The 'credit crunch'.
Global warming - real or false?
Depression. Anxiety. Stress. Economic downturn. Massive job losses. Cuts. Cutbacks.
These are the headlines and 'buzzwords' we read every day. And we can become absorbed in them. I know I do. Will my children have jobs when they're older? Will they graduate? Will they get accepted into uni? Will they want to go on 'leavers' *grimace*. Will the world be so polluted by then, that none of it matters anyway?
And then there are the everyday stresses. What would my sister in law like for Christmas? Did I get photographed by that speed camera? What shall we have for dinner?
Today I spoke to a friend who was celebrating the birth, but mourning the death of her firstborn child. Her daughter was born still.
A beautiful mother and child that for reasons we cannot fathom did not get to live together during this lifetime.
After speaking with this remarkable woman, and witnessing the bravery that she displays, I reckoned that the credit crunch is what it is. But I am not going to pay it or any other worry, any more of my time.
Why do we spend so many useless hours thinking of what could go wrong and becoming anxious about situations that we have little control over? It is simplistic, but why am I spending hours surfing the net - when I could go and watch my daughter sleep and say a prayer of thanks for her.
This has been brought home even stronger today. A family we know whose son was experiencing headaches, have had to watch him undergo emergency surgery for a brain tumour. I write this, not to make you paranoid if your child complains of a headache, but to remind you too, that life is short! Life is tenuous! Be grateful for your children!Carpe diem people! Do not be sarcastic when you call them little blessings, but mean it! Mean it! They ARE blessings.
Yes they give you lip, and make you late, and shut their fingers in the car door, and dribble toothpaste on their uniform and want to 'help' you cook dinner and a million other little things that are really...just trivial.
We are a busy society. A consuming society. If we took all those jobs, responsibilities, things, computers, toys, houses, cars away, what would we have? Relationships.
Lets develop ours with our children! Lets make this Christmas the BEST ever. Not by toys or food - but by love. By spending time with our children. Doing all the things we always planned to do.
So I am going to put my money where my mouth is so to speak. Here is my list of things I am going to do with my kids. You can keep me accountable:
THIS Christmas I am going to let my kids help me more in the kitchen. I will even let them crack the eggs and not get cranky when they get shell in the bowl.
This Christmas I am going to lie on the trampolene with my kids and watch the stars come out.
I am going to rollerblade with them at the park and not care if I look like a midlife crisis.
I am going to build sandcastles.
I am going to get into the pool with them and play Marco Polo, instead of gossiping on the edge with the other mums.
And my piece de resistance: I am going to play board games. I hate board games. But I will play, and I will not drink wine to make it more tolerable. (That was a joke people, no dobbing me in to protective services).
What will you do with your kids? Can I end on a cliche? They want US. Not Toys R Us!