someone last week made the statement: “may is the new december,” and i couldn’t agree more.  i received so many wonderful gifts in may that i really didn’t have time to share with you.  the irony being that now my mind processes every significant moment in terms of blog posts, but i could never sit long enough to compose them.  so here it goes, in a thousand words or less even though it is now june!

M is for mommy.  it’s so hard to know if you’re doing a good job as a mom.  our kids don’t always affirm us.  in fact they can be downright sassy.  so i tend to really soak up those moments when they outwardly declare their appreciation.  such a moment occurred for mother’s day when my son penned me the absolute sweetest poems. i shared them by way of Facebook and twitter, but the one thing that struck me was how much he knows me. he really notices what i like.  he’s going to make a fine husband someday!

while i’m at it, M is also for mommy-mobile.  i had to trade in my swagger wagon (remember my post about it here?), because i simply overdrove it.  my mileage was increasing at an incredible rate because my 3 kids are in so many activities. while most of them are within a 10 mile radius, my dancer had us to atlanta and back 3 times, to spartanburg, to asheville, and countless trips to the studio which is exactly 18.08 miles away. so we got a new one, just in time for mother’s day. the big decision was color: do i stay with black, which was my inclination, or do i get a different color? boy did i debate this over and over! in the end, the kiddos persuaded me to get a new color (“what’s the fun of a new car that looks exactly the same?”)

A is for academia.   two weeks ago, i went home to cincinnati to attend my 20 year high school reunion. it was fun to go back and see some familiar faces, now all grown up, but the best part for me was revisiting my alma mater, walnut hills high school.  while there have been some changes, some areas remain exactly the same.  and, more importantly, their commitment to academic achievement is almost unparalleled in any other public school that i know.  my hubby and kids were really impressed with the school and i rediscovered just how special a place it was.  sometimes you can’t appreciate things in the moment, but standing there as mother with 2 daughters, close to the age i was the first day i walked into those halls, i couldn’t help to think how nice it would be to send them to this school too. alas, we live in another state, with no immediate plans of relocating, but it is a nice thought.

A is for aptitude and attitude. remembering my high school years takes me back to  who i was at that age: academically gifted, but  terribly shy and afraid to take risks.  when i look at my girls they are almost as if the inner me and the outer me broke apart and created 2 individuals.  may was a big month for them as they both celebrated birthdays (11 & 14) and were both promoted: one from lower school to middle school and the other from middle school to high school.  each one has unique talents and gifts.  my older daughter is an academic rock star. she is extremely dedicated and works hard to be successful. i was exactly the same way.  throughout her middle school years, she was rewarded for her commitment, by receiving numerous awards and honors, and this year was no different.  she will now move on up to the high school where new challenges await her, but there is no doubt that she will rise. my younger daughter is apparently very kind.  i say that with a slight tongue in cheek, as it the thing that everyone has said about her in every award ceremony since kindergarten: kind, tenderhearted, sweet, a good friend…  it is  to the point that she has grown tired of hearing it, frankly.  i don’t blame her, actually.  she wants people to recognize that there’s more to her than that.  she is also a gifted writer with a wonderful imagination.  she just enjoys the arts and pop culture and doesn’t stress too much about school.  she’s a dreamer.  with that said, she is still above average, but doesn’t strive for perfection: “a B is still good, right?!?!”  as she moves up to middle school, i believe there will be more opportunity for her light to shine. while i pray she will maintain her kindness, i also hope that the total her will be embraced and appreciated.

Y is for why didn’t i think of that sooner? sometimes i know exactly where a post is going and sometimes i just arrive there, supernaturally. the writing process can be a very wonderful gift and i just received one.  i have struggled to appreciate my younger daughter’s laid back approach to school.  and in this “nice guys finish last” society of ours, i haven’t always celebrated her kindness with the same appreciation as my older daughter’s academic ambition.  but when i wrote “…almost as if the inner me and the outer me broke apart and created 2 individuals,” i had a lightbulb moment!  growing up, i was the academic rock star. in every award ceremony, i was the one receiving all the accolades, but i didn’t have many friends initially, because that was all people saw.  in fact, i have been accused of being mean (although i think they would clarify mean to actually be aloof, not malicious). those who would get to know me, would come to know that i was kind and funny and a good friend, but not everyone is willing to invest that time.  i experienced a lot of sadness regarding this in my younger years (and suspect that my older daughter can relate).  when i look at my younger daughter through this perspective: her willingness to include everyone, her courage to get out on stage and perform, her ability to be free of wondering what other’s think, i absolutely appreciate that she is an outward expression of the part of me that very few people get to see, mixed of course, with those things that uniquely belong to her.

and finally Y is for yes.  yes, i am open to continuing to grow and learn through mommy hood .  and i am grateful that each year i get reminders in may, not only with mother’s day, but also with the girls’ birthdays.  when my oldest celebrated her 14th on may 18th, my friend yvette wrote: “Happy 14 year of motherhood Deena!!! You’ve done such a wonderful job with your babies….”  that compliment right there is the ultimate gift!

so that’s a wrap on the busy-ness of may.  on to the joys of the more carefree june!  ahhhh…

images from here.