I blame sick kids

By Stacy Johnson

I missed my last turn and I am sheepishly admitting to pre-dating this post so it looks like I did it on time.  It is the middle of the night and I am upstairs on my kid's computer which has a missing 'n' key, so if you see a typo, assume that is my problem, it is hard to slow down to get that one right.

The babies have been sick for the last month with some sort of virus like a cold sore, but a million of them covering the insides of their mouths.  Just as soon as I think the hard part is over and we are on our way to better health, the baby got a nasty cold.  Now I am up to my eyeballs in baby bugar snot.  I ought to be asleep now, but I just nursed him (again) and I am reflecting on how different my perspective on motherhood has changed in the last 18 years.

I remember some advice someone gave us when we got married and that was not to postpone starting our family until we had enough money or felt like we were "ready."  We jumped in with both feet and I'm so glad we did.  I remember being so tired and wondering when my body would adjust to less sleep.  I'm still waiting.

My oldest came home from church yesterday and announced that he could start working on his mission papers in 5 months.  It is all getting away from me too fast and I'm feeling that same anxiety I had when the nurse put him in my arms for the first time and I wondered if I was ready for this.

In the meantime, I will keep plugging along, doing my best to teach them what they need to know and hoping they will accept what I have taught.  For now, I think I will try and get back to sleep.

Quite vs Quiet

by Marsha Ward

Several weeks ago, I followed an exchange on a social site between several people, discussing an admonition by a local church leader to the membership to be more quiet during church services. This can be a problem and a challenge, where families with small children worship together.

One of the participants in the exchange spoke of the problem of getting children to be quite in church.

Quite what? I wondered, but kept reading. After the person repeated the use of quite instead of quiet, I saw the problem. It hadn't been a mere slip of the fingers in making a typographical error. She really didn't realize that she was using the wrong word entirely, transposing the e and the t time and again.

Quiet is an adjective (modifies a noun), or a noun, or even two kinds of verbs, but all are related to a state of stillness, silence, not speaking, not noisy, etc.

Quite is an adverb (modifies a verb) meaning completely, really, positively, very and the like, as in quite warm, quite happy, quite a few, quite a bit, etc.

If you find yourself confused as to which spelling goes with which word, try speaking them both out loud. 

qui-et 

quite (the silent e at the end of the word makes the i say its name, remember?)

I hope you all have a quite quiet Sabbath service today.

Letters to Heaven

by Cindy R. Williams

Here are some letters addressing God written by young children. There are two important lessons to be learned here, one spiritual and one as a writer. First, children's pure belief in God, and second; the ability to express that profound faith and love with clarity.

Please take a moment to ponder the letters. Allow them to touch your heart and to inspire your mind. Also, recognize how the simplicity of their words hit upon moments of recognition. This is a good exercise to increase your ability to connect to others with just a few words.

Note, the spelling errors are not typos, this is how the children wrote.

"Dear God,
I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church.
Is that OK?
Neil"

"Dear God,
Instead of letting people die and haveing to make
new ones why don't you just keep the ones you got now?
Jane"

"Dear God,
I think the stapler is one of your greatest inventions.
Ruth M."

"Dear God,
In bible times did they really talk that fancy?
Jennifer"

"Dear God,
I think about you sometimes even when I'm not praying.
Elliott"

"Dear God,
I am Amearican. What are you?
Robert"

"Dear God,
I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world.
There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it."
Love Nan"

"Dear God,
Please put a other Holiday between Christmas and Easter.
There is nothing good in there now.
Ginny"

"Dear God,
If you watch in Church on Sunday I will show you my new shoes.
Mickey D."

"Dear God,
If we come back as something please don't let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her.
Denise"

"Dear God,
Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each so much if they had their own rooms. It work with my brother.
Larry"

"Dear God,
If you give me genie lamp like Alladin I will give you anything you want except my money or my chess set.
Raphael"

"Dear God,
We read Thos Edison made light. But in Sun. School they said you did it.
So I bet he stoled your idea.
Sincerely, Donn"

"Dear God,
If you let the dinasor not exstinct we would not have a country. You did the right thing.
Jonathan"

"Dear God,
Please Send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year.
Peter"

"Dear God,
Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy."
Joyce"

Are any of you writers and readers in a position where you work with or teach children? If so, it would be fun and quite an education to ask them to write a letter to God. You are certainly welcome to leave a comment and share them with us all.

Why I'm Not Shopping Today

By Tanya Parker Mills

I've never been one to go along with the crowd. I don't know if it's pride or cantankerousness (probably a bit of both), but when masses of people say, "Let's do this, or read this, or see this," I tend to stand back, more than a little dubious. I still haven't read "The Work and the Glory" series. I only read the first book of the "Twilight" series because my son wanted me to read it with him. On that game show "Want to Be a Millionaire?," I would definitely trust the audience option last (even though, time and again, the audience has proven to get it right).

But that is not why I stay at home on so-called "Black Friday." (Okay, in all honesty, that is PART of the reason I stay home on the biggest shopping day of the year. I don't like crowds, particularly when shopping.)

It's the whole American shopping experience that I've grown to detest. As it has evolved, it has become less personal, more time oriented, and with a lot less space in which to maneuver. That may sound strange coming from someone who grew up loving the cramped souks in Baghdad and Beirut. But that was a whole different shopping experience. Lots of people go there, but they meander in small groups, never hurrying. Because there are so many little shops and stalls, you still feel as if you are a valued customer. Why? Because each shop owner treats you as if you are the most important client on earth. They offer you a chair and a cup of tea (which, when refused, they replace with your favorite soda) while they present you with their wares. It is the most hospitable way to shop and bears no resemblance to America's "Black Friday." So I guess I was spoiled.

In the souk, you can always find something unique, some artifact or trinket that seems to speak to you alone, something for which you don't have to stand in a long line out in the cold. Rather than being told by a thousand ads that this is something "you must have," you discover it like a bit of treasure. Think of the souk experience as a combination of antique shopping and Nordstrom's (where they actually wait on you, the customer). My husband thinks I like Nordstrom's because I like expensive clothes...but it's really more about the service. It harks back to childhood memories where, indeed, the customer was king.

Now, if you could find me a souk in my neck of the woods, I'd be there--even on Black Friday.