Thursday, November 20, 2008

Hope springs eternal

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

I honestly believe that. I believe that whatever good traits and talents we have are His gifts to be used for His Glory. I also believe that if it is God's will for you to be a great writer, even if you don't know how to read, He will provide circumstances in your life to see His will accomplished. With God, all things are possible.

Having said that, I also believe that certain abilities and traits (good and bad) are passed down either by heredity or simply by growing up around said traits and abilities. I'd be willing to bet that anyone who has a child over the age of 3 has seen a personality trait in their child that they immediately recognize as one that is shared by either themselves or their spouse. Of course, the bad ones can usually be attributed to the spouse, but I digress.

Both my children are good examples of this hypothesis. But I will focus on my daughter Rachel for the purposes of this blog post. She loves all things creative (me), is a problem solver (Ron), a bit of a diva (Ron, okay me), loves to sing (me), paint (me), is good at building things (Ron), likes to read (me), is sensitive to the feelings of others (hopefully both of us), laughs easily (me), and is a total grouch in the morning (totally Ron). And while she is completely unique and has her own distinct personality, she is also a combination of the two of us. She looks more like me, but I've got dominant genes on my side (brown hair, eyes, etc.).

There is one thing about her that kinda baffles me. She is a total girly girl. It's not that I don't love that about her, I think it's incredibly adorable. I just don't know where that came from. She love pink, Barbies, her American Girl dolls, fashion (i.e. - all things fancy), and jewelry. I'm just not like that at all. And Ron, well, don't even go there. As evidence, I present Exhibits A, B and C: Rachel's room circa 2004, 2006 and 2008, respectively. Not to stray off topic, but I feel the need to say that while I have redecorated this space several times, everything you see was either given to me, bought from a garage sale, made by my own hands, or bought at a low, low sale price. (Elbow grease and paint can go a long way and retail is for suckers.)

Now, back to the my original train of thought. As a parent, I secretly delight when I see my children take interest in or excel at something that I'm into. Just as I cringe when I see a less desirable trait that I share, like forgetting where they put anything, rear its ugly head. But in all honesty, as long as she is true to who she is, I'm good with it. I have accepted the fact that my daughter is the living embodiment of "Fancy Nancy".
Tonight was open house at the kids' school. When I walked into my daughter's classroom, her teacher greeted my husband and me, then immediately asked if we had seen Rachel's turkey. Typically, kids this age and younger make a paper turkey, and on each feather write something they are thankful for. On this particular turkey, their instructions were to imagine the turkey could talk and write some of the things that he or she would say. (Her teacher is awesome.) Imagine my surprise when I read the following on Rachel's turkey:
-Please do not eat me because I am pregnant.
-Please do not eat me because I am krazy.
-Please do not eat me because I am too big for your oven.
-Please do not eat me because I will explode in your oven and cover it with blood.
-Please do not eat me because I have diarrhea.

Perhaps the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree after all. (*smile*)

15 comments:

Pam said...

Hey Kathy~ been working and moving and just got internet in the new place today so I've been catching up on my blog reading and I realized... I've really missed it. And I literally laughed out loud at the turkey feather comments! Oh my! Thanks for the belly laugh~ I really needed it!

BTW: word verif: abbler~go figure...lol

Have a great rest of the week! and weekend!

katdish said...

Hey there Pam!

I was just thinking of you today, wondering where you had been hiding! Glad your back! Now, go to sleep! I have no idea why I'm still up, but I'm glad I'm not the only one! Nighty night!

Mary Ann said...

wow...couple of things...

1. INCREDIBLE ROOMS. I mean...really. wow.

2. INCREDIBLE DAUGHTER! how cute is she? I like the way she thinks. What did the other turkeys say? Lame things like "gobble gobble" or "happy thanksgiving?" psh.

She's a little katdish!

Mary Ann said...

p.s. What are your intentions with Katdish? I always make the t silent..so it's like ka-dish. Or should it be kat-dish? I'm just not sure.
=)

Mary Ann said...

P.S.....S.?

This fancy beef jerky is just too good!!!!

What should I store it in? Does it need to stay in my little freezer in between eating?

Sherri Murphy said...

KAtdish,
First of all...She's beautiful!

2. I'm a "girly girl"- she could have been mine!

3.The bedrooms are BEAUTIFUL and SO creative.You are very talented. I want mine to look exactly like that- even the DIVA pillow (to serve as a reminder to Big Al)

4. The turkey lines...SHe's VERY SMART and funny-"Don't eat me because I'm pregnant'! VEry deep thinking! reminds me of someone I know- called her Momma!

5.I used to work in the schools, in SPECIAL EDUCATION. Let me just tell you what when down once the teacher saw the turkey lines...

SHe chuckled to herself, then started worrying about the child's homelife.Took the turkey to the teacher across the hall and asked if she should be worried. THAT teacher suggested she show it to the principal. HE then asked the secretary to pull her files and they ran a "history" on her (Any prior problems, incidences of parental problems with mental illness, etc.)
Then called the POPO and had them run a background check on the parents to see if either one had a record.
They then discussed whether or not displaying the turkey alongside the works of the other children could be in fact harmful to them in any way, before deciding that the other kids weren't bright enough to "get" some of the humor anyway.
He then asked the teacher to keep a close eye on you while you were there to see if any "red flags" were going up that would give them reason to "make the call" to the family services dept. in your state.

I hope you weren't feeling "silly" while you were there. How was your speech? DId you notice the teacher was staying closer to you than she would normally? Were you flattered? Don't be.

You need to write more about this little gal--sounds like she's got it goin' on!

Beth said...

Yay! Pam's back!

Your daughter is so awesome. And perhaps a vegetarian...she seems very concerned for that turkey! By the time I got to the last line I was laughing so hard I had to read her turkey lines to my husband. I couldn't even finish reading them out loud...whew.

I also love the rooms. I've been thinking I need to redecorate my daughter's room at some point, but usually the other 8 million things of life seem to push it back. The poor girl has brown shag carpet and blank white walls...booor-ing. She is way fancier than that!

Dory said...

You did a great job with the room each time. You did a great job with Rachel. She was definitely not switched at birth in the Hospital. No D.N.A. test is necessary. The turkey with diarrhea is all the proof any of us needed....

katdish said...

Mare - kat dish; kat (short for kathy) and dish (short for dishman - my maiden name). I think if you put the jerky in an air tight container it should keep quite a while. If it's super hot outside, I might put it in the freezer or fridge.

Sherri - Rachel's teacher was super excited to show us the turkey. She told me that when she saw what Rachel was writing, she told the other kids, "Stop copying her! That's her idea", because like Mare said, the other kids were writing stuff like "gobble, gobble", etc. But now that you mention it, I don't ever remember seeing strangers in clipboards taking notes at open house before...

Beth - If you're stuck with the brown shag for awhile, I've got a great idea for the walls. I'm gonna e-mail it to you.

Annie K said...

Katdish,

You are very crafty. I've been accused of that, but let's just say not to the extent you are. ;) (the room is fab-o by the way!) And where can I get a DIVA pillow - every woman needs one!

And I always though Katdish was like the 'stuff Kat dishes out'... hmmmm....

Sherri Murphy said...

Annie,
"STuff Kat dishes out" is perfect!

Helen said...

Katdish,
Please check out Sherri's comment on One Minute Writer.....How do you suppose she did that? I may need to know one day...

wv Sizester? You would think even the generator on blogger would know better than to tease a fat girl like me....Didn't it notice that I am vicious when I am angry.

Anonymous said...

I am so unbelievably jealous of her bedroom.

Mare - it's P.P.S. The first is "Post Script" and if you need to add another, it's "Post Post Script." I asked a professor about it once.

Kris said...

i love your little girl...

Beth in NC said...

Ok, you have totally inspired me!!! I want to do letters over my daughter's bed now. Hmmmmm. Another project. I'll let you know if I can pull it off!

Thanks,
Beth