A Womans Blog

The Jena Six. For most Americans, it is a news story - apalling, repugnant - but just a news story. For me, it hit a little closer to home. My father’s family is from Jena. My octagenarian grandfather was superintendent of the school district for many years.  My father played with the current Jena High School principal after school when he was a kid. It’s a place I visit periodically for Christmas or Thanksgiving. And as sad as the story makes me, I can’t say I’m surprised.

Actually, my dad grew up in Summerville, a place so small, you could literally pass it if you happened to sneeze when you drove by. In fact, other than the Free Methodist Church, which is close to extinction, and Rooster’s, a gas station that sells incredibly tasty boudain balls, it’s hard to tell you’ve made it to town. And going to the city means driving 20 miles to Jena, which by comparison is almost cosmopolitan. 

I love my family. Flaws and all. I love my great-aunts. Women, who would give the shirt off their back for someone they loved. Literally. But these same women would stun me when visit after visit, they spewed off-hand comments about how Black people were to blame for most societal ills and petty crimes of the neighborhood. It made me uncomfortable and I blamed it on their age - in their 80s, they were still living as though the civil war might still be won by the south. When they’d get started, I often left feeling dirty, disgusted and thankful that my parents raised me with a different set of values.

Having said all this, I was not surprised at all to hear that one of the biggest stories of the year involving bigotry and racism was in Jena, Louisiana. As an American, it shames me that we haven’t progressed farther in race relations. As a white person, I’m even more ashamed and feel driven to do my best to stand up for freedom, civil rights and equality for everyone. As a mom, the story inspires me to teach my son right from wrong, to show him in action and word that all are created equal, to tell him the struggles of so many who have gone on before us that gave their lives so that their children and their children’s children may drink from the same fountain, ride in the front of the bus and attend the same schools and have the same opportunities.  I want him to know of their courage, bravery and strength and how it has enriched our lives today.

And that is why I’m writing this post, in a blog about women and balance and parenting. Because balance isn’t always just about what goes on in our own little sphere of the universe. Balance sometimes involves doing our little part to stamp out prejudice and hate. Teaching our children who Martin Luther King, Jr. was. Teaching them about Ghandi. Teaching them about civil disobedience and the struggles of minorities and how their struggles have impacted our world for the better. And hopefully, by teaching them these things and living life respectfully towards others, we will leave a mark that will continue to inspire love, peace and balance in this world. Because, as the human race, we are all connected - we are all one. And when one part of the body hurts, the entire body feels pain with it. The eye is not separate from the nose, neither the finger from the elbow. They cannot exist apart from the body and likewise, we truly cannot exist in the fullness we are meant to, when we are divided by hate, ignorance and prejudice. We cannot feel removed from Jena, removed from the injustice of 6 teenage boys that are facing ridiculous charges for their circumstances. We cannot feel distanced from these 6 teenage boys that faced the shame of not being allowed to hang out near the ‘white tree’ and feel the hatred of lynching nooses displayed in broad daylight.  Why? Because we are human - it is our race - and this is our shame and pain. And it is our action that will make the difference. It is our duty as parents to train our children in the way of peace.

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I’m always hearing in the news, from doctors and even my own husband about how drinking water is good for me. Recently I gave birth to my third son. When I started nursing him, I was incredibly thirsty each time he would feed. So, I drank TONS of water – on average 80 to 100 oz of water a day. I also dropped weight fast those first 6 weeks. Now granted, some of that is just losing the fluids my body retained during pregnancy but I do believe my body functioned better with having more water.

Lately, as I have begun to chase a toddler around, clean house again and take care of my youngest, I have stopped drinking the water. Instead of feeding my son in a quiet room with a glass of water on hand, I’ve found myself trying to feed while getting other errands done. (This is quite a challenge. With the help of a sling, I have even managed to fix my hair with my son attached!) As soon as I’m finished nursing, there is always something to attend to thanks to my curious two year old, usually involving a mop or towel of some kind. Breakfast has resorted to whatever my toddler didn’t eat on his plate and showers are more of a luxury. So, making sure I drink water has really fallen to the bottom of the list.

In the spirit of this blog, I’ve decided to give myself a ‘water challenge’. I vow to add water back into my daily routine as a part of the balance we need as women. For the next two weeks, after my morning coffee I will drink water instead of grabbing a soda when I’m thirsty. My goal is to drink at least 64 oz of water daily. I’ll post periodically how I’m doing with keeping up my challenge, as well as how I believe it is affecting me. I also challenge any other women or moms reading this to take better care of themselves by drinking more water as well.

I’m leaving now to get my first glass of the day. Bottoms up!

As promised, today I’m uploading a few examples of files I created for our own family nights.  I’ve not created anything fancy; simply things that will work for a busy mom wanting to throw something together for her children.

 The first file is a word document that I created to make our ‘plane tickets’.  It is a very generic word document. Feel free to download it and make the changes needed for your own family. Even though they look nothing like an actual plane ticket, it was a part of the whole night my son loved. I even let him be the ‘ticket passer outer’, as he put it, and hand everyone their tickets and then take them back as they boarded ‘the plane’.

Download this here.

The next file is a simple coloring sheet of Stonehenge. I always tried to pick something that we talked about during the power point or flight. Not only do the children enjoy coloring with the parents (yes, I colored sheets with them!), but it reinforces what you talked about. For instance, with the Stonehenge sheets, you can talk about where it’s located, what people think it means, how old it is, etc.  while you color. Usually I would do a search on Google about whatever it is I’m looking for (i.e., stonehenge coloring sheets). Another good resource is The Coloring Spot (www.thecoloringspot.com). They have free coloring sheets you can download and print and links to other resources for coloring.

Download Coloring Sheet

The last file is the powerpoint. It is very simplistic. I’m not trying to save the world or impress stock holders with it. It’s only to help spark the imagination of my children and teach them a few things along the way. Besides, if I made it too fancy, I probably wouldn’t continue it because it would be so difficult to maintain. I stay with the same basic format for every place we travel to so that it is easy to update for each destination. Again, feel free to download and adapt it to your tastes and destinations.

Download powerpoint

I hope you get some use out of these files and that it inspires ideas of your own. Feel free to post other cool family night activities or share how your own family night flight went. Ciao!