Friday, May 31, 2013

May Gavinisms

Reminiscing about a movie he's never seen:
Gavin: "Mommy, I like Dark Bader."
Me: "Why do you like Darth Vader?"
Gavin: "Because he's just so bad."

Being dramatic in the car:
Gavin: "My tummy feels throwed up."
Me: "Are you ok?"
Gavin: "No."
0.0005 seconds after saying no: "Look, Mommy! Spiderman!"

Thursday, May 30, 2013

A Shy Guy First


Last night, while playing outside on the Best. Playground. Ever. (see 2-year-old picture above for proof), Gavin noticed the neighbor boys peeking over the fence from their backyard.

"Maybe they want to play, Mommy," he said. "Let's ask them."

"Great idea, buddy!" I said, oozing with pride over my generally shy guy. "Go over and ask if they'd like to come over."

"Will you come with me?" he asked, a little more apprehensive this time.

"You can do it," I said, coaxing him toward the fence. "I'll be right here."

Before he even reached the fence, our youngest neighbor, Royce, yelled over, asking if he and his brother Carlton could come over and play. Gavin responded with an excited "Ya!" and ran back to me with a grin that split his face wide open. He was ecstatic, and spent the next hour playing soccer, taking turns on the swings, and playing chase.

And if the evening wasn't already stereotypically "boys from the neighborhood hanging out," they also chased, caught and then proceeded to bathe a toad. Boys, right?

I was so proud of my shy guy, and reminded that even though my heart aches every time I realize how fast he's growing, it swells to see him maturing into such a sweet, confident kid.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

One Word, Five Voices: Sing

Those of you who know me well know that I randomly sing words and phrases throughout my day. I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible for me to utter the word "creepy" without it coming out as a sing-songy "creeepeee." Go ahead and spook me with a story if you'd like to test that one out.

I grew up with song so it's naturally a part of my every day, and probably 99.9% of the reason my life feels like a musical. My mom is a fabulously talented singer, and though I don't remember my childhood being filled with randomly sung words like "creeepeee," I do remember her "Good morning" song, Christmas caroling through our neighborhood, trying out for high school musicals, and listening to her sing in church every Sunday morning. Song was so incorporated in my young life that I wrote this poem about it in college:


Childhood Epiphany in High G

I sat in a hard-backed pew
at St. Mark’s Catholic Church
every Sunday morning and listened
to my mother sing. 
Hymns, praise songs, and alleluias carried
her perfect soprano 
above the low-pitched muddle,
and with eyes closed I could pluck
her notes from the air and take them home
as the one godly thing I reaped that week. 


In fact, I think song heavily contributed to my love of poetry. I mean, songs are nothing more than poems set to music, right? Granted, some aren't as crafted as others, but you can't set your expectations too high for a typical pop song, I guess.

Even still, there's something about song that transcends poetry. It's the act of singing that brings the poem in a song to life. It's a joyful noise with which we can share the emotion behind a song and experience what the writer experienced.

Singing brings our lives to life.

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This post is part of a series focused on a single word, which started with a 2013 Lenten challenge from Rethink Church. A group of five friends (including me) posted once a day and love-hated it so much we couldn't stop. We now post once a month on the same word. Check out what my friends think of the word "sing" on their blogs: ShawnHeatherSteph and Brian.