Zen Gardens & Jackie Robinson

Upon picking Audrey up from her Montessori class the other afternoon she told me to please not speak to her just yet as she was going to a peaceful place and could not yet be disturbed. She was using a delicate little rake and forming patterns in pure white sand inside a small wooden box. She used the rake to make zig zags and circles around smooth stones. She later explained to me that she was concentrating on, "finding a happy place in her mind after a stressful recess". Thankfully, her time in the Zen Garden worked.

Today at school pick-up Olivia & Jewel happily bound into the car and announced whom they were "playing" in the second grade's biography project. Jewel is Pocahontas and Olivia---Jackie Robinson-- the first African American Major League baseball player. "He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, went to UCLA & was a big supporter of Martin Luther King Jr.," she explained. "How long have you been studying him?" I asked her wildly impressed. "I just chose him this afternoon," she replied. She will be the President one day.

A dear, dear friend of nearly 20 years wrote today and shared some fabulous insight. She is a mentor to me and Eric in the world of parenting. Mom of 4, sister to 5, foster mom, special needs advocate, teacher, and on & on. She had some amazing wisdom that I believe we can all benefit from. Here is but a glimpse of it...

"We think as moms we are required to always know the right move, and we automatically take the blame when things aren't going smoothly. I remember feeling total SHOCK when I realized that we ALL feel that way...we all think the other moms have it together, and we should, too. But ask ANY mom and they will say the same thing...we all fly by the seat of our pants. And we ALL are guessing. and we ALL are helpless and overwhelmed. These critters don't come with an instruction book, but they EACH come with a whole big set of challenges...ones we have never encountered and have no idea how to fix....It is okay to be guessing. That is all we have. Sometimes we guess right, and sometimes not. Sometimes we have to retreat to our own safety net: working on the computer instead of reading one more children's book, or missing a practice to go for a glass of wine with a friend. You would be doing them a diservice if you always guessed right. Imagine the pressure that would put on them when they are moms!" Amen. And does she totally rock or what? Thanks, B, for the guidance and friendship.

And now I'm off to order a mini Zen Garden. Liv informed me I have to create the outfit for her to wear in the Living History Museum play when she stars as Jackie Robinson!