5.21.19 Twenty Ways I’m Pretty Sure I’m Still a Kid

“There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.” – Milan Jundera

I decided a great long time ago that I was never going to grow up fully. I can’t say exactly when I made this magnanimous decision … maybe when I read Peter Pan for the first time … maybe when my dad held me to his chest and said, “My little girl is growing up?” It might have been when I decided to be a teacher to stay with kids longer,  or even when I had my own babies and tried to raise them to have their own golden childhood.

Though some days (like today) I feel ancient and tired from my long, weary schedule … I’ve been reflecting on the twenty ways that I’m pretty sure I’m still a kid.

1. I drink chocolate milk regularly … like … every other day.
2. I dip animal crackers in my coffee.
3. Converse are my favorite shoes and I have about fifteen pairs in different colors that I often wear with skirts – at work.
4. I write children’s books because they are the genre I still most enjoy reading.
5. I celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday in my class with readings no matter what age I’m teaching.
6. I believe in the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Yeti, and other unproven creatures … the way I see it is … if they haven’t proven they don’t exist – why not?
7. I often wear my hair in double braids like Dorothy or double buns like Princess Leia … depending on my mood.
8. My favorite animal changes every day.
9. I am more excited to go to the zoo than my own children.
10. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of pretend.
11. I want to be a fairy and sprinkle glitter generously and often.
12. I will eat ice cream any time of the day it is offered to me.
13. I love stickers.
14. I think pizza tastes best on Friday because it is my favorite day of the week.
15. I still ask my mom, dad, sister, cousin, and best friends before making any decisions about important things.
16. I still ask my husband for five more minutes when I wake up (and he gives me ten because he’s amazing like that).
17. I love cartoons. I even watch them alone.
18. I have a Disney playlist that I pride myself on because I know all of the words to every song and my kids don’t.
19. I have a yearning to play kickball every day of recess duty.
20. I wish on everything … eyelashes, 11:11, stars, candles, sometimes even airplanes if they’re flying fast enough at night.

Come on … be young with me! I can’t wait to see what you’ve got on your kid list and if any of our kiddish tendencies overlap! Please reach out and tell me a few so I can add them to my life habits!

Yours kiddo,

Elle

7.9.18 A True Fan

 

“It’s always compliments from people you love that mean so much.” Maria Bamford

Today I have the shortest, sweetest story. To drag it out would be to diminish it’s utter serendipity, and as I delight in fortuitous happenstances, I will tell it as it was. This lovely one is my sister. She is bright of eye, sharp with wit, generous in love and I have admired her forever. A sister through and through, she faithfully buys everything I am published in and reads every post, article, and poem I write. My mom, dad, sister, and husband generously fight over who is my “biggest fan,” and though I trust them with my life, I usually don’t believe a word of it.

That being said, the other day, my sister and I sat poolside, and she was thumbing through my newest Bella Grace summer edition magazine. She came across a spread of “65 Heart & Soul-Saving Reasons to Say No” in which writer’s responded to a Bella Grace’s prompt on Instagram. I’d not gone through that particular section yet, and she scanned and read the responses to herself, finally stopping on the third page of quotes to read me one that said, “Saying no is brave. It is an act of choosing ‘you’ when the world plays tug-of-war with your heart. Reclaim your right to what fills, not empties you.” Pointing to it before reading aloud, she burst out laughing.

“It was yours!” she bubbled. Sure enough, looking down, I saw that I had indeed written that post to Bella’s Instagram months before. “I guess now you’ll have to believe me when I say you really are my favorite writer,” she smiled.

I cannot tell you what that moment meant to me. If I could bottle it, I would, just to let the magic of my sister’s approval wash over me each time I opened the jar. She always says the right thing, but having her mistakenly identify a favorite quote and then find out it was mine!?! That was an authentic compliment I finally allowed myself to believe was real.

So my sweet sister, thank you from the bottom of this quote … our quote …

“I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart).”  e.e.cummings

 

Love you forever, Elle