We all know people who are inflexible. The towels MUST be folded this way, the dishwasher loaded MY way, dinner must be at THIS time, no, the map says to go RIGHT, you WILL not miss school unless you are sick...yada, yada, yada. Inflexible people fatigue me. I wonder how many serendipitously marvelous adventures they have missed because of THE SCHEDULE. And, when it comes right down to it, inflexibility is an amazingly arrogant exhibition. Why is their way the only way?
Have you ever heard a new father say, "I don't change diapers." I often wonder if that was his decision from the get-go, or did he get so many instructions from his wife or his mother or his mother-in-law about how to do it the right way, that he just gave up. Proclamation: If the diaper is in the general vicinity of the baby's rump, then all is well.
Many of us know wives who complain that their husbands don't do anything around the house. I'm sure there are some primitive thinking men around who think that it is "women's work," but I suspect part of it is a result of never having done anything around the house satisfactorily. Have you ever observed an adult instructing another adult on how to fold towels? Seriously? Proclamation: There are as many ways to fold a towel as there are people.
School is very important. I realize that. I do. But, there are moments when it does not have to be the most important thing in a child's life. Years ago, my children were in middle school and a steam locomotive was in the gulch. It was to get up a head of steam and depart around 8:30 am. My children had never seen a steam locomotive running. It was cold and pouring rain and we learned of the train's departure as I was driving them to school. We drove past school, went to the gulch, and watched the steam locomotive pull out of the station. We came home, they took hot baths, redressed, and went to school. The excuse note for their tardiness said that we were at the gulch watching the steam locomotive. Note accepted. Proclamation: Children often will remember those unexpected moments much longer than what is taught in the classroom.
Two friends and I love to travel together. A few years ago, one of them and I had to drive to the airport in Pensacola to pick up the other one. On our way back to Perdido Key, we took a wrong turn. We meandered through a somewhat seedy-looking neighborhood when we saw a building that we thought was a restaurant. We were hungry, we like local spots, so we stopped. It was a fish market. The boats had just come in. Living inland, I had never seen fish being delivered right off the boat. There was a wonderful market with fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs. It was one of the highlights of the trip. Proclamation: Embrace the wrong turns in life. You may see and learn something excellent that you would otherwise have missed.
Yesterday, I was at the market. An elderly man (probably my age...only kidding, but close) was checking out the peaches. His wife, across the market, in a rather loud voice, said, "Charles, put those down!" He asked her why (no, he did not seem to be in the throes of dementia - but, even so), and she just sort of glared at him. I fear that if I had spoken to he who wishes to remain unnamed on FB in such a way that I would have been wearing that peach somewhere around my head. I know if he had spoken to me that way he would have been. He found himself a few years back wearing a vest of whipping cream as a result of his micro-managing my preparation of strawberry shortcake. It was a funny (if somewhat dumbfounding to the children) event in our house. Charles yesterday was not amused, but seem very chagrined by his wife's arrogance in thinking only she could choose the proper peach. Proclamation: The ripeness of a peach does not trump the dignity of a person.
The foolish ones of us in the "what now" age think we have lived long enough to have the answers. The wise ones of us realize how few answers we really have. Proclamation: Embracing the unexpected enriches lives.
Oops, now who is the arrogant foolish one making all these proclamations? I'll have to work on that.
blessings,
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