The Accidentally Cool Mom

My husband, friends and strange children often poke fun at me for being a tad overly cautious with my children at play grounds. I always freak out when they climb a ladder and step over a 6 foot deep chasm to get to the slides or do things I don't think they are quite able to do yet. I was even scolded by a five year old girl that I'd never met last year because I was trying to help Katy on to one of the bouncing animal things that was at the park (you know, the things that cause whiplash). I was told by the strange little creature: "Ya know, she does this all the time by herself when her dad brings her to the park!" My thoughts were: "Honey, when something gives you stretch marks, extra skin that has no where to go and ruins your body, you want to make sure you have a good long return on your investment." Instead, I backed off and let Katy do her thing.

This year was no different and we recently had some wonderful snow. I decided to let the kids sled down the hill in our yard where I could stand guard; plus, it was a much smaller hill than the one at the park. Safety is key, i.e. smaller hill=safer hill, right?? Well let me add that it has been quite some time since I have played in the snow; usually, I'm in the house with a baby that is too little to go out in the cold. And before that, I hated the white stuff, so didn't have much use for it (unless snowmobiles are involved, that's different). So, me being ultra-safety-mom, I decided since I was shoveling the driveway anyway, I would take the snow I was shoveling and put it at the end of the hill for a safety barrier/sled stopper so they wouldn't slide into the alley. Yes, you who still play in the snow know what I inadvertently did, don't you? I made the coolest jump ever. The first one slowly slid over it, and from there on out, they were catching air. I was right there to stop them, but was actually quite pleased with myself - my kids were, too. My kids thought that I finally threw all caution into the wind and did something really cool for them. Little did they know the whole thing was an accident, yet, I decided since I was standing a few feet from where they landed it was still safe. My kids thanked me over and over for the cool jump and I eventually lured them into the house to defrost over some hot-cocoa and popcorn. I was relieved that no one got hurt and everyone was happy. The children told Tom how cool I was when he got home from work and he was so proud of me for making the day extra fun for the kids, not to mention the thrill of a bit of danger. Later I confessed to him what I was actually trying to do. He just laughed at me... he knew I was only accidentally cool. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

Regarding Tom Leaving

I have had many people ask me about how I feel about Tom leaving and I must say I have found consolation in this quote:

"When our women fail in courage,
Shall our men be fearless still?"

Thanks, Rose for yet another well timed book. It has brought me much comfort. The army wife part of me is hard to talk about, because I don't want to sound as if I don't support my husband. He was in the military when I met him. Is it easy? In a word: no. But, it has given me much respect for the single parent. I will go into this at another time. In the mean time, be full of courage and fearless!

~Ima

Blog changes

I have removed several posts from my blog for book preparation. Hope that's OK.


On a completely different and personal note, I have a prayer request...

My husband is getting ready to leave for five long months and I am not looking forward to his absence. He will miss all of the children's birthdays, our anniversary and multiple fun summer moments with the his family. I have to support him, and I do, but I am not necessarily looking forward to the time being gone.

My options are only two: mope around and make it a miserable time for me, the children and my husband or... I can make peace with my circumstances, otherwise I will never learn what God wants to teach me through this time. I always learn something from God and grow a little closer to Him during Tom's absences. I will have to embrace my time alone because that is when God wants to speak to me; to reveal things to me that could not be revealed otherwise. I must think of this hard time as a gift.

OK, thanks for letting me vent. I feel better. ;)