Tiller asked me whose hat this was, sitting on a shelf in my office.
And I said, “Here. I’ll show you.”
That hat always makes me smile.
Archive for the ‘Tiller’ Category
Time Warp
Friday, March 18th, 2011A Mother’s Dilemma
Saturday, March 12th, 2011I read an interesting article this morning on parenting.com, about girls and sports. The blogger obviously has two very athletic girls who like to play sports; she bemoans the fact that society doesn’t seem to be able to reconcile beauty and unisex athleticism. Interesting, but not exactly a groundbreaking discussion.
But what about this? What if you are a fairly athletic mom, who grew up playing sports, excelled at many of them, loved playing them, and have a firm understanding of how integral a part they played in the confident adult you have become? What if you want that same confidence and love of exercise for your daughter?
And what if your daughter couldn’t care less about it?
My son loves sports, loves competition, and is pretty athletic, picking things up quickly, with great hand-to-eye coordination. My daughter just doesn’t have that same ingrained sense of competition or love of sport.
She likes to sing. And dance. And color. And sing. There is a lot of singing.
When I put her on a soccer field, she is oblivious to the ball. She is looking for dandelions in the grass, and perfecting twirling in circles as fast as possible. We say, “Just go out and have a good time.” She says, “I hate soccer.” I am making her play out the season, hoping it will click one day, and knowing it probably won’t, but taking her to the game anyway, because she signed up to be on a team, and at least she is learning something about follow-through and being part of a team, and obligation.
I want her to do some physical activity every season, to learn to make exercise a part of her life. We have done dance. (Suprisingly, she hated it. Evidently, baby girl doesn’t want someone to tell her how to dance.) We will put her on swim team this summer. If nothing else, she gets cheap swim instruction and a practice with friends every day. If she doesn’t want to swim in meets, we won’t make her.
I have thought that maybe she might enjoy karate, or something like that, more than team sports or ball sports.
But there is the dilemma: Am i trying to force something on her that is not in her nature? First and foremost, i am interested in her physical health. Am I wrong to force her to try different sports and activities, in hopes that something will catch her interest? I certainly don’t try to subvert her love of art and music, nor would i want to – they are an important part of who she is. I feel that I nurture those, too, but is it wrong to want to make sure she is physically active and healthy? Or am I doing more damage than good?
What is a mother to do?
And, God forbid, what if my daughter ends up wanting to be a cheerleader? Because, you know that is probably what will happen.
Sequestered with Littlest Pet Shops
Monday, March 7th, 2011Tiller loves these Littlest Pet Shop toys. (Don’t get me started on “littlest” – I have just recently gotten over it.) So, she has about a million, and today she lined them up to watch her eat lunch, or as she put it, “to see what I get.”
She then ate her peanut butter and honey sandwich, singing them original song lyrics about sandwiches and pretzels to the tune of The Hold Steady’s “Sequestered in Memphis.”
She is a funny bird.
Rollie and Tiller on Valentine’s Day
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011Rollie and Tiller interview on Valentine’s Day. Captures their personalities pretty well. Rollie is in a sugar coma, while Tiller is bouncing off the walls.
Happy belated Valentine’s Day!
2 Of My Favorite People
Thursday, January 27th, 2011Right before going out the door.
Tiller Chillin’ with Her New MP3 Player
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Just listened to Arcade Fire’s Sprawl II, and now, Stairway To Heaven. Thanks, Aunt Lisa!
Official Fudge Tester, Christmas 2010
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
Nobody Even Knocked Over the Baby Jesus
Friday, December 17th, 2010Tiller’s Christmas program was this morning at St. Bede’s. I, of course, ran completely late and didn’t get to drink any coffee before, during, or after the program. So, one part of me was all sad that it was Tiller’s last “little girl” Christmas program, and the other half was just holding on to a thread of sanity until I could find a coffee.
First of all, the 4s class came out and did some songs. (Jingle Bells and some other stuff.) Very cute. Unfortunately, by the time they are this age, they don’t really do anything wild, like start talking to their mom during the program, or start wailing when they see all the people stare at them, or accidentally knock the baby Jesus out of the cradle.
And let’s be honest: That is what we show up for.
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- St. Bede’s Christmas Program, December 2010, Tiller, 5 years old
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- Biting her knuckles with either nerves or excitement.
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- Belting out jingle bells.
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- Tiller as some kind of farm animal, which she could not identify.
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- With her friends. Tiller towers over the other kids.
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- Tiller not smiling.
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- Tiller, after I told her she would get cookies after pictures.
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- Tiller’s happy ending.
Ham Lincoln
Thursday, December 16th, 2010Tiller: let’s play the guessing game . You go first.
Me: okay. What are the rules?
Tiller: you can say a person. Or an animal. But not a food.
Me: Okay.
Tiller: but it can be a person with food in their name. Like George . . . I mean, abraHAM Lincoln.
Fairies in the Manger
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010The other night, Todd and Rollie left for Boy Scouts and Tiller and I were still at the dinner table talking. She was telling me how she had her feelings hurt because Vivian and Anna both got to be Mary when they played manger, and she did not get a turn. I was amazed that she really knew about the manger and Mary. Upon further questioning, she also knows what a manger is, who is in the manger (Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus), and that there were animals all around, because there “was no hotel.”
Me: “Didn’t some other people come to the manger?”
Tiller: “Yes. The wise men, and the fairies.”
Me: “The fairies?”
Tiller: “Yes, the fairies come to see the Baby Jesus.”
Me: “Honey, I think you mean the Angels.”
Tiller: “Oh, yes! They have wings like fairies!”