I guess this started because I noticed I would put way too much of myself out there on my FaceBook status. It occurred to me that there were probably many of my old high school friends starting to "hide" me on their pages. Thus, the BLAH-g. Anyone who wants to read the ramblings of a thirty-something mom of three young girls can, and I can spare the rest.
First, "Lavender Lollipops" comes from a Dick Van Dyke Show episode called, "I'm No Henry Walden." Rob is invited to this party full of snooty writers, and begins to feel like he was invited by mistake when everyone thinks he is the author of a book he's never heard of. Finally, he realizes that it is a fundraiser, as the authors one by one begin to stand and donate the royalties of their oddly titled books to the charity. My favorite title was "Lavender Lollipops," a book of poetry. And there you go.
I am a bit obsessed at the moment with the household of the 1950's, early 1960's. I love the shows of that era. I love the way they dressed. I love the home-cooked meals at the dinner table. I even love how they walk around and vacuum in their aprons and heels. But I believe the reason I love this era is the family values that it represents. This was, in my opinion, the best time in history to be a kid. It was right as technology was freeing people up to do less manual labor, but before technology replaced all our free time. Kids played outside and got dirty and wore the knees out of their jeans. How many kids do you know wear the knees out of their jeans anymore? Television shows portrayed parents knowing best, and kids respecting them. Now television is the kids trying to put up with their clueless, dumb parents (usually the brainless dad) with their only goal of doing what they want, when they want, without either being caught or embarrassed by a dumb parent. THIS is why we don't have Disney or Nickelodeon anymore. I don't want our girls to think this model is God's model for a family. Kids run the house, and the parents are just in the way.
Since we got the Netflix Roku Box, I can't even stand to watch regular television anymore. (Other than The Office and House). About the only time I really watch any TV at all is when I am feeding Lucy during the day. I always pick The Dick Van Dyke Show, or get the girls and watch Leave It To Beaver. If they had the Andy Griffith Show, we'd watch those every day also! My favorite book and movie--To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the same era. I just love how the kids play and interact with their dad and their neighbors. Makes me long for that!!
I sound like a grumpy old lady. The older our girls get, the more I want to teach them family values and the importance of a pure heart. It's easy to find myself at the end of the day feeling like a martyr. A sacrificial stay-at-home mom who homeschools, breastfeeds, uses cloth diapers, makes my own baby food and learning to sew their clothes. PLUS doing meal planning, bargain hunting, coupon clipping, cooking dinner every night, and being a companion and encourager to my husband. And then I think, if this is where I find my identity, then I am in big trouble. Some of this is honoring my family, some of it is because I enjoy it, and some of it I do because I like to sound like I'm more "together" than I really am. NO mom has it together all the time. I feel like I am beginning to get a little more organized and competent, but it is a slow, painful process. And for this reason, I wanted the blog. I want to put down what I have learned, including the mistakes I have made, and be able to see how I grow in the process. I wanted a place to post my cloth diapering, baby food making, bargain hunting, bow-making, etc., and maybe save a step for someone else trying to learn it the hard way. And I wanted a place to put down the daily adventures and quotes the come from these three little girls before I forget them at the end of every day!
