Monday, March 22, 2010

after great accomplishment by the whole family yesterday, i fell into bed and began to drift....thinking of all of the hard work each member of the family had contributed.....gladly, with no prodding or complaints or resistance....i felt proud of us all!

reviewing in my head each of the jobs that we took on, i was feeling delighted to think what we can do together....as a team! "t-e-a-m", t.j's lacrosse coach used to reinforce,"there's no "i" in team!"  somedays that was accepted like a proud member of the armed forces going off into battle.  other times, it was not received as well...after a tough practice, worn out, t.j. would repeat his coach's words,"t-e-a-m, there's no "i" in team!" as we drove home i'd talk about the meaning of those words....and how it applies to our family!  "a teachable moment" ....my time take advantage of the coach's motivational boost!

t.j.,  a boy who is big on semantics, would respond,"well mom...i know that you want to believe our coach and i know that you think that's true.....but, really.....i think there's no "me" in team......and i just need some time for m-e!"  point well taken by a mom who doesn't want to argue over semantics with this boy who wants to be heard!

the boy with the semantics approach....to life.  i've heard other moms say that their boys are very literal.  that seems to be true with t.j., but the semantics could be argued for hours.  he says,"mom, i just can't help it...i think i'm right and i like to argue!  i'm good at it!"  true....that doesn't mean that he can win though.

last summer on the cape, t.j. mentioned that he and his buddy, oliver, both liked to argue...they liked it.  oliver confirmed!  oliver's mom confirmed!  grace and oliver's brother, camden, nodded.  it was a consensus....by the knowing family members looking on.  wiped out from a day of fun in the sun, i took a big breath and suggested that they open a law firm together.  "great!" they cheered! everyone was relieved...that's when i mentioned that t.j. had better do the litigation and oliver might do the divorce or they'd have to shut down the law firm.....arguing a point might just be the demise of their partnership.

i'm grateful to have smart kids.  it's great to see how clever they can be.  just not always great when i'm standing at the door with armloads of groceries and i haven't used the words to guarantee my passage and needed assistance.  sometimes those clever takes on semantics aren't so impressive to me....and those semantics don't work out so well for t.j."

yesterday, my words were very clear....no interpretations could be used...."many hands make light work!" ....my mom's favorite quote.  our kids remember her saying that when it was time to stack up their blocks....or time for toddlers to carry their dishes to gramma's sink!  it worked.  simple. it worked!  better than barney or mr. rogers.  that's my line now.  now they say as they begin to help,"i know, i know, many hands make light work!"  to be followed by droning voices," i remember.....that's what gramma always said" they finish it off with a knowing smile.  we all laugh as we do the job.....together.

a mom's words seem to stay with us forever.  yesterday, i never would have stayed on task with so much to do, the mommy a.d.d might have kicked in big time.  that's when "amazing grace" kept me going....her words in a thought balloon over my head, " like with like!"

"like with like" has kept me going throughout my organizational deficit training....they've helped direct my energy ...they've certainly helped the kids chant "i know, like with like.....that's what gramma used to say."  bored by my reminders.....still, getting the job done....and well done at that!

so, as i attacked our garage, filled with a winter's worth of skis, snow board, ski poles, bird seed, sailing gear leftover from the fall, bikes that had been crammed into random spaces, boots and more.............interruptions......like right now.....gotta go pick up grace...no lacrosse because of rain.----------------------

and i'm back...after stopping at out local, sensitive new age coffee shop for grace's favorite corn muffin...which turned in to a few errands...and a some time with our kids to reiterate their afternoon agenda....beginning with each one taking a dog for a walk....

my mom used to use those simple words "like with like" and "many hands make light work" with her salespeople at saks fifth avenue.  she kept it simple with no room for misinterpretation....smart woman....a great manager.
http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/Entry.jsp?site_refer=360i+G&kw_refer=saks+fifth+avenue
she had one other tidbit to help her professional salespeople who just wanted to sell...the ones who didn't put the effort into the basic stockwork of the day.....this was a requirement to keep the exclusive store looking it's best.  when my mother had a new employee arrive to sell in her department, she'd hand them an 8 pack of crayola crayonshttp://www.crayolastore.com/?trk_src_ss=CRAPAYPCWEBMACSS|PPC|ADW|crayola.com&gclid=COWBsLCNzaACFSZo5QodcWeL5Qhttp:http://www.crayolastore.com 
and have them fill in the designer sportswear by color, according to the crayolas!  no room for questions! smart woman.

friends stopped in......every mom knows about this happy interruption! a fun one...be right back.