All and sundry

PINEWOOD DERBY
The last two years I missed Morgan's Pinewood derbies at pack meeting. This year I realized why. First of all, it is heartbreaking. You watch these little boys who put their little boy might into building their dream car (or if you're Morgan, the night before you and your dad scramble to cut and paint the car and then 20 minutes before checkin, your dad and mom try to pound in the tires without breaking off the nose of your wedge "Lightening Attack"). They sit at the end of the track, eyes all hopeful. "Maybe this year... maybe this year... please, this year.... " The cars come careening down the track. There can only be one winner. The hope in their eyes dies and they try to be good sports and be big. Sadness. It breaks my heart.
The second reason is that in order for Dan and us to both go, we have to take ALL the kids. Talk about a good time had by all. I really wish someone could teach me how to not micromanage. Teach me how to let my children run amok and not worry that I might never see them again because they could wander out an open door and into the street. I think I wouldn't get so upset with them (and their dad who frequently loses focus) if I didn't worry so much. We all might enjoy ourselves then.
ALISON'S HAIRCUT
I made muffins the other day and Alison licked the bowl. Stuck her head in and got every last lick. Of course, this made her hair all sticky and gross. After we took Sophie to school, I was taking some "quality time" with the computer and failed to notice that Alison quietly cutting paper in the corner had turned into Alison quietly cutting the crusty mess out of her hair. She had a nice little pile of fluffy blonde on the floor. Yvette said it was hardly noticeable, but I could see the mullet. I had her cut the back up and layer it a little to give it less of a cringe factor.
MALYNN IN LOVE
Malynn has decided she's in love with James, because as she says, "He's hot!" Are you as frightened as I am?! I asked her how she shows him she's in love with him. "Well, people do crazy things when they're in love." Can you guess her current favorite Disney movie? She takes my Disney Princess piano book to school and carries it around singing "I Won't Say I'm in Love". So far, her infatuation has kept itself to the chasing and spying routine. We've discussed proper crush etiquette, with the number one rule being "Never let him know". I've left out the rest: "but give him every chance to suspect and act on it." I also haven't taught her to find out his class schedule and lurk outside of his classrooms. Or how to laugh loudly when he's around. Or how to wear perfume on the inside of your knees and walk by repeatedly. Or how to watch him open his locker so you know his combination so you can stick cryptic things in there. Oh, the list is endless and of course, I NEVER did any of them. I only read books...... yeah, books......
SOPHIE RUNNING AWAY
The rest of the kids haven't gone through a running away phase. At two, Sophie determined she was going to run away because I wouldn't let her have her way while we were in the culdesac. I turned my back on her and looked up to see her turning the corner out of the culdesac. She was on her way to Blueberry Muffin's house where she would be treated better. On Saturday, she decided life wasn't worth living in the Williams house if she didn't get to watch Scooby Doo. She came to me and told me that she was running away. We had a conversation about who would take care of her, feed her, buy her skirts and dresses and nightgowns, and make sure she got to school. She guessed I could come with her. But we can't leave Heidi. No, we can't leave Heidi. What about Ally? Okay, Ally could come too. But NO Morgan, Malynn or Dan. Fortunately for her I am not in the business of single motherhood and I'm rather fond of Dan. And while they drive me to the ultimate edge of sanity, I couldn't live without Morgan and Malynn.
We all wish we could run away at some point or another, but hopefully all of us come to the conclusion that there is no where to go. Not really. We can leave, but life is meant to be hard and it is. Leaving doesn't change that. It always bugs me when people say that we will never be given anything we can't handle. Read the rest of that scriptural reference and it says something like "in the Lord." There are a lot of people who can't handle life. Why else would drugs, pornography, alcohol, and all the other vices be so prevelent? We weren't meant to "handle" life. We were meant to be humbled and turn to the Savior. While I understand the concept, my natural man is still all for running away. Someday I'll listen to the voice inside my head that reminds me where and how I need to be.