Now I Understand What Mr. Rogers Was Getting At.

Stuff of Life A continuation of things I never thought I’d hear myself say: #317 – “We don’t put Jacks in our nose.” #128- “Good burp!” #595- “You should chew after your fingers are out of your mouth.” One of the things that brings me joy in watching my children is comparing them to one another. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hold one up and say “Oh, this one is so much smarter than those other two dummies” or anything like that. But it is so interesting to see how different three children can be despite the fact that they all live in the same house with the same parents and have inherited pretty similar genetics. Both nature and nurture are, I think, fairly similar. And yet, there is Miriam, who is so much more confident than Finnegan, my little Mama’s boy. And there is Finnegan, who is so much more go-with-the-flow than Miriam, who always wants to know what to expect. And there is Carmen, who sleeps so much better than either of the other two which may be the greatest blessing in my life currently. They are all so unique, but also similar in many ways, and I simply enjoy each of their little personalities! I am enjoying being a SAHM (Stay-at-home-mum) right now. It’s good to be there for all the silliness and creativity and questions and curiosity and wonder and exploration that life as a little person entails. Spiritual Insight of the Day I love my neighbours. I really do. Not just in the “well, God told me to love them, so I guess I should, even though so-and-so has an irritating yappy dog and what’s-his-face needs a new muffler, which I’m reminded of every morning at 6 a.m” way. Our neighbours are great. We have game playing neighbours who are fun to hang out with an laught with and comete against. We have helpful neighbours who show up to shovel when the dump truck drops a load of dirt in our yard and who hand-me-down their lawnmowers and other tools. We have young neighbours who wave with bright smiles at us and who fill the street with laughter and shrieks. We have neighbours who see eye-to-eye with us and neighbours who remind us that there is more than one way of seeing things. We have awesome neighbours. In the two years since we’ve been in this neighbourhood, we’ve actively introduced ourselves to the folks on our block, and the result is a sense of community and friendship and even security. Earlier this fall, Miriam tricycled down to “the tree”, which is one end of her boundary, and our neighbour Aileen, not seeing me sitting on our porch, came running out of her house. “Miriam, what are you doing out here?” she asked before I called and waved, and explained that the tree in front of her house is one end of Miriams tricycle boundary. I like that our neighbours know us and know our kids and even care about and protect our kids. So today, I am praying for my neighbours. I’m thanking God that he gave us such a great community with such interesting people. I’m praying that our friendships will deepen and that we will learn to be there for each other. I’m praying that they will be blessed by God in their work, in their families, in their homes and schools, and in all parts of their lives. God loves my neighbours as much as he loves me, and I pray that they will realize God’s intention to prosper them and care for them. And I’m praying that I will love my neighbour as much as I love myself. Scrapbook Idea of the Day. TURN OFF YOUR FLASH! That’s it. My big insight. Do it. It will make a world of difference in your photos. My camera turns on the flash whenever there is even the slightest bit of dim in the room. Totally unnecessary. I checked out the instruction manual, and now turn the flash off every time I turn on the camera, and only use it when I know it is quite dark, or if I want to “fill” when the foreground is darker than the background. Since turning it off a couple weeks ago, my photos are so much better in terms of light and colour and softness of image. Try it. You’ll like it.