Category / parenting

Lily’s Creek

lilys-creek

After hiking through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Thursday, we stopped on the way back out of the park and walked down to a clear (and very cold) mountain stream. The kids had changed out of their boots and into their Crocs and were walking around on the rocks in the creek. Fearful that they might slip and fall in, I told them all to take off their shoes and walk around barefoot. I have some priceless video of this… the water was probably 50 degrees.

Well, it was only a matter of time before it happened: Lily, while standing fairly close to me, slipped and fell. She got up, slipped again, and I grabbed her on the way down. She slipped again while we were trying to get/keep our footing but I still had ahold of her, so she was okay at this point. (I should also note that the water was moving pretty fast and was probably 3 feet deep right next to where she slipped. Oh, I was also holding the video camera through all of this… tense moments!)

She was crying, not because she was hurt, but because she was terrified. After a few minutes, she got herself under control and we walked up to the car to change out of her wet clothes. I mentioned while we were walking how proud I was of her because she dealt with it and got over it very quickly. It was impressive.

Later that night, we were sitting in a restaurant and Char asked the kids to turn over their placemats and draw a picture of their favorite thing from the day. Of course, Jack drew picture of Lily falling in the creek and crying. (He’s such a putz!)

When we asked them to share their pictures, Lily got pretty bashful and started crossing things off and hiding it. It was clear she didn’t want us to see it, so (of course!) we forced it out of her. To my surprise, she had also drawn a picture of her falling into the creek. Except in her picture, though she was dripping wet, she was smiling. She had also included me in her picture holding on to her. She wrote, “The best part of my day was falling into the creek because Dad was there to catch me.”

Here’s a picture of what will always be known as “Lily’s Creek.”

“I want my kids to know you…”

On Saturday, we were driving through Great Smoky Mountains National Park on one of the ‘motor tours’ and stopped at one of the old Ogle farmsteads. Beautiful place, unbelievable setting. We walked around a bit, shooting video, taking pictures. At one point, Jack said to Char:

“Mom, can I take a picture of just you by yourself? That way, when I’m your grandkid, I’ll remember what you were like.”

Char said, laughing, “Sure Jack, but you’re never going to be my grandchild. You’ll always be my son, but your kids will be my grandkids.”

“Well, I still want to do it,” he said. “That way, I’ll be able to show them the picture so they’ll know you weren’t always old.”

"Happiness is not a function of what we have…"

While reading an article in the Saturday Evening Post written by Russell Wild, I came across the following:

“Happiness is not a function of what we have, but rather a function of what we appreciate. Studies show that people who regularly express and experience genuine gratitude for what they have – family, a meal, work, health – are happier, healthier, and more successful in the long run,” says Dr. Ben-Shahar. He suggests that you might want to keep a journal in which you take daily written notes of all that you are most grateful for.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m likely related to the author somewhere on my Mom’s side of the family, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s right on target including this quote from Ben-Shahar.

Have you taken time today to express your own genuine gratitude for the blessings in your life?

A note to Jack

At Lily and Jack’s school, if a student gets in trouble for something, the administrators send home a notice to the parents to let them know what happened. These are called “Ram Forms” after the school mascot. (It’s also possible to get a positive Ram Form when a child does something good, but we don’t see a lot of those around the Cota house.) I mention the form so you’ll be able to fully appreciate the note I found on the kitchen counter last night. It said:

Dear Jack,

You really need to get a grip and stop telling on me. OR you’re going to get a Lily form. You are way too bossy sometimes!

From Lily

"Living in Heaven will be fun…"

dsc_2044The kids took the news of Granddad’s death pretty well. We had prepared them, somewhat, for what was to come and, truthfully, their ability to cope with news and events of this sort dwarfs mine.

So it was really no surprise, though interesting, when Grace became the self-appointed escort at the visitation. Several times, she’d take someone’s hand and lead them up the center aisle to visit with Granddad. “You can touch him,” I overheard her telling someone.

A couple days later, Char is talking with Jack and he asked, “Mom, will you be in Heaven with me?” Playing on his devilish behavior, she answered, “Oh, Jack, I hope you make it to Heaven with me!” We all laughed, and then Grace and Abby began having a side conversation and Abby said, “Grace, living in Heaven will be fun: Granddaddy and Grandpa will be there. Jesus will be there… And you get to live in a box!”