Dorothy Hamill rides again!

I've gotten so smart in my old age! Let me tell you why...

The best haircut I ever had was a Dorothy Hamill wedge. Remember Dorothy Hamill? Skater? Cute as a bug with a wonderful flippy smooth haircut. Everyone wanted one, and I got one. (This is dating me, yes, I know.) My hair was perfect for that cut and I loved it.

Several years ago I decided to try it again. I sat down in the chair and told the hairdresser I wanted a Dorothy Hamill wedge. She said, "Who's Dorothy Hamill?" I said, "Never mind." How embarrassing.

I've gotten smart, however, as I mentioned earlier. I went to the salon, told the stylist what I wanted. I explained how the back should look, how long the sides were to be, the length of the top layers in relation to the bottom layers. About 45 minutes later,Voila! I had a Dorothy Hamill wedge. And guess what. It still works for me.

I am so cute I can hardly stand it. And when you're 43 these moments are few and far between so I'll take them when I can. And don't tell me I look like a dork from the 70s. Let me enjoy it a little longer.

Killing Time

Got a new computer - a laptop, or a notebook, as they're calling them now. Now I don't have to run to the basement every time I get a marvelous thought or need to check my email. Do you think I'll be more productive and spend more of my life doing things that count, now that I am more organized? I think not!!!

I spend more time than ever, since it's so easily accessible. I am reassured, however, by remembering what it's like with my son. The new toy he just HAD to have will occupy all his time for a couple of weeks, and then will be abandoned in favor of some other item that he just HAD to have. I figure I'll wear out the new on this soon, and can get back to real life.

I'll have to rename my blog though, since I'm not in the basement anymore. "At the Kitchen Table"? "Upstairs"? Hmm. Gonna have to work on that. How about "Get your nose out of that stupid screen and do something real!!!" That does have a nice ring to it.....

Au Natural

Yesterday dear son was playing with the digital camera while I sat at the computer. I heard "Smile, Mom!" and turned in time for him to snap my less than elegant expression. I made the mistake of looking at the picture.

In the flattering lighting of computer monitor and desk lamp, I was jaundiced, windburned and spotty. When did I buy that turtleneck? Wait, that's MY neck!! Good heavens, when did the elastic on my body poop out like that?

Why is it that when you go barefaced in your 20s you look fresh-scrubbed and dewy, and if you try it in your forties, you look like a pair of chinos left in the dryer too long? Now that I finally have the chuzpah and self esteem to venture out in public without full-battle makeup and hair, it turns out not to be such a good choice. Why is it then when you finally come to terms with the body God gave you, you realize you really liked better the one He gave you earlier on?

There really is no justice here. And it's time to exfoliate. My, life gets complicated.

A Different Channel

After an episode of defiance and general naughtiness, D. was punished with "no screen" for all of today. That means no TV, computer or video games. He thought he'd be miserable all day with NOTHING TO DO!!!!

So far today he has scooped the algae out of the pond, dug up a dead fish to see how it was decomposing, made a ransom note out of letters clipped from a magazine, created characters from his tangram pieces, taken his bike apart, drawn cartoons, jumped on the trampoline, fed and watered the dogs, and put away his tent.

Poor baby.

Ready for Fall

I don't know if it's the cool weather or the shorter days, or just what, but I am suddenly full of ideas and energy and plans for organizing my life and everything in it. A whole summer has gone by in which I did little more than eat and read and sit, and now I'm raring to go. What is up with that?

Although I have SAD in the winter, I seem to get energized in the fall. Is anyone else like that, or am I just a weirdo with a 2 month window of time to feel great?

The Theory of Evolution and Observable Change in Animals

The theory of evolution, simply put, suggests that very simple life arose spontaneously from components in the ocean. These simple life forms got more complex and better suited to life in response to pressure from the environment. That means, the tough survive and reproduce, the weak die out. The characteristics of the population change over time in this way. Then, through spontaneous mutations, new forms arose, and they were even better suited to the environment, and they out-ate, out-bred and out-lived the others, who died out.

Some of this does happen. In England a certain type of moth that was dark gray, hung out on the sooty surfaces of stone buildings. The birds couldn’t see them, so they were safe. The poor moth who was unlucky enough to be born white got gobbled up, and obviously didn’t reproduce and pass on its DNA. Soon they were all gray. Then, London cleaned up its act. The smokestacks stopped belching smoke, the buildings got cleaned up, and uh oh! the gray moths were very visible against the light colored buildings. Then the white moths had a better chance of surviving, and soon the entire population was white!

So, animal populations do change in response to their environment. But, the animals themselves don’t change. If I spend all day reaching for things on high shelves, I won’t grow longer arms. If, however, the only food available to my family is up on the top shelf, then the only family members that will survive are the tall ones! The tall ones marry tall ones and have tall children.

So what’s the problem with evolution? Sounds like it should work. Here’s the rub. Although animal and plants have changed over time (and there are lots of undeniable examples) nobody has any evidence of one animal becoming another, or one species changing into a completely different one. And that would certainly be necessary for humans to arise from protoplasm! Lots of animals seem to be connected by a similar ancestor, but just because two things look alike doesn’t mean they are relatives! There simply are too many gaps in what is called the fossil record, a supposed timeline of evolution. We don’t find a whole series of fossils showing one animal changing into another. Instead we see animals appearing in the record completely formed and ideally suited to their environment! Wow! Sounds like what would happen if a Creator was making them!

And Then You Die - A Cautionary Tale

When my son was in the Toddlers in church, he had a contemporary, also a strong-willed child. I came up to the door of the Sunday School room to hear this conversation between the little boy and his mother.
“Why can’t I climb on the railings?”
“Because you’ll fall.”
“And then what?”
“Then you’ll get hurt.”
“Then what?”
“You’ll have to go to the hospital.”
“Then what?” he asked again.
“You’ll have to have shots and stitches and casts.”
“And then what?”
His mother sighed. “And then you die.”
She must have caught my quizzical look, for she turned to me and explained. No explanation of the possible consequences of any behavior seemed to be dire enough for her son. As long as it fell short of terminal, it could possibly be alright to try. Only the phrase “And then you die,” seemed to be final and dire enough.

Strong-willed kids are risk takers. It is not enough for them to be told something is dangerous or ill-advised. Oh, no, they really must find out for themselves. After all, you couldn’t possibly be telling them the truth. There are more ways to get hurt than you have outlined for them. That is more than half the appeal, anyway! As James Dobson so aptly put it in his book Bringing Up Boys, “Boys…are slower to learn from calamities. They tend to think their injuries were caused by “bad luck”. Maybe their luck will be better next time. Besides, scars are cool.” (p.4)

My suggestion is this; tell them they’ll die. No, not really. But with a strong-willed kid really is calculating the cost into the “try it” equation, and most likely will try it. You as a parent can be a ready source of information about just how costly it will be. Give them the worst case scenario. When it happens, they can’t blame you for not warning them!