Saturday, April 30, 2011

Slides

Remember Sabrina crying because she didn't want to go down the slide? Remember? I bribed her with candy to go down? (By the way, Marilyn says it's a reward if it's for them, a bribe if it's for you. So, this was a reward. A bribe would be candy for being quiet in Sacrament meeting. I've never done that. Ever.) Anyway, at Spencer's soccer game today, Sabrina wandered over to the playground and went down the slide. Repeatedly. Over and over. Perverse child.

She then went to the top of the big slide and looked down it, then went away. About five minutes later she came back and went down. It was a little fast for her, so she ended up sitting on the ground looking a little startled, but then Zane and I, who she did not know was watching, started cheering and clapping loudly. Once she realized she was so fabulous, she started jumping up and down and clapping and smiling and laughing. Adorable child.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sleeeeeep

Sasha has been waking up screaming for an hour lately, when he's not sleeping through the night. That's our two options: sleep through the night or scream for an hour. Last night he slept all night!

BUT: the dreaded door creak happened at 2:00. Suddenly, without my being aware of it, Sabrina was snuggled next to me. This is so dang cute in theory and so dang tiring in reality that it's always hard to solve. So, for about a half hour I did nothing except enjoy her little self. Then the squished-ness, wiggling, and turning overwhelmed the cuteness of it, so I took her back to bed, where she demanded a song, got a few whispered stanzas, and went to sleep.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Likening the Scriptures

Let's say, in 1977, you disagreed with the Priesthood ban. You thought Blacks should be ordained to the Priesthood. Were you right or wrong? As I see it, from the perspective of 2011, there are three options:

1. You are right, because the Priesthood ban was "the wisdom of man," specifically racist man of the 19th century.
2. You are right, because God Himself said so a year later.
3. You are wrong because the time isn't right yet, and God will do all things in his time, not yours. This means you'd be wrong to believe in the Priesthood ban after 1978.

I'm not going to judge between these answers, because I think good, believing Mormons can go with any of these three. I think it would be pretty harsh, though, to just say "You're wrong," since President Kimball himself was not all that jazzed about the ban.

Okay. So, if you disagree with the Priesthood ban in 1977, what are your options? You can:
1. leave the church.
2. bury your feelings and live with the cognitive dissonance.
3. speak loudly and often about how wrong the church is.
4. pray. You can pray to understand the ban, or for God and His leaders to change it. Or both.

I think for most Mormons, the obvious "right" answer is #4. You pray. That's what President Kimball did, too. He prayed a lot for God to change the ban. And his prayers were answered pretty definitively in 1978, when the ban was rescinded and all worthy males were allowed to hold the Priesthood. I think it's important, though, that there were many Saints praying for the end of the ban, not just the Prophet.

Here's the "likening" part. If you don't like that women don't pray in General Conference, or *gasp* don't have the Priesthood, or some other thing in the church, you may be wrong. I think God will let you know. Or, our descendants or future selves may go back to my first three points at the beginning of this post. Maybe we're only wrong from our time-bound perspective, one which God does not share, or maybe we're right. So, whatcha gonna do? Leave the church? Speak up loudly and apostately? Speak up quietly and lovingly? Pray? Honestly, I don't think anything is going to change until we, as a church, are ready. So, if you think something needs to change, go back to the Primary answers. Pray, and see what God tells you.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Being Prepared

Mom used to work with a woman named Kitty. Kitty was always prepared. Going to see Haley's comet? She had hot chocolate. A softball game in June? She had a blanket in the car. I always wanted to be like Kitty. But I am not.

Sabrina, Sasha, and I went to the park on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day, and we'd only be gone an hour. They had coats and blankets, but I didn't want to take the diaper bag, because we were walking (or riding in a stroller, depending on our ages and ability to walk) and it's a pain to take everything. You know where this is headed, don't you?

Blowout. Back, legs. Practically as soon as we got there. I know Kitty, and I'm no Kitty.

We had fun anyway. Sabrina was terrified of the swings (even though she liked them a year ago, that's a third of her life ago) and of the slide. But I told her she could have candy if she went down the slide alone, so she did. Anything for sugar! Sasha liked the swing, though.




Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Cool Kids

I was thinking about "the cool kids" the other day. All right, it was while talking to Karen. I think it's hard to be a teenager, and everyone has it rough. But in my experience as a teacher (and therefore with a better perspective from when I was a teenager myself), cool kids aren't quite as self-assured as the non-cool kids think. They have more drama, get into drugs and sex more quickly than their regular-kid counterparts, and cry more in the counselor's office.

Naturally, I'm not saying all cool kids are druggies. It's just that teenagers tend to look up to, admire, and want to be liked by the popular kids, but everyone has problems, and very few teens are comfortable with themselves. Even the cool ones. I wish everyone could know that when they're wishing they could be different from what they are.

Apparently I'm feeling philosophical. Enjoy.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

7 months!


Sasha is 7 months old. I think I had Sabrina a lot longer when she was 7 months than I've had Sasha. Regardless, he is extremely advanced. He can now crawl, although not very quickly. Pretty soon he's going to be unstoppable! He also claps, in a sort of one-handed way, and can feed himself baby cereal bits.

With Sabrina, I was so excited to give her "real" food. That was before I realized how messy and inconvenient it was. When she was only 5 months I was already eagerly spooning rice cereal down her somewhat unwilling throat. Sasha, though, has been ready for food since 5 months, but I've only recently summoned the courage and energy to do it. He really, really is happier with food though. He will happily sit for 20 minutes eating his baby candy while I eat my food and feed Sabrina, because she likes to be a "baby" and have me feed her. She's even shown interest in, how do I put this, eating like Sasha. If you get my meaning.

In a few minutes Sasha will wake up from his nap, and doubtless amaze the world with his continued progress. Meanwhile, I will try to get Sabrina to stop regressing and feed herself. The life of a mom.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Things I don't have a testimony about

Here is what I don't have a testimony about.

Women are more spiritual than men.
Women are better nurturers than men.
Men are better leaders than women.
Men are worse than women and should be castigated in GC.
Women are better than women and should only be praised and put on a pedestal in GC.
Not wanting to be bishop is a good reason for women to not have the priesthood or be in real leadership positions. (Anyone who wants to be bishop is a psycho and probably wouldn't be a good one, for one thing.)
Women should not pray in General Conference.
Women should not be in the Sunday School Presidency on any level.
Women should not be the finance clerk for the ward.
Bishops should be able to override a Relief Society President's choice for counselors. (YW and YM Presidents'? SS President's? SUre. RS President, HP Group Leader, EQ? no. Make suggestions or discuss? Yes.)

These things that I lack a testimony of have no bearing on my testimony of the GOSPEL. And I don't think they should. I'm just so sick of some of the cultural...stuff...in the church.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Lunch and other fun.

Yesterday, Dad made the drive to Ogden to go to lunch with his grandkids. Oh, and me. We went to Applebee's, also known as Appbees. I will tell you, it is not easy to go out to eat at naptime with an almost 7-month-old (wow! It goes by SO MUCH FASTER with your subsequent kids!) and any time with a girl who is "two anna HALF." Sasha needed to be fed and go to sleep, of which he only got half. Sabrina needed to climb on Dad, talk to the people at the table next to ours to tell them she is two anna HALF and that her name is Brina and a lot of other semi-unintelligible comments. And, of course, as soon as Dad was holding Sasha, "Papa, hol me?" Fortunately, Sabrina is so cute doing all these things all we can do is dote on her.

The other fun I had was last night. Zane woke up in the middle of the night screaming profanities because bugs were eating the box. The box. The, what's it called? The box. The FILING CABINET. It was somewhat amusing even when I had just been wakened from a deep sleep, but it was even funnier in the morning when we could both laugh about it. Actually, we were both pretty hysterical about it. I really like that Zane can laugh about himself, 'cause this was freakin' hilarious.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Measles?!

There is measles in Utah. Probably at least 10 cases, and likely more to come. You know the common thread between all cases? THE KIDS WERE NOT VACCINATED!! WHAT A SURPRISE! I'm sorry, but not immunizing your kids, at least by the time they are in school, is just irresponsible and freeloading. And it puts Sasha at risk, because he's not immunizable age. Yeah, HE probably won't die of measles, but he'll be plenty miserable, which will make ME miserable, besides having to quarrantine myself for TWENTY-ONE DAYS so the non-immunized freeloaders don't get it! Plus those immunosuppressed kids who could DIE if they get measles.

I'm sorry, but if your kids are 5 or older, get it done!

Now my rant is over. For now. You can tell it was a bad one because of all the caps.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Modoc: a review

For our sisters book club, we are reading "Modoc: the greatest elephant in the world." Or some subtitle to that effect. Anyway, I have some thoughts I thought I'd share while it's fresh in my mind.

First of all, this really was an amazing elephant. Besides saving the lives of almost 30 shipwrecked people, helping people out of a burning circus tent (I kid you not), working as a teak elephant, being taken captive by communist soldiers, getting lost-and-then-found in true Black Beauty style, and dying just after her life-long trainer, she was also a movie star. I cried. I was so gladit was a happy ending.

All of that said, what fun is a review without some complaints?

My sister-in-law Victoria has taken to editing her books--sharpie-ing swear words, etc. I find this distracting, because I keep trying to figure out what badword works there. HOWEVER: I'm on her side in this one. She said she ripped out one whole page because it describes elephants breeding. This sentence is true in the same way "Playboy shows people having sex" is true. It does not tell the whole story. Do I want to hear the length of an elephant's EDITED or how he EDITED the female elephant? No, I do not. I don't find human porn appealing, so think how much less I want to read elephant porn. And honestly? Unnecessary to the story, which is a great sin. Elephant sex just for elephant sex? No, thank you.

Also, I have the same problem with almost all books of someone's whole life. You either skim everything or leave a lot out. Some things got skimmed in this book and others got left out. This is not the fault of the book, it's just what happens. But we get a really good story, which abruptly ends and five years go by in a sentence. I prefer books to go into detail about one event, but that's tough in a true story.

Sometimes I couldn't tell if something was a flashback, or was a vision, or was a dream, or we had skipped ahead...Maybe I shouldn't have tried to read it late at night. Additionally, I wanted more real information. Give me a map of where Modoc lived, in what country she was a teak elephant, what years she lived, and so on. I wanted to be able to tie the story to the real world more effectively.

Modoc. She was quite an elephant. Even though I have some issues with the , I sure can see why she was a worthy subject for one. I think I'll look her up when I made the Great Cross-Over.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Gray, Gray Days

In Eden, the Garden of, there were never this many gray days in a row. In Eden, UT, I feel I have not seen the sun in days. As in, a thousand years is as a day to God. That kind of days. Oh, March teased us with 60 degree weather, but it's back to snowing yesterday and today. WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING?

All joking aside, I really need some sun. We're above/away from the inversion up here so we didn't have the horrible yellow days where you practically have to wade through the air, but it's been a long, gray, cold winter. I wish for global warming and glorious, glorious summer days. Please remind me of this when I write my blog this summer on not being able to sleep because it's so hot. Right now it seems like a fair trade.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

When will it end?


Last night I got to bed about 11 since Zane had a late soccer game and I had to give him a play-by-play of the RSL game when he got home. (That's Real Salt Lake, the soccer team. They're in the CONCACAF championships, and just advanced to the final round, the first US team to ever do so. In other words, we are awesome.) At 12:30, Sasha woke up. At 1:30, Sabrina appeared in my bed and took a lot of doing to get back to sleep. In fact, she finally agreed to let go of my hand when I suggested she sleep on the floor in my room instead of in her bed. At 3, Sasha was up again. And also at 6:30. Today, I was not very happy.

I was talking to my sil Victoria this afternoon about the problems our kids will or might face, like bullies and sexual abuse and gangs in schools and teachers who don't like them and difficulties with grades...and I wondered, are these the good ol' days? The days I don't get enough sleep because the kids are home, instead of the days I won't get enough sleep because I'm waiting for them to come home?

Sometimes people say they wish they could be a baby again since all they do is eat and sleep, or a kid because they don't have to worry about earning a living, or whatever. (Of course, no one ever wants to be a teenager again, unless they peaked too early and their best days were in high school. Those are some sad specimens.) The problem, of course, is that babies don't really have it any easier than the rest of us. Sasha has only been breathing, pooping, and seeing things for six months. That's a lot of work if you've never done it before! We are all faced with developmentally appropriate challenges, which means that once we've mastered pooping or fractions or whatever we don't think they are real challenges anymore. But they are, to the people who are only just now getting to them.

How does this all tie together? Well, the grass is always greener, for one thing. Right now I long for the days of worrying if Sabrina gets a 1590 on the SAT. But when she and Sasha and possibly other future babies are teenagers, I may think I never had it so good as when I had only two kids who were both safely in their crib/Dora bedtent at night. Also, I think both kids and parents go through development together. I guess right now I just have to deal with the developmental stages of my kids, and try to enjoy them as best I can. Even on what feels like 90 nonconsecutive minutes of sleep.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Sealing

Today I got to go to a first: a sealing of an already-married couple, my friend Jared and his wife Amanda. They also got their son, Paul, sealed to them. Here are some thoughts:

1. Yay for eternal marriage! How great to be together forever!

2. There is no way Sabrina would have put her hand on mine and Zane's for the 20 or so seconds it would take for the sealing of her to us. Especially with all those strangers around! No, she would say "no" and pull away and want to be held. There is something, after all, about a 4-year-old instead of a 2-year-old. Paul did a great job of getting sealed and being the subject of about a million pictures afterward.

3. Most of the people there were relatives of the bride, a few relatives of the groom, me, and (surprise!) a friend of mine, John, that I have barely seen since high school. But we have known each other since we were six, were in the same ward and schools, and hung out a lot. So, as the only non-family memebers and since almost everyone else was, for lack of a better term, old, we spent the whole time catching up. It was funny how the years didn't matter. We were just Molly and John.

4. Sometimes, just being Molly and John was a bad thing, because I think I, at least, reverted a little to 17-year-old Molly. As the sealer droned on just a wee bit, my mind drifted to some of the inside jokes we had. If you don't remember, inside jokes of 17-year-olds tend to be, well, not really temple appropriate. This did not keep me from giggling silently before focusing my attention on the chandelier and forcing my mind back to holy things. Fortunately, that became easy once the ceremony really started.

So, congratuations Jared and Amanda! I'm really happy for you.