Thursday, August 21, 2014

Just a Little Something to Let You Know I'm Still a Blogger

Making banana bread with Cuckoo this morning, he asked why we used the yucky bananas instead of the good bananas.  I answered, "Well, people will eat the good bananas.  No one will eat the bad ones.  By using the old ones, we are making something good out of something bad."

As soon as I said it, I knew I had hit on something profound.  It's quite the analogy for life, I think.

Making a good life is like making a good loaf of banana bread.  You need to use the yucky stuff to make something delicious.

Or something like that.

Next thought:

I took Turken to his soccer practice last night.  We were a couple of minutes late, as we were coming from Buttercup's game.  He ran ahead to his field, since my bum knee and I can't go as fast as he'd like us to.  When I finally got to the field, the coach was trying to get eight 6 and 7 year olds to do a soccer drill.  All while carrying a toddler.  He was sweating profusely, because it was 85 degrees and as humid as the rain forest AND he had just spent over an hour coaching his 4 year old's team immediately before our practice time.

The parents of these players were set up in their chairs on the sidelines, watching the coach struggle.

I was flabbergasted.  Why was no one helping this poor (volunteer) dad?

I marched (as best I could) right on up to the coach and asked if he needed help corralling.  His face showed his gratitude as he handed off his sweet little girl.  I didn't even know her name, but I took her and let him get on with the practice.  A little later, the coach's four year old came over and hung out with us, too.

I was pleased to see another parent get up and offer his assistance in corralling the team after I walked away.

Why?  Why don't people get up and help when they see volunteers who clearly need it?

I'm sure Clark will have an answer for me.  I'm guessing it has something to do with my (as he calls it) worldview.  But honestly, I get annoyed when people all over the internet and in person talk about the need for everyone to help his neighbor or "it takes a village" but then no one actually steps up to do anything when confronted with the prime opportunity to actually do something.  And something easy to boot.

Relatedly, if a coach (for the high school team) asks for volunteers to help with communication and spiritwear and food for the players before games, and you sit there twiddling your thumbs, DO NOT then offer me advice on how to do the communications job I ultimately agreed to do.

Unrelatedly, dear Blogger spell check, relatedly is to a word.  I looked it up, so you can stop with the squiggly line.

Next thought:

Cuckoo is going to be mighty disappointed come Saturday, which just happens to be his birthday.

He has asked for something he "can do".  When asked for clarification, he told me "like an iPod.  Or a Kindle Fire.  Or an iPad."

I told him it wasn't going to happen.

Then this morning, out of nowhere, Cuckoo and I had this conversation:

C:  I saw a wubble bubble on TV.  I want one for my birthday.
Me:  What is a wubble bubble?
C:  It looks like a bubble and floats like a bubble and you can catch it like a bubble, but it doesn't pop.  I want one.
M: Well, I still don't know what it is, and I have no idea where to find one.
C:  I don't know where to get it either.
M:
C:  Oh, I know!  Kroger has it!  Kroooogeeer...or Wal-Maaaart...or Meijer.
M:
C: Ask someone.  Don't ask (Bible study friend), because they won't know.  Ask (another friend).
M:  Ok.
C (handing me my phone):  Now. Text them.

All morning we've been doing this.  Every so often he comes up with another clue as to what a wubble bubble could be.  I also know that it is about "this big" and is green, but mostly normal bubble colored.

I'm at a loss.

Hopefully when he unwraps a gigantic jar of Nutella, he'll forget all about the wubble bubble.

Hopefully.

The more likely situation:  Four months from now, when we're driving to preschool, he'll yell from the backseat, "Hey!  I didn't get a wubble bubble for my birthday!"

And that is when I will say, "Well, when Nana asked what you wanted for your birthday, I told her you wanted a wubble bubble.  You'll have to ask her about it."

That, my friends, is how you make a yucky situation delicious.

Have a lovely day!

27 comments:

  1. FRIST!!

    Have a look here for a wubble bubble if you've not already found out about it yourself by now -

    http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-WUBBLE-BUBBLE-Looks-bubble/dp/B00LK1YMD4

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    1. AAAAHHHH!! and HAHAHAHAHA!!! I never thought to just google it! The boy is constantly getting words wrong, so it never crossed my mind that it was the real name of the blasted thing!

      THANK YOU!!

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    2. So now you know, will you be getting him one? :)

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    3. Oh my word, I showed him the photo you linked, and he went berserk. That's it! How did she know where to find it?!? Who is she? Now I can get one! Can we go get it right now? On and on. You made one little boy very happy. :)

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    4. I can just imagine his little face :)

      Don't know if this link will work but if it does show it to him and wish him a very happy birthday from me -

      http://photo.elsoar.com/wp-content/images/Free-Greeting-Cards-Happy-Birthday-Balloons-Quotes-6.jpg

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  2. I don't know why people won't help either. This happens in our yacht club too. People just sit and never lift a finger. Hello.

    Well, I'm guessing he's going to get the wubble-bubble for his birthday. Right.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. I'm going to have to let Nana get it for him, since she won't see him for a little while. It will have time to get to her. :)

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  3. I love the philosophy behind the banana bread. And with two large bananas browning away in our fruit bowl, guess what's in our future :-)

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  4. You are learning from the best. Cuckoo is profound!
    As far as why I wouldn't step up (if I didn't), it would bee because I was sitting in the limbo of should I/shouldn't I. Helpful or officious? I'd get stuck, and then feel guilty when someone else steps up, sure I should have.

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    1. Thank you for being honest and answering the question. I thought this might be the case. (We have Clark to thank for that. I'm actually starting to understand and use that Wakefield Doctrine of his.) I usually do well with remembering that and giving people the benefit of the doubt. At this practice, though, it was beyond obvious that he could use some help. I was having a hard time being generous in my opinions.

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  5. The only person who eats bananas in our house is my husband. Sometimes he doesn't eat them and they become banana bread. So when he asks me to get bananas, I say "Am I getting bananas or banana bread ingredients?" meaning "Are you actually going to eat them this time?"

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    1. I eat a banana every day for breakfast. The little boys used to eat them every day, too, but they've decided they don't like them anymore. (I do not understand this phenomenon at all, but all of my kids have done this with a number of foods. It makes me crazy.) Star will eat one sometimes. But sometimes, I buy extra, just because I love banana bread so much.

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  6. I love your banana bread analogy - it's very true. The more we can learn to make something good out of something bad in life, the better off we all might be. The same thing happens around here with bananas, by the way. The Hub won't touch them and they aren't my favorite - I kind of make myself eat them because I know they are good for me. Zilla loves them, though. So if she doesn't manage to handle whatever bunch she picks at the market, banana bread it is. Which the Hub also won't touch.

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    1. Thanks. I liked it, too. :)

      While I do like bananas, I can understand you and your husband's aversion to them. However, I can't wrap my head around the thought of someone not liking banana bread. What is not to like?!?!

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  7. http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-WUBBLE-BUBBLE-Looks-bubble/dp/B00LK1YMD4

    This is what he is talking about :)

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. I see others beat me too it... I was too lazy to read others comments.... they have really bad reviews on amazon sadly....http://www.amazon.com/HearthSong%C2%AE-HearthSong-BBOPTM-Ball/dp/B009E8LPDK/ref=pd_sim_t_14?ie=UTF8&refRID=1FNPD5PX8JS146NKTG8J

      http://www.amazon.com/Inflatable-Fun-Ball-Jumbo-Inside/dp/B0041G6TYU/ref=pd_sim_t_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PM3PBXRYHRFJ0J88D1T

      My vote is for one of those two... but thats the crazy kid in me...

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  8. Oh, the "not helping" thing drives me nuts too! Last night at Eric's practice, it was one of those unpredictable weather nights and right as practice was supposed to begin, there was thunder and lightning. The rule is to wait 30 minutes before resuming practice so coach asked all the parents to stick around. The coaches and I were making calls to the league and checking forecasts to see if storms were headed our way - to decide whether to wait the 30 minutes or just cancel - and this Mom comes up and says "Ummm, have you decided about practice yet?? Because I REALLY need to get to the gym." It was obvious that she was annoyed at the inconvenience of not being able to dump her kid off and leave right away. I just stared in disbelief. The coaches spend so many hours volunteering their time (and they don't even have kids on the team) and she couldn't even sit there for 15 minutes waiting!

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  9. Boy you are quick on your feet thinking up just the perfect answer...poor Nana, lol.

    I totally get what you mean about people "talking" about being more charitable, but either don't recognize when that charitable action is needed, or simply doesn't step up to the plate when needed because that wasn't the charitable action they were interested in. Sad really. Being made up of 99% maternal instincts I would've entertained the child as well. Good job Mama!

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  10. ( I want to thank Sarah for providing the 'reason', if not the Doctrine explanation for why one of the two other groups of people did not 'step up')...

    ...you are absolutely that what the Wakefield Doctrine does is remind us that maybe 'those other people' are experiencing the situation in a (slightly different) way than you are...
    lol.... tell me, you picked the word 'corralling' to stimulate a visual that made me smile...

    it is said, 'clarks think, scotts act and roger feel'.

    you illustrate that characteristic of your worldview quiet clearly that in your story.

    (and the clarks at the soccer field? they knew someone should do something, but they were trying to think of the 'right approach' to take or were afraid that if they did something they might get it wrong
    ...and the rogers (as Sarah implied, they also knew they should help, they were simply waiting for someone to authorize the volunteer help... this is referred to as referential authority)

    the 'drive to act' is why scotts are the 'natural leaders'

    fun Post!

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  11. heck yeah! she cor-ralled them critters!

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  12. Okay, you've inspired my rant about people who don't lift a finger: last week we were at Dairy Queen (outside) and I smelled smoke, but couldn't see where it was coming from. Shrugged it off, thought maybe a nearby fire pit or something. 5-10 minutes later (long enough to carry on a conversation for a while), I walked across the seating area and saw an entire dumpster engulfed in flames across the parking lot. The fire department was like a minute away, but no sirens. People were just sitting in the drive-thru, putting in orders and whatnot. ARE YOU KIDDING ME, DOESN'T ANYONE CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WHEN THEY SEE A FIRE??? I asked aloud -- had anyone called 911??? So I called (luckily I apparently wasn't the first one). But still, I was amazed at how many people were sitting and gawking without picking up a phone.

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  13. Ahhhhhhhh.....so that's where the wobble bubble came from. I fell behind on my reading. Glad I got caught up. Smiling big right about now. :D

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  14. I like your strategy on the wubble bubble!
    Ugh. The stinking 10% always does 90% of the heavy lifting. Gets my hackles raised ALL THE TIME. I feel ya.

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  15. Apparently I fell behind in blog reading when I was at Education Week. I love your Parable of the Banana Bread. Kudos to you for your wubble bubble patience. While one wubble bubble conversation is cute, I imagine that days of wubble bubble conversations might get old. (Or maybe not. Cuckoo is pretty adorable.) As for helping or not helping, I think that for many people, it just takes a bit of an "aha" moment: "Oh, I can do something about that!" When people LOOK for opportunities to help others, they find them. Good for you for helping that coach!

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Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!