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Just What We Need
What do the Keigleys NOT need today? New brakes on Kevin’s Tahoe? No. We needed those. And purchased them this afternoon. Groceries? Actually, we do need these. There is neither milk, bread nor bananas in our house currently. How about a new puppy? You’re right! We do NOT NEED a new puppy today. But guess what we picked up and carried home this very afternoon? Yes. A new puppy. A beautiful twelve week old chocolate lab puppy. Magnus. (Middle name yet to be determined, although it must contain a reference to The Beatles, as all of our other domestic pet names have.) It was free, after all. And registered. A…
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Oh Virginia!
After each bathroom break and after every question of “When will we be there?” you begin to question whether the drive is worth the effort. But then you pull in the farm’s driveway. The air is sweeter. The trees are shadier. The breeze is breezier. Yeah, it’s worth every squabble over a crayon, every fast food meal indigestion, every mile and every hour on the road.
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Last Night
This photograph was taken last night at 10:22 p.m. Wilder was crying. Bergen popped out of his room (note the time again, please) to see what the dishwasher was doing and to offer his four year old assistance. The cell phone was beeping to let me know a text was arriving. The oven timer was screeching telling me the blueberry muffins were ready. All of the laundry in our home was clean in anticipation of our Virginia journey. (Please acknowledge with me the miracle that this feat is.) There was not even one dirty towel to soak up this mess. I think using clean towels and having to do another…
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Wishes
Mosely came running in from playing outside. She approached her older sister cautiously. “Riley, do wishes really come true?” Riley hesitated and glanced in my direction. I just smiled and figured I would let her handle this one on her own. “Well, Mosely. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t,” Riley ventured diplomatically. “What did you wish for?” Mosely looked skeptical. “If I tell you my wish, then it definitely won’t come true.” “Actually Mosely,” Riley said, “Sometimes when you tell someone your wish, it can actually come true. Like if you tell Mom and Dad your wish, it might come true.” Smart kids. Sometimes wishes come true. Sometimes they don’t.…
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A Rose By Any Other Name . . .
Is it really true? Does one thing become another thing if we use a different word to describe that thing? (That sounds complicated.) Because here’s a word I would rename. Prison. I’m thinking about calling it by another name. I’m thinking about calling it . . . vacation. Yeah. Vacation. Three meals a day. Not prepared in any way by my own hands. And if I am really contrary, those meals will be carried to me in a private, quiet room where I sit alone on the only piece of furniture available. A bed. Time set aside with regular consistency each and every day to exercise. And a facility in…
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Give Me A New Law
While helping Bergen get dressed one recent morning, I experienced a momentary lack of sanity. I asked this four year old boy, “What do you want to wear?” Well, Hawkeye wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to wear, but he had a pretty good handle on what he did not want to wear. The conversation went almost just like this . . . “How about this shirt, son?” “Ummm, too many buttons. “ “What about this one?” “Too big.” We finally picked a shirt that was neither too big nor featuring too many buttons. On to the shorts. (I was already in this deep, I just kept right on digging…
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Read This Book
Turn My Mourning Into Dancing by Henri Nouwen I’m thinking about buying this book in bulk and handing it on the street corners. Seriously. It’s that good. (At least, it’s that good to me right now. And I know books are like that. They seem like miniature miracles when the words hit you when you most need them. ) This book is about suffering. And hope. It is about pain. And grief. And grace. And it is about seeing God in the suffering. Nouwen says, “We do not nurse the illusion that we can hopscotch our way through difficulties. For by trying to hide parts of our story from God’s…
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Wee Little Finnian Facts
Tonight, even as I type this, Piper Finnian is sleeping in her big girl bed. A bed without walls. A bed that does not mandate containment, but merely suggests containment. Wait, did I type “sleeping”? She is not sleeping. At last check, her lights were on. I have corrected that situation and now we will proceed to see how the night breaks down. In other Piper news, she learned a trick from her friends Mandy and Jody. And it’s really cute. She lies down somewhere, anywhere, puts her hands behind her head and says in an exaggerated sigh, “Lax”. (Which means “relax” you know.) Oh and she can also drink…
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What You Want
One morning recently London approached me and out of the blue stated, “Mom, God just doesn’t do what you want.” What? “What do you mean?” I asked. “Well, last night I prayed for God to shut the door and I waited and He just never did it.” I didn’t laugh. Because I didn’t think it was funny. I thought she was right. Sometimes God just doesn’t do what we want. Period. I didn’t try to convince London that God does do just what we ask. Because I don’t think that’s true. And she is young, not dumb. I didn’t try to explain that her demand was illogical. Because to her,…
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She Said
A few years ago our family discovered a little product known as a buff. Since the buff’s introduction into our household, there has probably not been a day that has passed that some Keigley head has not donned one of these head wear miracles. (If you have any questions concerning buffs, ask any of us. Except Wilder. He can’t talk yet.) We should be spokespeople for this product. Really. In fact, in a way, we are. I mean, there’s the whole word of mouth thing, of course. Truly, strangers have frequently stopped me to ask about my head attire and then have actually written the website down. There’s also the…
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The Day For Fathers
First. My Father. When I was a kid I thought my dad had the same super powers that every kid thinks their dad possesses. You know, eyes forever roaming the world that can quickly pinpoint ME hitting my brother across the back with my Cabbage Patch Kid. The Long Arm that could reach all the way into the backseat of the station wagon while driving the death-defying curves of the back roads up the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Disappointed Look when my report card comments revealed the classroom sins I thought I had kept hidden. The Ability to Magically Produce Money out of the air when I really wanted…
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Four Weeks
My Littlest Son, When I discovered that I was pregnant with you, I was . . . . surprised. Not entirely excited. Worried. In shock. I didn’t tell anyone for a long while. Your daddy and I really thought that your big sister Piper was the last little Keigley we would bring forth into this messy world. We were clearly wrong. And then I was so sick. The doctor and Daddy and I thought you wouldn’t survive. Oh, but small one, you are a survivor. And more than that, you decided to thrive. (God decided.) Let me be honest, my little Wilde Fox. Times at our house were not exactly…
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This Boy
This boy was shopping with his family at Hobby Lobby, searching for great Father’s Day gifts for an artistic dad. His sweet, calm, beautiful mother was patiently waiting for several pieces of art work to be framed. This little boy really needed to use the bathroom. Accompanied by his older sister, this young gentleman approached the public restroom facilities. At this particular art and hobby store, the bathroom door was located directly beside the emergency exit door. The little fellow anxiously reached for a door handle. A shockingly loud noise reverberated throughout the entire store. Apparently, this little guy had accidentally tried to open the emergency exit instead of the…
Keep Reading . . .
parenting, continued
you can’t call it a mid-life crisis.
Discipline of Gratitude
