Paper Doll Revelations
May 1, 2010
She sat on my lap in my office chair like she so often does, this time with book in hand..”Will you read this to me?” Often, honestly, I ask for a few more minutes. Sometimes, like that night (fortunately), we open the book and start to read. This was not just any ordinary book. It was a Disney Princess picture book of cut out paper dolls, AND mini cut out abridged version storybooks about Ariel, Cinderella, and fill-in-the-blank-princesses-who-happened-to-be-named-Mia.
It was this fill in the blank story that we began to tell. Princess Mia, describing herself, “likes dolls, Littlest Pet Shop, PollyPockets. She has a big brother who likes cars. Her daddy likes to tell silly stories. Her mommy likes to….hmm work.”
Ok, ouch.
Queen Me: “Ok, really Mia, don’t we read stories (as i’m thinking to myself “Like we’re doing right now!”).
Princess Mia: “You don’t read to me enough.”
Fortunately for me — lest I go slit my wrists out of guilt — she listed off all the things we do together — family walks, swimming, snuggling, eating. But made it abundantly clear that I couldn’t get away with the suggestion that we read together.
Ever been punched in the gut by the truth — through the mouths of your babies? Guess who made a mid-year resolutions right then and there to read one book a day together, each and every day…yep.
Speed of Sound
October 20, 2009
It came and went so quickly….
I could be talking about our 20th High School class reunion, and in part, I am. It was an evening of laid back, unpretentious goodness.
But I’m also talking about the last 20 years of life. wow. It actually hit me that weekend. There is only one chance at life. No do-overs (for the most part). And it goes by fast. The decisions we make in our late teens and 20s will impact us in one way or another for years to come. In schooling. Love life. Career choices. I am stating the obvious. Yet, it’s not until you get to your mid 30s that you can really look back and see the collective impact of a number of choices along the way of life. Starting with..where to go off to school? And then…What job to take? Can I move away from the only thing I know as home? How long to stay at each job? If the second date could be worth it? With whom to stay in touch?
We attempt to reflect and simultaneously tell our selves there is no time to look back. Yet, we are where we are and who we are because of the big and small decisions along the road – and a big dose of Sovereignty that we (at least I) can’t quite explain. I’ve realized since that reunion weekend how fortunate I have been to have certain people in my life over the first half of it. How I am, in part, who I am because of role they have played in my life. Despite some of my choices, they have truly been God’s gracious gifts to me.
The coming years will speed by as my daughter grows into her own woman. How I wish to help her avoid some of the pain and angst it may take along her way, as she blossoms into who she is in Christ and figures out her own path. In typical Mia fashion, she’ll likely have some surprises for us — maybe rejecting the safe, the staid, the predictable…
She’s got “her whole life ahead of her” we so easily say.. Yet it will move lightening fast. I just know it. God, give her meaning. And help her mom continue to find it afresh in her own second half of life.
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Tonya is a Community Content Producer for
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