Kangatopia

And I’m not ripping off the NPR show.

Baby Bear is turning 8 tomorrow. I can’t afford to throw him a big party, so I’m trying to make up for it by surprising him at every turn with cupcakes (school, cub scout meeting) and a family party tomorrow night. It also looks like he’s going to be jetting off to my brother’s place in Ohio over the summer to see if it’s any greener over there. I’m trying to keep that last bit of news on the down-low just in case it doesn’t happen, but I’m also trying to let him know that hey! you’re going to have a cool gig over the summer so don’t fret about the lack of a party now.

What news? What news? We took the kids to see Nanny McPhee over the weekend. Taking my queues from Movie Mom, I asked Bear and Monkey why they thought Nanny McPhee’s appearance changed over the course of her lessons to the children. Neither one of them had a theory, but later almost out of the blue - Bear asked me why I thought she changed. We talked about different ideas - maybe the children in the movie needed to see her as ugly and horrid in order to appreciate the person she actually was, maybe she was an angel, maybe she never really changed at all and as the children came to see her as a wonderful person with the best of intentions so does the audience.

What else? Scouting for Food began this past weekend. The scouts leave bags on doorsteps and then hopefully the following weekend they will be able to pick up the bags filled with food that can be donated to a local food pantry and homeless shelter. Bear and his friend worked out a great little system in order to canvass their section of the neighborhood.

Winston’s language skills are improving. Every object or noun ends in y. Bath-y, sod-y, song-y. She mimics her brother and sister, but her own personality is emerging in the process. I can almost hold an entire conversation with her now.

Monkey is growing into a very forceful personality. She’s learned how to get her way with many things. She wages battle, I choose the ones I’ll fight. But, there is balance. She wants to please, and she tries hard to hold her place in our little system. For example, we walk in the door, I throw my keys on a chair, she moves them to the kitchen counter so that they won’t get lost. She is incredibly intelligent, equally beautiful, and perfectly sweet.

Every single day I thank God for my children.

Several months ago I began searching for something: peace of mind; clarity of vision; acceptance and fortitude. I haven’t found it yet. In some ways I laid down the search for a little while to attend to my children and day to day life. But, just as I’ve become dependent on the workouts I try to enjoy regularly, I’ve found that continuing on this other, spiritual journey is absolutely necessary.