3 Coins in My Violet Fountain

Thanks to Misguided Mommy for the challenge...

My darling, I believe there is almost nothing you will not be able to achieve on your own. You are independent and strong, and I cannot wait to see what you do with these qualities. I will do my best not to push you to be an artist, and to encourage you even if you decide to be a mathematician. I hope you make your own choices, and never be influenced by what I think you should be. There are some things, though, that I wish with all my heart you experience.

1. I hope you have girlfriends. Boys do make wonderful friends as well, but there is something about a circle of estrogen that fuels the soul. I feed off their energy, they nourish my soul, and because of this, I can be a better mother and wife. A better person. I hope you find the girls that will help you find yourself.

2. I hope you have heartache. Though this may seem cruel, your life will be incomplete if you never have your heart broken. The pain you will have will tell you that you loved. You loved honestly and completely enough to have your heart ripped out. Hopefully, the girls I mentioned in #1 will help you through this. There is nothing like weeping in to a bowl of ice cream with your girls. And there is nothing like falling in love again after the heartache.

3. I hope you fail, and I hope you do it spectacularly. The only way to appreciate your success is to have it elude you. I hope I will teach you to get up after you fall, and to always ALWAYS give it everything you’ve got. Things are so much sweeter if you have to fight for them.

I love you, my angel baby. I know you will become amazing. I know you will have to hurt to do it. I hope you will always know I will be here with a hug and some cookies to ease the pain. I am already so proud of you.

Million Dollar Baby

I know I promised wedding talk, but I got something else on my mind, ya’ll.

Ash has been having trouble with her daughter’s kindergarten bully. She is struggling with what to tell her daughter to do when someone is mean to her. This is making me think of my own daughter.

When Violet moved up to the toddler room, there was a little boy who kept biting her, ramming toys into her, and trying to pull off her pants. I know this is normal toddler behavior, but it still made me mad.

Violet bit him back. Hard.

She got written up, and received a lecture about being nice to others.
But you know what? I am proud of her.

I don’t want my daughter to be mean. I don’t want her to lash out for no reason. But if someone attacks her physically or emotionally, I want her to fight back. I want her to know she is strong and does not have to put up with abuse.

An alarming and unacceptable amount of my girlfriends have been in abusive relationships. This is not right. We need to be teaching our daughters that they are too good, too lovely, and too precious to withstand punishment. I don’t want my daughter to be stuck in a job where she is taken advantage of, like I am. Or in a relationship where she is made to believe she deserves abuse, like my best friend was.

Kick, Violet. Kick, scream, bite, punch, demolish.

I can handle a few detentions.

Back in the Saddle, or What I Did On My Wedding Vacation

That is right, precious readers, I am back with a new last name, a slight tan, and an extra 8 pounds. WooHoo Florida!

Coming back from my wedding, I realize I am in love.

Hmmm? With Jason? Well, yeah, but that is not what I meant. I am married now. No more of that romantic crap.

I am in love with gorgeous beaches containing sand as fine as baker’s sugar and water so salty you shouldn’t have to season any of the creatures that come out of it.

I am in love with my sisters and mother who basically cared for my daughter for two weeks to let me have a vacation. And also still made her sign “please” whenever she wanted something.

I am in love with said daughter, who ran around in as little clothes as possible, knocked down every sand castle, and was basically the cutest thing you have ever seen.

I am in love with discount stores, like TJ Maxx, where I got a full set of designer bedding, new down-alternative duvet included, for less than $150. We have no such creatures here in the frozen tundra.

I am in love with the Seattle airport, where they have a room just for toddlers, with big, rubbery toys to climb all over during 4 hour layovers between 5 hour flights. And also a fabulous food court.

I am in love with all the people at my wedding who took tons of pictures because our camera broke two days before the wedding, and we didn’t want a professional photographer. I will love them even more if they remember to send them to me.

And I guess I am in love with Jason, too, who wore a straw cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses the whole trip; who did not question the mountains of bags brought home from shopping trips with my sisters; who never failed to pick up a check; who wrote his vows to include lyrics from the BeeGees and Dido, chose Peter Gabriel for our wedding song, and cried during the father daughter dance.


Next time: Things I Don’t Love, or What To Do When Black Flies Will Not Stop Biting Your Ankles During Your Wedding Ceremony.