Is what these two girls are doing for their dear old mom.

On Monday I had NPR on in the car. It was some guy from the Rolling Stones being interviewed on Fresh Air  (I don’t know their names, so sue me!) It’s which ever one has just come out with a book. Anyway, they were playing excerpts from his music during the interview. When one of the harder core songs came on, Clara said,

“Mommy, I no like it. I no like it”

So, I turned it right off!

Then she made the suggestion,

“Go, go G?”

Which is one of her favorite songs.

A few days later we were in the car again and had NPR on. This time it was Joan Rivers being interviewed. We listened for no more than three minutes when Millie said,

“Mom, why are you listening to this? It is not good. Turn it off”

To which I replied, “You are right, Mills!”

The moral of the story? If you raise your children right, then they will keep YOU honest.

OR

Don’t listen to NPR.

Come in all shapes and sizes.

Sometimes you have a champion living among you and you don’t even know it!

We do!

We have a champion hospital patient.

Behold!

Let me just tell you a little about my day, yesterday.

Middle of this week we decided that we would go ahead with a surgery for Clara to have her clogged tear duct taken care of. Now this is a very straightforward, 2o minute long procedure and when it is all over you just walk right out of the hospital. But this is my baby we’re talking about – and when your baby has to receive anesthetics then we can have a talk about how you might feel. It’s kind of scary.

***Now I am going to gush openly about my two year old child. Some people really find this sort of thing annoying. (Sometimes I find it annoying, so I understand that feeling). If you are such a person than stop reading. My kid was stinking awesome yesterday and I am broadcasting it right here and right now, suckaz! *****

The night before the procedure I explained to Clara that we would be going to the doctors to get her eye fixed, that mommy and daddy would be there and that she would need to be brave but that everything would work out. She listened very carefully and cried a little bit as she processed this information. I held her tightly then said good night.

The next morning, the day of the surgery, she wanted to eat (but was required to fast). Jan explained to her that she couldn’t eat now and would have to wait until after we went to the doctors. She didn’t even cry just said, ‘Alright, Daddy” a few more times that morning she requested a drink of water and told us she was hungry but never cried or even moaned about it. She woke up at 6:00 and didn’t get to eat anything until 11:00. The doctors were impressed that she was so sunny and sweet despite not having eaten anything since 6:30 the night before.

I took Millie to be watched at our friends house (thanks again, Karen!!) and while I was doing that Jan and Clara went to the hospital. As they were leaving the house she asked for me and Jan told her that I would meet them at the hospital. Clara then said, “I get my eye fixed” then stuck her finger in her eye. Bless!

She was angelic in the waiting room, put on her hospital gown without a fight, sat quietly while we waited for her surgery, took the anesthetic perfectly with out a fuss or a cry, woke up from the anesthetic again without a single peep. The nurses and doctors were amazed. They told us over and over that it just wasn’t the norm for a kid to take everything so well.

When she woke up the first thing she said to me was, “I go park?”

If she had cried and screamed that would have also been fine- she would still be a champ in my book. But as a parent sometimes your kids surprise you with their ability to handle difficult situations and you get a tiny glimpse of who they are and what they are capable of — usually you see that they are so much more than you know and understand.

You better believe we are hitting the park today!

Thank you to our family and friends who were praying for us yesterday — I am praising my child up and down but it just struck me that your prayers may have had a lot to do with her wonderful ability to cope so well. After she woke up and I held her in my arms, as my fears were melting away, I said a prayer of thanks and marveled at just how beautifully everything had gone. Thank you for your faith and for exercising it in our behalf. We really and truly appreciate it!

If you feel like being inspired, have an hour and 16 minutes to spare and can endure a few “f” words then check out:

In Compton CA two tenacious teachers, 25 students with NO BUDGET put on “Our Town” in their high school cafeteria. The last time the high school mounted a dramatic production was 21 years ago. You can feel how awesome it is going to be, right?

I love this play. And I love that it meant something to these kids and their community. I don’t want to give anything away but want to say that there is something so powerful about taking the classics into the inner city — I think it is when they most SHINE. As if truth is being handed a mega-phone.

You will love these kids.

I remember hearing a program on NPR where a group of inner city high schoolers were putting on Hamlet and they played a segment of the “to be or not to be” speech. It made me weep. This boy understood Hamlet better than most fancy actors I have seen in the part. His life demanded that he ask that question daily and hourly…to be or not to be.

Good stuff, this!

You can stream OT: Our Town on Netflix.

I am the author of this blog.

Sometimes I actually post!

I know, it’s shocking!!

Hold onto your socks because I am about to post it up around these parts.

On Saturday we went to a park, “And it went a little something like this,

HIT IT!”

“My name is tum-tum, yes! My name is tum-tum, yes! And I’m here for the holiday season!”

(Inside Kelly family joke — couldn’t resist)

Actually, it went a little something like this…

It ticked many of the boxes on our “perfect fall check list”:

coats, bringing back the layered look (check)

crisp fall weather (check)

gorgeous foliage (check)

rosy cheeked daughters (check)

good. times.

(you might be asking, what was missing? I shall tell you — a mug of hot chocolate and a log on the fire when we got home)

Fall is still young and so, fear not — the chocolate and fire will be had!