I was tagged by Quirky Mom with the Letter L If you are interested in your own letter leave me a comment.
Ten things:
L is for:
Love: The most important of all things. I don’t think I really knew Love until I had my daughter Holly. I of course Love my Family and My Husband, but the Love of a Child so unconditional, so forgiving, if someone tried to explain it to me before having Holly I would have thought that I knew what they meant, but it is only after her that I truly know. After having Holly I told my mom, now I understand just how much you love me. It is a love like no other.
Laughter: Is a healer of all things. Just when I think I may be at the end of my rope on no sleep and feeling sick and weary and grumpy Holly will do something so silly or cute that I just have to laugh and it makes everything else go away. I think it might have something to do with that first L word J but also Joel makes me laugh, he can’t help it and he loves when I laugh, it is apparently easy to do and I can never stay mad at him because he will say or do something goofy and make me laugh.
Lucky: Is how I feel now that I have Holly. I realize that there may be challenges ahead and there will be delays and life won’t always be as easy as it is for other people, but Holly is a blessing and I feel so lucky to have her, and well I think she is doing so far much better then feared and I feel lucky with each new development she makes and grateful that she is such a wonderful child. I also feel lucky for having Joel the most amazing husband, I have only learned to appreciate him more since Holly was born and I think she has brought us even closer together which I didn’t think was possible.
Learning: Is a lifetime pursuit. I love to learn so much that I made a career out of education, school, and learning. I have always loved to learn new things whether it is a lecture or a discover magazine. Now I get to learn and discover through the eyes of my child which makes it even more magical. Not only do I get to share in her discovery and awe, but I also get to learn about her, who she is and what makes her tick.
Language: has never seemed so important to me then now. When I was in college I studied Linguistics and Creative Writing, among other things. I was fascinated with the history of language how it evolved and grew. I loved learning about sounds and how they form, accents and regional dialects. I also love the use of language, witty statements and clever dialog. But now I am learning the difference between language and communication. The lack of language can be very frustrating and I am learning how to communicate without it. I am also obsessed with it as I work with Holly on learning to speak and trying to remember back to my college days of diphthongs, bilabial, open vowels - wondering if any of it is useful in helping her little mouth shape the sounds she needs to make words. But mostly I have to remind myself that without language there is still communication, and to appreciate that too.
Lazy: is how I am feeling this week. I am so tired from Holly being sick, and from me being sick, and from her being clingy and needing to lie on mama every moment of the day. Tired after a long day of hard but ever rewarding work not having the energy to clean, keep-up with chores or basically do anything responsible, So right now I am feeling very lazy. I also feel like I should be doing more with Holly. Because my days have been long I let her play independently and sort of zone out watching her, or catch up on blogs and writing posts and checking email, at least when she is not hanging on me or trying to knock down the laptop. I feel like developmentally I should be doing something educational with her every moment of the day, and when she is cranky and grumpy and I am tired and I put on Baby Einstein to give us both a break I feel like I am being lazy. But then again, I am known to be rather hard on myself and need to remember to cut myself some slack every once in a while. She is a very active and attended to baby.
Legends: Are something I grew up on and can’t wait to share with my Daughter. First there are stories about my family and Holly’s ancestors. Also there are fairy tales and ghost stories and legends of mythical places and creatures and beings that fill my imagination. I love imagination and that can be sparked by so many legends. Greek Gods, Water Nymphs, Dragons, and Unicorns, I can’t wait to begin to share these legends with Holly. Well I have already begun telling her some stories, but I look forward to when she is older and we can watch movies and read books like The Tales of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials, The Last Unicorn, or even Harry Potter.
Linger: Is what I tend to do at social gatherings and events. I can’t help myself, but I am often the last one to leave. I tend to linger, I don’t like things to end and I want more. I will linger at the end of a concert and watch as the roadies tear down, I will linger after a Movie and watch the credits until the very end. I will linger after a party because it was over too fast and now that the crowd has thinned there is more time to bond with and chat with the host. I will linger at a Friend’s house after a play date because we have had so much fun and it has been so long since we have gotten together that I don’t want our fun to end. I also linger around the edges, overhearing a conversation that perhaps I can add something useful too, Linger when there is drama because I am curious, and linger at the end of the night because I don’t want to go to bed. Maybe it’s a bad habit, but it’s me.
Left: is the side of the country I live on and pretty much defines much of the city I live in. Perhaps Liberal is a better L word to define this, but I embrace Berkeley and its politics even when at times the notions are even a little left for me. I believe is social justice and paying higher taxes for schools and roads and parks. (from Wikipedia) I thought this was interesting.. and well it fits: In politics, left-wing, leftist, and the Left are terms applied to socially progressive and egalitarian positions. Originally, during the French Revolution, left-wing referred to seating arrangements in parliament; those who sat on the left opposed the monarchy and supported radical reform.
Limbo: Is how I sometimes feel or even “Lost” when it comes to knowing what is best for Holly and what her future will hold. I am so grateful to know her diagnosis up front, but it is frustrating sometimes because it is always there in the back shelf of my mind, will she continue to develop at this rate, will she be able to learn to read and do math, will she be in a mainstream classroom, is college a dream too far to think about, will she one day have a family of her own. Now obviously all those “Big” thoughts aren’t usually right there, it is more like what will potty training be like, when will she say her first word. When will she begin to feed herself? But really I feel like I am in Limbo, because I don’t know what behavior is normal development? What behavior is from Fragile X and what is just nothing at all. Limbo, because I sometimes don’t know if I should be upfront and tell people about her diagnosis, or if it is really not important to mention at all. Limbo because before this I never felt like I was out of control, but that is a feeling I am learning to embrace.
Ten things:
L is for:
Love: The most important of all things. I don’t think I really knew Love until I had my daughter Holly. I of course Love my Family and My Husband, but the Love of a Child so unconditional, so forgiving, if someone tried to explain it to me before having Holly I would have thought that I knew what they meant, but it is only after her that I truly know. After having Holly I told my mom, now I understand just how much you love me. It is a love like no other.
Laughter: Is a healer of all things. Just when I think I may be at the end of my rope on no sleep and feeling sick and weary and grumpy Holly will do something so silly or cute that I just have to laugh and it makes everything else go away. I think it might have something to do with that first L word J but also Joel makes me laugh, he can’t help it and he loves when I laugh, it is apparently easy to do and I can never stay mad at him because he will say or do something goofy and make me laugh.
Lucky: Is how I feel now that I have Holly. I realize that there may be challenges ahead and there will be delays and life won’t always be as easy as it is for other people, but Holly is a blessing and I feel so lucky to have her, and well I think she is doing so far much better then feared and I feel lucky with each new development she makes and grateful that she is such a wonderful child. I also feel lucky for having Joel the most amazing husband, I have only learned to appreciate him more since Holly was born and I think she has brought us even closer together which I didn’t think was possible.
Learning: Is a lifetime pursuit. I love to learn so much that I made a career out of education, school, and learning. I have always loved to learn new things whether it is a lecture or a discover magazine. Now I get to learn and discover through the eyes of my child which makes it even more magical. Not only do I get to share in her discovery and awe, but I also get to learn about her, who she is and what makes her tick.
Language: has never seemed so important to me then now. When I was in college I studied Linguistics and Creative Writing, among other things. I was fascinated with the history of language how it evolved and grew. I loved learning about sounds and how they form, accents and regional dialects. I also love the use of language, witty statements and clever dialog. But now I am learning the difference between language and communication. The lack of language can be very frustrating and I am learning how to communicate without it. I am also obsessed with it as I work with Holly on learning to speak and trying to remember back to my college days of diphthongs, bilabial, open vowels - wondering if any of it is useful in helping her little mouth shape the sounds she needs to make words. But mostly I have to remind myself that without language there is still communication, and to appreciate that too.
Lazy: is how I am feeling this week. I am so tired from Holly being sick, and from me being sick, and from her being clingy and needing to lie on mama every moment of the day. Tired after a long day of hard but ever rewarding work not having the energy to clean, keep-up with chores or basically do anything responsible, So right now I am feeling very lazy. I also feel like I should be doing more with Holly. Because my days have been long I let her play independently and sort of zone out watching her, or catch up on blogs and writing posts and checking email, at least when she is not hanging on me or trying to knock down the laptop. I feel like developmentally I should be doing something educational with her every moment of the day, and when she is cranky and grumpy and I am tired and I put on Baby Einstein to give us both a break I feel like I am being lazy. But then again, I am known to be rather hard on myself and need to remember to cut myself some slack every once in a while. She is a very active and attended to baby.
Legends: Are something I grew up on and can’t wait to share with my Daughter. First there are stories about my family and Holly’s ancestors. Also there are fairy tales and ghost stories and legends of mythical places and creatures and beings that fill my imagination. I love imagination and that can be sparked by so many legends. Greek Gods, Water Nymphs, Dragons, and Unicorns, I can’t wait to begin to share these legends with Holly. Well I have already begun telling her some stories, but I look forward to when she is older and we can watch movies and read books like The Tales of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials, The Last Unicorn, or even Harry Potter.
Linger: Is what I tend to do at social gatherings and events. I can’t help myself, but I am often the last one to leave. I tend to linger, I don’t like things to end and I want more. I will linger at the end of a concert and watch as the roadies tear down, I will linger after a Movie and watch the credits until the very end. I will linger after a party because it was over too fast and now that the crowd has thinned there is more time to bond with and chat with the host. I will linger at a Friend’s house after a play date because we have had so much fun and it has been so long since we have gotten together that I don’t want our fun to end. I also linger around the edges, overhearing a conversation that perhaps I can add something useful too, Linger when there is drama because I am curious, and linger at the end of the night because I don’t want to go to bed. Maybe it’s a bad habit, but it’s me.
Left: is the side of the country I live on and pretty much defines much of the city I live in. Perhaps Liberal is a better L word to define this, but I embrace Berkeley and its politics even when at times the notions are even a little left for me. I believe is social justice and paying higher taxes for schools and roads and parks. (from Wikipedia) I thought this was interesting.. and well it fits: In politics, left-wing, leftist, and the Left are terms applied to socially progressive and egalitarian positions. Originally, during the French Revolution, left-wing referred to seating arrangements in parliament; those who sat on the left opposed the monarchy and supported radical reform.
Limbo: Is how I sometimes feel or even “Lost” when it comes to knowing what is best for Holly and what her future will hold. I am so grateful to know her diagnosis up front, but it is frustrating sometimes because it is always there in the back shelf of my mind, will she continue to develop at this rate, will she be able to learn to read and do math, will she be in a mainstream classroom, is college a dream too far to think about, will she one day have a family of her own. Now obviously all those “Big” thoughts aren’t usually right there, it is more like what will potty training be like, when will she say her first word. When will she begin to feed herself? But really I feel like I am in Limbo, because I don’t know what behavior is normal development? What behavior is from Fragile X and what is just nothing at all. Limbo, because I sometimes don’t know if I should be upfront and tell people about her diagnosis, or if it is really not important to mention at all. Limbo because before this I never felt like I was out of control, but that is a feeling I am learning to embrace.
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2 comments:
This is an awesome list. I had a little giggle at "Linger". :)
Nice list!
I'm a lingerer, too. It's an inertia thing for me, I think. And sometimes it's because I just don't realize that I'm *supposed* to leave.
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