Did you do donuts?

Last night I was leaving the radio station and drove by Arby's which was apparently suffering a little downtime because the entire parking lot was empty. Except for one car. One car was slipping and sliding around in circles, getting dangerously close to crashing into a light pole at times. And, just like that, I was transported back to my youth. I can remember getting my friends together to go do donuts in a deserted school lot. We would have been in SO MUCH TROUBLE if we had been caught by a school administrator, or the police, or especially our parents. It was irresponsible. It was disrespectful of school property. It was dangerous. So, why did we do it? It was FUN!

I know. That's not a good excuse. I should have followed the rules. I should have been more careful. Seriously, I should have. If you're a minor and reading this, DO NOT take my admission to doing donuts as an excuse to do them yourself, because I really could have been hurt, along with the way too many friends packed into the car with me.

But, I'm reminded that there's something to be said for having FUN! In my adult world with my lists of to-dos and my responsibilities and all my rushing around, I forget to take time to just have FUN! How about you? Now, I'm not saying we should go out and do donuts and possibly harm ourselves, our cars, or someone else's property. But, I do think we should go sledding, have a snowball fight, or take a midnight walk in the snow. Who knows, maybe we'll start celebrating like our kids do when we hear reports of yet ANOTHER snow storm heading our way. Maybe.

So, here's my challenge to myself and to you, if you're willing to accept. Let's get outside and do something, anything, fun this week. Just a few minutes of not accomplishing anything but the enjoyment of the cold, the snow, and spending time with our friends or loved ones.

Hmm...who will reply 1st with what you've done after reading this blog entry? Let's just say a comment might be well worth your effort! ;)

WATCH OUT WORLD...My child is a creative genius!

Yesterday I attended Alyssa's pre-K parent-teacher conference and I tell ya, when you hear from a teacher how creative your child is, you can feel like you're raising the next best-selling author or world-renowned artist. I knew Alyssa was doing pretty well with her letters and numbers. But, like all her classmates, there's always a few that she gets stuck on. So, I'll be working more with the flashcards, helping her keep it fresh in her mind. But, when Mrs. Neal launched into a description of how well Alyssa's doing with her drawing, I couldn't help but swell with pride, just a little. I know Jesus gave her the talent, but she's MY KID, right?! Then I learned that one of the skills they work on during this year is to have the students each come up with a one or two sentence story about the latest picture they've drawn. Well, apparently, Alyssa can go on all day with the stories behind her works of art. (SIGH) I can see the book reviews and long lines at author signings already.

OK, OK, I'll try not to get ahead of myself. But, I'm so proud of my little creative girl. If you're a parent, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. There's a certain, well, almost HIGH you can get by celebrating the strengths of your child. For me I think it's the awesome realization that I (with my husband and God's help of course) have created this beautiful little being and now she's creating beautiful things. I'm sure you feel this way about whatever area your child is excelling in, too. Now, the challenge will be to continue to encourage the creativity and freedom of expression without allowing my own self-worth to be confused with my child's successes. Know what I mean?

Anywho, for now, I'm just going to revel in my daughter's creative genius. I'm going to let her know I think she's awesome. And, I'm going to look forward to seeing what God does with this strength that He has given her!

Hey, have a great weekend, and feel free to comment with a story of why YOUR kiddo is a genius! :)