Archive for May, 2012

13 May

Traffic Calming Device

Posted by Sherry in Not Food. Tagged: , , , , , , .

This week I learned that “traffic calming device” is just a fancy way of saying  SPEED BUMP.

Isn’t that funny?

The words “traffic” and “calming” seem like polar opposite things.  Traffic makes me think of high stress, long, slow moving lines of cars, trucks, people, ants……and Calming makes me think of scented candles, relaxing music and whatever the opposite of high stress is (I don’t believe I’ve ever reached that end of the spectrum).

It’s so interesting to think about speed bumps, and what exactly their purpose is.  They slow us down (by us, I mean me).  They are placed to bring protection to not only the driver, but people nearby.  Often, they bring protection to the roadway itself, and the environment.

In my younger days, I viewed them as bothersome and “in the way”, and did my best to get as many of my car’s tires around the obstacles as possible.  I’ve tried hitting them fast, thinking the quick bump would be less annoying than the slow, yet body jolting, bumpity bumpity as the tires crawl over one by one.  It’s not.  I’ve even taken longer routes to get from point A to point B,  just to avoid a short stretch of speed bump laden roadway.

I’m older now and have found an appreciation for them. Now that I have kids who like to ride their bikes in the neighborhood and throw football to each other across the street, I’ve even thought about secretly installing them in front of my house to slow down our neighbors with lead feet.  I realized that although they used to seem annoying, they really serve an important purpose at getting everyone to slow down and use caution  –  to become more aware of what’s around.

There have been many speed bumps in my spiritual pathway.  In the beginning, they caused me to stray off course easily.  I would do anything to avoid them.  But then there were other times when I hit them so hard, I had to deal with the damaging repercussions as a result.  I wasn’t expecting them, or I didn’t see them because my focus was not on the road in front of me.  Most of the time, I would throw a hissy fit and all out temper tantrum at the placement of those speed bumps.  “Why, why, WHY!!!???”

I’ve been traveling this road for a while now, and am becoming a driver who is more aware of the speed bumps that lie ahead.  Some still catch me off guard, but I don’t see them as annoyances anymore.  I understand that they are placed in my pathway for a reason, and that makes the slowed pace easier to handle and opens my eyes to see more of what’s around at those times.  I know that there will always be speed bumps, and have actually become thankful for them in recent years.  I may not always understand the reason for their placement at the time, but usually down the road a ways, I can look back and see how perfectly they were positioned.

Traffic calming devices?  Yeah, I can see that now.  But I sure didn’t understand it in the beginning.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
                                                                                                                          James 1:2-3

1 May

“Use a Sharpie!”

Posted by Sherry in Not Food.

“Because, okay?  I just know these things, so you should trust me.”

We read.
We read a lot. 
Our kids cannot not remember getting new books to add to their reading collection.
And what’s the first thing you do to your new book, before heading out the door to school with it?
You brand it.
Yep, put your moniker right on it, big and bold enough for all passersby to know it belongs to you.

The challenge came as no surprise by the time our third son joined the party.

“Why, mommy?”

“Because, you have to use this pen so your name will not rub off.”

“But I want to use my purple marker.”

“You can’t use your markers, because they’ll  just smear.  You need to use the black Sharpie.”

“But I can just write my name with this pencil.”

“No, you cannot.  It won’t show up good enough.”

“What about this purple crayon?”

“Honey, no, you cannot use crayon, it might rub off, too.  Just use the Sharpie.”

After exhausting all other options, he sat down at the kitchen table, picked up the Sharpie and started to write his name on the cover of his new book.  I felt satisfied in this win, even though I felt like I was having this same exchange every time he got a new book.  After flipping through the mail and putting up a few groceries, I noticed that he had switched the Sharpie for the purple marker when I wasn’t looking.

“No!  See how it smears when you rub your hand across it?  I told you to use the Sharpie!”

There are things we teach our children.  There are things we’ve experienced, things we’ve learned through our own successes and mistakes.  There are things we want to keep our kids from having to go through.  So this particular time, the lesson is not a big deal.  Eventually, through trial and error, he would have figured out why it’s best to use a Sharpie for marking ownership of the book.  Actually, he did.  See, even though I tried to get him to trust me on this one, and just use the Sharpie in the first place, his inquiring mind wanted to figure out the “why” part all by himself.  He’s now ten years old.  His brothers are 14 and 19.  Do they listen to me all the time?  No.  But they know that they can trust my advice, and guidance, and that I would not tell them anything to cause them harm.  There are some things in life that they just have to figure out on their own, regardless of my parental coaching.

I’m pledging today, and writing it with a Sharpie, that I will not use the phrase, “I told you so”.  🙂