Hopeless Longings

             For the past month, my Timehop feed has been full of Vermont falls. Pictures of brightly colored leaves, snapshots of the girls jumping and running through piles of leaves, status updates pertaining to the changing weather, lazy mornings drinking coffee on the front porch, apple picking memos, and my extreme productivity as I canned, baked, and cleaned. Soon Halloween memories will appear, pictures of the girls dressed as their favorite characters and comments pertaining to the village buzzing with activity as hundreds of tick-or-treaters collected and stashed oodles of candy. These memories make the absence of a Florida fall harder to bear.

            Yesterday, while waiting for Lucy to get out of school, Lily and I took a walk to Walmart. There, lining the shelves were scarecrows and pumpkins, wreaths (both centered around the fall harvest and Halloween) and costumes galore. I was tempted, for a moment, to purchase a scarecrow or two, a hay bail and a couple of pumpkins, thinking that such a purchase would temper some of my longing for Vermont and the spectacular northeast falls. However, aside from having no way of hauling the items back to my car, that fiery desire to decorate escaped me.

            My longing for fall has turned into depression and my depression has stripped me of the motivation and the desire to engage in fall related activities. I have no desire to drive an hour in search of a pumpkin patch. Despite printing a delicious looking chocolate zucchini bread recipe, I have no desire to bake. My house remains relatively cluttered because to thoroughly clean it I would need an incredible amount of motivation, something I simply can’t muster. My day, instead, consists of everyday laundry, dishes, and vacuuming. Simple chores meant to keep complete chaos from breaking out.

            I honestly feel like crying, screaming, and cursing God for my situation. After all what kind of a God creates a place with such lack of feeling, smell, and inspiration. I realize the ridiculousness of these statements. I own my choices. However, there is a hopeless longing that in my darker moments overtakes me bringing with it, not the colors of fall, but the darkness of winter.

Florida Fall Fails

             About a month ago, I asked my favorite Starbucks barista when pumpkin spice would be returning. “It’s only August,” she replied. Three weeks later, I again asked her when pumpkin spice would be returning, anxious for all things fall. “In two days,” she exclaimed. While shopping at Target over the weekend, Jody noticed a shirt exclaiming, “You had me at pumpkin spice.” Having just checked out, I wasn’t keen on having to return to the line in order to buy the shirt. However, I returned the very next morning to purchase said shirt and indulge in a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. For me, the arrival of all things pumpkin signals the beginning of fall, by far my favorite season.

            Unfortunately, I live in Florida where fall only exists in box store décor. Instead of cool nights and warm days, changing leaves, the smell of fires burning, and lengthening shadows, Florida days continue to reach the 90’s with high humidity and afternoon thunderstorms. Palm trees sway, but don’t change, and the only smells are those of molding damp earth.

            I generally bask in this time of year. In the past, I have hung wreaths, propped up scarecrows, and created displays of hay bales, pumpkins and gourds. I have watched my sunflowers bloom, and raked piles of leaves for the girls to jump in and run through. I have donned sweaters and boots, my favorite pieces of apparel. I have enjoyed taking pictures in preparation for our Christmas card. As a family, we have gone apple picking and explored local corn mazes. I have canned and baked. I have savored each and every memory created.

            My time in Florida, however, has been extremely different. The weather and lack of fall aura have left me feeling depressed and homesick for the northeast. I have no desire to decorate; even less desire to can or bake. With few places close by to pick apples or run through corn mazes, I find myself apathetic and generally sad.  I cling to all things pumpkin spice in an attempt to feel the fall spirit.

            I wonder, “Will I always feel this way living here?” I’m afraid I will. For now, I try and focus on the positive. Fall as the ushering in of winter always depressed me while living in Vermont. However, here the ushering in of winter means cool nights, warm dry days, and the arrival of visitors. It is my time with those visitors that I will cherish and work to create and savor new memories.

Laughing While Crying

           Having a sense of humor has always been extremely important in my family. One cannot survive my family unless they have the ability to laugh at dirty jokes, bodily functions, and the horrors and quirks of life and death. At some point as a teen, I realized that not all families operated in the same manner that my family did. Therefore, I took to warning new friends about my family before their first meeting. More often than not I found myself saying, “I just want to let you know that sex and bodily functions are dinnertime conversation in my house, so don’t be shocked and horrified when the two topics come up; which they surely will.”

My friends almost always laughed off my warning; not really believing my family could be so uncouth. It wasn’t until dinner was in full swing and the topic of condoms, or STD’s, farts, or bowel movements made their way into the conversation that I would glance over at my friends who were sitting wide-eyed in shock. Despite their initial shock, it never took my friends long to feel comfortable joining in our dinnertime conversations, laughing along with my family. Many of my friends found my house very freeing, using my family to discuss those topics that were forbidden in their own houses.

One particular friend came over to discuss her menstrual cycle and all the “joys” that it brought her. She never ceased to inform us of when Aunt Flow and Uncle Red were visiting her. Laughing about it was our only reprieve.  Another friend and I suffered through our mothers’ hilarious laughter regarding boobs and pubes.  Laughter transformed the pain of puberty into a ridiculous faze; one to be laughed about rather than be ashamed about. 

Growing up, I would often ask my mother what first attracted her to my father. Her reply never changed. “He made me laugh,” she would say. It was laughter that first attracted me to my husband. A hilarious human being, he has always had the ability to make a dark situation light. Without his sense of humor the pain of infertility would have been unbearable. The post-partum depression and anxiety I have suffered could have ended in a painful separation. But through all the difficulties that come with a fourteen-year marriage he has made me laugh, reminding me of its importance.

Most importantly, however, has been our ability as a family to laugh collectively, not only at ourselves, but also at the awkward, the difficult, and the ridiculous. Laughter has bonded our family in indescribable ways. Ways that only those who know the power of laughter can understand.

The Ups and Downs of Facebook

 For the past several months, I have felt conflicted regarding Facebook. It seems that every time I log on lately I am bombarded by depressing, anxiety inducing news articles. An Ohio teen recently died from a rare brain-eating amoeba she contracted while in swimming in North Carolina. Violent pornography was found on Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. A Tampa teen was found dead after a night of drinking and LSD. Four young girls were killed after the tire of the car they were riding in blew out, flipping the vehicle and resulting in their fatalities. An alligator at a Disney resort drowned a two year old. Then, of course, the never ending headlines regarding the Orlando shootings. I am confronted with the ignorant bigotry of Donald Trump, and the refusal of politicians to protect the citizens of this country. These are the news stories that glare at me from my screen. As I scroll through my news feed, I also run across article after article about children dying from rare diseases, cancer, and simple colds. All this death, destruction, and bigotry is making me sad, anxious, and completely fatalistic. There are days I dread what I might find is my perusal of this seemingly harmless social network.

            And yet, I continue to sign in. I continue to do so in the hopes that I might find a newsworthy article that is uplifting, funny, inspiring, and attempts to restore my faith in humanity. But I also continue to sign in because of you, my friends. Facebook comforts me when I am feeling my most lonely. It allows me to share bits of my life with you, and feel like I am a part of your lives. I get to watch your children grow, celebrate your successes and mourn your failures. Facebook, very simply, keeps me connected.

            How then do I resolve the conflict I feel between hating the negative news and loving the connection I feel to each of you? Limit my time? Ignore the news? I’m not sure that there is a simple answer to what seems a complicated question. For now, I will do my best to focus on the positive, laugh heartily when necessary, and do as Mr. Rogers recommends by looking for the helpers.

            

5 Reasons I Encourage My Children To Tattle

A couple of weeks before school let out for the summer, my oldest daughter, Lucy, came home somewhat upset about the fact that her friends were mad at her. Apparently, her friends were doing something (what in particular I don’t remember) the teacher had, on a previous occasion, told them to stop doing. Lucy, knowing they were wrong in their actions, told her teacher, who in turn dolled out the necessary consequences. Knowing Lucy was the one responsible for their punishment, her friends decided they were going to shun her, at least temporarily.

I was, quite frankly, unconcerned with her friend’s reactions. I was, however, proud of Lucy for speaking up not only against bad behavior, but particularly against her friends whom she cherishes.

            Lucy and I had quite a lengthy discussion about tattle telling and secret keeping. I know many parents that can’t stand tattling and make it quite clear to their children that tattling is not a good thing, but rather an annoyance. I take a different approach. I encourage my children to tattle for the following reasons.

1.      Tattling promotes communication.

Keeping an open line of communication between my daughters and I is extremely important. I want them to feel as if they can come to me with any problem, no matter how big or small. This open line of communication furthermore, allows us to have easy conversation regarding difficult topics.

2.      Tattling develops trust.

I want my daughters to feel trusted and to trust me. If they feel that tattling is but an annoyance they will be wary to come to me with problems and will eventually stop coming to me altogether. I want them to know that I trust their judgment and that they can trust me with their “secrets”.

3.     Tattling discourages secrets.

I do not want my daughters keeping secrets from me or anyone else, especially as they get older and secrets can become damaging or life threatening. I want them to openly communicate their joys, discomforts, and worries. I also want them to protect their friends by sharing with a trusted adult any secrets their friends may hold that are harmful.

4.      Tattling discourages bullying.

In a world full of bullies, I want my daughters to stand up for themselves and their friends by telling adults of such behavior. A bully is much more powerful and can inflict much more damage when their behavior goes unchecked.

5.     Tattling allows me to reinforce our family’s values and morals.

When a situation arrives like the one Lucy encountered and the lines of communication are open, I am able to have honest conversations about what we believe is right and wrong, good and bad, reinforcing those values and morals that we as a family cherish. I can only hope that both my daughters will embrace these values and morals and surround themselves with individuals who do the same.

I know that Lucy, and Lily for that matter, will, in the future, experience conflicts with friends and foes due to tattling. However, I hope that all these conflicts can be solved with open communication.