggling with and she’s struggling with. I feel frustrated that this person has the ability to influence my daughter negatively about the subject matter she supposedly has the passion for that she chose to teach it.
  8. The Princess had AN AMAZING gym meet last week, earning her first 9.7 on floor – her highest score yet. SHe medaled on all four events and snagged the second place all around award. It was a good day.
  9. Less than three weeks until Christmas.
  10. I’ve now had a cold for nearly two weeks and I super miss being able to breathe through my nose.

Thursday Ten: The Week After edition

  1. I couldn’t write last week. I just couldn’t. There is no way I could wrap my brain around the world enough to make sense of it. A week later, I still don’t know that I can make much sense of anything, but I’m trying. And I’m trying to not be so angry. I’m trying to be productive. I’m…well, I’m trying.
  2. I feel like there’s really no escape from it. It’s too dark for running when I get home from work (and I managed to squish my knee somehow anyway). It’s getting colder. The calendar is crazy busy with so much stuff nearly every day. I need a break, somehow, but there’s none in sight.
  3. I can’t get warm. My hands feel numb. My brain is busy. The shorter days are hard for me. I’ve always felt I was prone to SAD or the winter blahs, but it’s been worse since my stupid retinas got stupider.
  4. That thing where you say you want to be positive and then you whine. Sorry.
  5. Okay. I… guess I can’t really finish this. Here’s a puppy.
    cute puppy

Thursday Ten: The 15K Edition

  1. This past weekend, Chris and I went to Chicago and we ran a 15k and I’ve never done that before in my life and I SURVIVED YOU GUYS! I totally lived to tell about it, but oh my god, if you look at my souvenir race photo, you would see just how rough I was feeling at the end of it. Running is not my prettiest self, but I am so so PROUD of what we accomplished.
  2. My GPS totally screwed up during the run though and it was telling me I was further than I was and it was telling me that I was running faster than I was. Like…significantly faster. And it was a bit of a slap in the face to finish and realize that nope, I’m still slow. The good news is that while I was running, it motivated me to think I was running so fast, so… that helped.
  3. No, I have no idea what the hell I was thinking that I thought that I was actually running like 90 seconds faster per mile than usual. Guess I was giving adrenaline a lot of credit.
  4. My running playlist rocked my socks, though. I threw it on shuffle and started the race with REM’s “The End of the World (As We Know It)” and moved through the Chicago streets singing along to TLC’s “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” went through some weird loopety thing by McCormick Place to Kanye’s “Runaway” – and hit a variety of other songs in between in the 98 minutes I was running. Such a fun list…if I do say so myself.
  5. I’m not sure when I’ll get out to run again but soon I hope. I have visions of getting a half marathon under my belt in 2017… and since that’s just 3.8 more miles than I just did, I think it’s totally doable. I know there’s a 25K in Grand Rapids this spring. I also know that I don’t think I want to run 15 miles.
  6. It’s funny how you hit a goal and then push a little harder to see what else you can do. And uh, I just subscribed to Runner’s World, y’all, so either I’m gonna keep running, or I’m gonna be the most informed couch potato ever.
  7. Wow, so I talked about running for over half of this list. Can y’all believe it? (Pick a half marathon for me. Watch me fly. I can do big things.)
  8. In other news, HOLY BANANAS it’s NOVEMBER. How the heck did that even happen?
  9. Between the Gilmore Girls and Moana, we’ve got a lot to look forward to this month.
  10. How are y’all? Talk to me, goose.