me and mija in the meadows ~ part one

reposting....in preparation for actually getting around to part two

part one in multi-part series

A great many of you are parents….most of you have parents. Some of you have grown children…some of you little ones….a few of you are actually grandparents…(I am so very envious.)

Although never quite the Hallmark-type of Mommy…doing the maternal thing has been a very important priority in my life. There have been times I have dropped the ball…and a few decisions I have made left emotional scars which regrettably will last a lifetime.

At this point in my parenting experience…I can only offer the most basic advice.

If you bring your child up right in the Lord….give them street smarts…teach them the basic tennants of right and wrong….and provide them the broadest education you can manage…they will grow up and…

…they take you to Vegas baby!!!!

Picture me with my daughter at the gate in San Jose airport….our flight slightly delayed….anxious and excited to embark upon our little trip….the conversation full of fun and frivolity. Just the two of us for two days. Well….the two of us and whoever else is in Las Vegas. We are having breakfast with the boys….Peet and Noah. I have my Peets Sumatra…she has some floral tea concoction. Yummy bagels from Noah’s. She is quizzing me on the Teamster…and I mention that his Mama blogs too.

In retrospect this is where I should have just shut-the-eph-up….but oh no…I kept talking. I brought up the possibility that she might want to start reading my weblog. She was the one who suggested I blog afterall. (until recently just about no one in my bricks and mortar life has visited my little site….) I could have changed the subject. Instead I got all enthusiastic and animated.

My daughter and I talk of the blogosphere…I try to explain Manic Monday, Thursday Thirteen and Wordless Wednesday without sounding like kindergarten. I mention how at times it becomes an outlet for all the pinballing in my mind…I mention a topic or two I have written about. Fondly with warmth and amusement, I start to describe the cast of characters I play with (that’s you guys) I am blithely blathering about a venue to display my pictures and the fine art of commentary. She turns towards me…looks me straight in the eye…full force. Uh oh. I know this look. I e-phn perfected it. I am in deep bandini. Rapidly reviewing the most recent sentences I had spoken…I have an inkling of what is about to transpire.

“you what?”

anyone nearby would have no idea that the “soft” voice is the one which should strike fear in the heart of the bravest adversary. One of the things my daughter and I have in common is that we get angry softly…like a freight train softly. In our defense…you can actually see and hear our anger approach…forewarning and all…the key is to avoid the freight train (queue Johnny singing….I hear the train a’comin’…)

“mommy…you have NO RIGHT”

My daughter is ticked. And I get pretty well bitch slapped right then and there. Apparently she thinks that having her name, image, email, and a dozen additional details of her personal life on half a dozen social networking sites (myspace…goodreads….et cetera) is perfectly fine and dandy….but me posting recent pictures and mentioning her every now and then is sketchy. Apparently she is all concerned people are gonna recognize her from my little weblog….and there are soooooo many people reading my posts one of them is probably some sort of freak of nature. whatever.

“if I violated YOUR privacy you would totally flip out”

well…maybe she has a point…it would mess up that whole witness protection gig.

Never able to deny her any request within my power….we negotiated terms. Basically I can’t give out her home address and telephone number on my blog…. ….I need to learn how to paste one of those black bars across her face in any recent pictures I post….and I must conceal her true identity. (she’s actually a superhero in real life….)

Stay tuned for part two…
the plane ride out