2011 The Last Hurrah

As I read the last of the year posts by my buddies at WordPress I marvel at all they have accomplished and their memories of 2011 which then prompted me to look at my own adventures. My year, like most, included events that were happy, sad, miraculous, mundane, motivational and the odd time downright irritating, and or downright silly. All in all I am not sad to be bidding adieu to the year as a whole.

So in as few words as possible and as many languages as possible (just to make sure you get the message 2011:

　

Goodbye – English

creole- ba bye

Farewell – English (formal)

Bye – English (casual)

totsiens / tot siens – Afrikaans (standard)

tot weersiens – Afrikaans (informal)

tot wederom – Afrikaans (informal)

wederdom – Afrikaans (informal)

koebaai – Afrikaans (informal; derived from English “Good-Bye”)

ghoebaai – Afrikaans (informal; derived from English “Good-Bye”)

baai – Afrikaans (informal; derived from English “Bye”)

arriewarie – Afrikaans (informal; folk etymology from “Au revoir“)

tatta / tata – Afrikaans (children’s language)

vaarwel – Afrikaans (formal)

elalleqa – Arabic

khodaa haafez _ persian

aabar dekha hobey – Bengali

Donadagohvi – Cherokee

Hagoonea’ – Navajo

Ahoj – Czech

Ja ne /

・ｶ・・・ﾋ (informal) – Japanese

Ja mata ne /

・ｶ・・・ﾜ・ｽ・ﾋ (formal) – Japanese

Sayonara /

・ｳ・・・ﾈ・・ (if you will not see them for a long time) – Japanese

Auf Wiedersehen – German

Bis dann – German

Tschüss – German

Ade – German

Tschau – German

Bis Spater (Bis Schpaater)- German

Viszlát! – Hungarian

Arrivederci – Italian

Addio – Italian

Ciao – Italian

Buona sera – Italian

Adieu – French [add-ee-uh] (farewell) very formal

Au Revoir – French (aw reh-VWAH)

À bientôt – French (see you later)(ah bee-EN-toe)

À demain – French (see you tomorrow)(ah deh-MAN)

Hejdå – Swedish

Aloha – Hawaiian

Le’hitraot – Hebrew

Shalom – Hebrew

Aavajo – Gujarati

Punha Bhetu – Marathi

Sampai Jumpa – Indonesian

Adios – Spanish

Paalam – Filipino

Zai Jian – Chinese, Mandarin

Zoi Geen (the “g” is pronounced like geek) – Chinese, Cantonese

Farvel – Danish

Namaste (same as hello) – Hindi ( this video shows you how to pronounce namaste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXlcpjgyrOg )

Fir Milenge (see you) – Hindi

Alvida (Goodbye, bit formal) – Hindi

Ayo – Papiamentu

Rub Rakha – Punjabi

Feri bhetaula (lit. we’ll meet again) – Nepali

Do zobaczenia (see you) – Polish

Żegnaj – Polish

Adeus – Portuguese

Tchau – Portuguese

Do svidan’ya/До Свидания (until we meet again, formal)- Russian

Poka/Пока (pronounced pa-ka, informal) – Russian

Do vstrechi/До Встречи (until we meet again) – Russian

Selamat jalan – Malay

Selamat tinggal – Malay

Tot ziens – Dutch

Dag – Dutch

Doei – Dutch

????

– Chinese

Yasou (YAH-soo) – Greek

Hwyl fawr – Welsh

Annyeonghi Kyeseyo(if the person you’re talking to isn’t leaving) – Korean

Anyeonghi Gasyeo(if the person you’re talking to is leaving) – Korean

Näkemiin (See you) – Finnish

Hyvästi (Farewell) – Finnish

Hasta La Vista (see you later) – Spanish

Adios – Spanish

Te veo despues – Spanish

Vale- Latin (to one person)

Valete- Latin (to more than one person)

La revedere – Romanian

Veloma – Malagasy

Sige la – Pangasinan

Khuda Hafiz – Urdu

zai jian – Chinese

Ha det bra – Norwegian

Ha det – Norwegian

Sees – Norwegian

Snakkes – Norwegian

Vida parayunnu – Malayalam

Vidaiperukiren – Tamil (very formal, in fact no one uses this)

Ok maams – Tamil (very informal, use with mates only)

Poitu Vaarein (Taking leave but will visit again)- Tamil (standard fare)

Vaarein (Will come again) – Tamil short for Poitu Vaarein

Slan – Irish

Aavajo – Gujarati

Чао – Macedonian

Doviđenja – Croatian (litteraly means “Until we see again”)

Bog – Croatian ( litteraly means “God”, but can be pronounced Bok! so it is differencianised from the word “God”)

Ćao – Croatian ( Primarily used in Coastal Croatia, because of it location very close to Italy, where you would say “Ciao” and the prounanciation of Ciao and Ćao are similar, if not the same)

Mattae Sigona – Kannada (Used for meet you again sometime)

Chao – Serbian/Bulgarian

Nawatha hamu wemu – Sinhalese (This means “Catch you later”)

Subha dawasak – Sinhalese (This means “Have a nice day”)

Nasvidenje – Slovene (Formal)

Adijo – Slovene (Bye)

Čav – Slovene (Also čao and is pronounced as italian ciao

　

Thanks to: http://www.wikihow.com/Say-Goodbye-in-Several-Different-Languages

Comes That Time of Year

Comes That Time of the Year

I have been enjoying reading all the blogs on WordPress, or at least as many as I can manage, particularly those of my BB’s (blogging buddies), as most are tallying up, evaluating, assessing and reviewing all they have achieved either in life during the last twelve months or in their pledge of commitment to WordPress Postadaychallenge or Postaweekchallenge.  It is the reviewing and the assessing that helps us set our goals for the next year and gives us a sense of accomplishment for our efforts.  It’s an opportunity to perhaps brag a bit or pat ourselves on the back and I am amazed at what I have learned from my comrades-in-type and impressed that I sort of hang around with the best of the best.  Some of you have taken up the Postaday2011 Challenge Questions and I confess that I am joining the pack for no other reason than to celebrate the ‘us’ of it all.

Unlike many of you I did not reach my goal of 365, not because of writer’s block or lack of material but because the presence of mind simply wasn’t there.  It may have been because of personal upheaval (Lord knows there was lots of that this year) or just too dang tired.  Declaring there was not enough time simply didn’t cut it as proved by 5 Minute Fridays.  Five minutes is never too much to ask, and as long as it is clear it is a twelfth of the hour attempt all is forgiven.

So to recognize WordPress.com for all their support and encouragement:

1)      WHY DID YOU START THE POSTADAY/WEEK CHALLENGE?  I was new to blogging and started with WordPress at the encouragement of MB my daughter-in-law who thought my tales would be of interest to others. I chose Postaday for structure and to gain experience.

2)      DESCRIBE THE STATE OF YOUR BLOG AT THE TIME OF THE CHALLENGE.  Raw is the only word that comes to mind.  I think I started in December and posted once.  It wasn’t much and many of my first blogs did not include tags or categories.  It takes me awhile to find my way around techie things!

3)      HOW DID YOUR BLOG EVOLVE OVER THE COURSE OF THE CHALLENGE?  Well the easiest answer to that is that it grew from being tentative observations to embracing ideas, memories, and recognition of events including acknowledging others in the WP family.  Themes began to emerge which I would like to strengthen this coming year.

4)      DID YOU POST AS OFTEN AS YOU HAD HOPED?  WHY OR WHY NOT? No I sure did not.  Weekends away were skipped and in this last two weeks of the year my dedication slipped as I became preoccupied with other things.

5)      WHAT TYPE OF BLOGGING STRATEGY WORKS BEST FOR YOU?  Definitely looking at what is going on in the moment and framing it for presentation.  I have found first thing in the morning is best as my mind is fresher then.  Since my mornings have become more structured since August it would mean starting before my day begins and I have had some difficulty achieving this.

6)      IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?  I guess there is nothing as what I have learned was a part of the growth for the year.  Even the techie stuff.

7)      WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ACCOMPLISHING THIS YEAR?  Hmm.  Definitely the enriched relationships I have developed. People in word who become part of my heart, my family.  Joss Burnel my Crowing Crone, Judith Baxter, who is growingyoungereachday my down under friend, Val Erde and Pat Cegan for inspiration and encouragement, Tricia at the domesticfringe, Elizabeth at Mirth and Motivation, Paul Johnson The Good Greatsby.

8)      NAME 3 GREAT BLOGS YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THROUGH THE CHALLENGE.  Wow keeping to 3 is very difficult but certainly Susan Castle at susanthecoach.wordpress.com whose experience and ability to succeed amazed and motivates me.  My friend Mark at redriverpak.wordpress.com whose humor and journey gives me strength and who is my idol (hmm guess that is my American Idol hehehe), and Colleen at bikecolleen.wordpress.com who seems very brave in all things.

9)      WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT THE CHALLENGE?  Definitely how quickly so many people/bloggers became important to me.  Many who don’t even know I exist.  I was also surprised at the wealth of knowledge out there.  If I could read fast enough I would read everyone.

10)   WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO WANT TO BLOG REGULARLY?  Do it.  Don’t think about an audience, just do it for you own self-expression.  Be sure to tag your work and reply to every comment and acknowledgement.  Also read and comment on other blogs.  You know how much work you do to post so you know that to show appreciation or recognition of others is equally important.

11)   WHAT ARE YOUR BLOGGING GOALS FOR 2012?  Do it.  Fine tune.  Organize. Read Read Read.

A little wisdom from Erma Bombeck to whose list I would only add…blog blog blog and be sincere.

If I Had My Life To Live Over

by Erma Bombeck

The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck
after she found out she had a fatal disease.

 

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the ‘good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television – and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more “I love you’s”.. More “I’m sorrys” …

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute… look at it and really see it … live it…and never give it back.

© Erma Bombeck  

When Words Are Cheap And Easy

When Words Are Cheap And Easy

There are times when words are cheap, easy, irritating, even down right annoying.
There are times when words are anemic wishes and not motivational, not inspirational, and not even true.

And one of those times my friends sits just around the calendar corner.  Oh and not just ONE of those times but THE time of all times.  THE lies of all lies, THE deceit of all deceits, THE hope of all hopes, THE despair of all despairs.

Yes, Yes!  I hate to even say the words but here goes.  I shall swallow my fear and loathing.  New Year Resolutions.  There..I’ve said it.

Do you know even those who smugly say they don’t make resolutions in fact are making a resolution to not make resolutions?

There are a lot of things I don’t currently like about myself and wish to change and here I sit trying to decide if in fact they are mere wishes or if I have what it takes to make the changes.  I know I need to….should..but but can I?

Resolutions are words and I have to decide if I will parade my intentions for applause or if I will take those words, those intentions into my very being and make them real.

Is your resolution reality or fantasy?

http://cartoonblog.msnbc.msn.com/

 

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chris…Chris..Chris

 

It’s Beginning To LookA Lot Like Chris…Chris..Chris

So here’s the scoop..after a tiring week by all, as all weeks should be, in anticipation of a smashing weekend full of festivity and shopping I made my way back to Kitchener on Friday…early on Friday arriving at oneish.  Lunch with my best friends sis and sis in law, chatting the afternoon away then out to Kelsey’s for fish and chips dinner.  I categorically do not like fish and chips but theirs is wonderful.

Home post dinner for a short restful evening, a good nights sleep then a day of shopping, visiting, topped off by our annual brothers and sisters Christmas dinner. 

Suddenly at 9pm I felt the need to call dear old auntie Fran to set up lunch with her.  After many rings a clearly incoherent elderly woman answers.  I abandon my glass of Pinot Grigio, sis drops her glass of rum and coke and we race off to aunties.

I have keys to her apartment but alas they are in Hamilton.  Someone lets us in this secure building and we head off to the 10th floor sis bruising knuckles knocking, place a call to sis number three to come over with her keys and I race down to the super’s apartment to let us in.

On entry find auntie barely conscious, dial 911, try to keep her awake.  We figure it is probably hypoglycemia, but she has been ill so follow emergency’s instructions not to give her anything to drink.

Ambulance arrives and the next hour and a half spent trying to get her blood sugar up which finally happens almost to an astounding normal of 4.4 and parameds leave.  She seems better, others must go and I also tired I could lay on the floor to sleep.  We get in the elevator to leave but I have to return, she has been I’ll after all.

Long long long night and good thing I stayed.  She has trouble with her cough and breathing so I get her ventolin from kitchen.  Breathing easier but still restless.

Finally at 6:50am she falls asleep.  By 9 I let her know I have to go sleep.  Family will be here shortly to do Christmas baking.  Sis is at work til 3 but I am supposed to go visit sis in law at noon.

Have left a note for the bakers that I am sleeping but not to worry about noise. Will try to get a couple of hours..have set alarm.  Sis left her cell at home so cannot let her know updates.

Am soooooo tired but not sure I can sleep.   I expect that one drink at dinner party tonight will render me..well…will see.

That’s it for now. Hope y’all have a wonderful day.

(YAWN) And Another Day Passes WHA?

 

(YAWN) And Another Day Passes WHA???

Perhaps I have been in a dream for the last few days and have revived long enough to post…something, never before having vacated my keyboard for such a long time.  It certainly doesn’t look good for a devoted postaday2011 participant to not postaday.

I could say the hustle and bustle of the season has me otherwise occupied, and that I am baking, shopping, wrapping, singing, decorating.   Something that would sound legit and noble all at the same time.

Alas the sad truth is that my nimble, flying across the key board fingers have been engaged in one activity, that being the flying across knitting needles.  I have but one major gift to complete and normally as I tend to amble along the path of crafty creation, such a venture would take months normally.  Truth be told, and you know I am always truthful mostly, I actually bought the materials a few months ago.  There was a big sale my sister hauled me to in September.  She is not only the crafty one..I means the craftsman or crafts woman of the family, she actually completes what she starts in good time.  Hmm which may explain why her marriage has lasted four plus decades and my attempts at such institution have….but I digress.

I expect that if I could get my….together I could accomplish all things desired but for now …aw heck I will aim at the new year to deal with my procrastination..

Now I am not free of my literary hauntings as there are posts begging to be, well posted.  My review of 11/22/63 is getting less patient each day it is delayed but as I wish to do it justice it will wait.  And I am so dying to do an endearing post on the only proper version of Dickens Christmas Carol/Scrooge, the one with Alistair Sims, which I watched the other night which I have entitled ‘Cut me throat and tear me liver if I be lying.’. I love that line so much it could be no other. And then there is the hilarious one about a Christmas gift to the postman who…nope can’t do it now.  It just has to wait.

My friend, Procrastination, has taken complete control so my focus remains singular…knit..knit..knit.  If I conquer this baby by The 24th there will be no stopping me in what I can achieve!

Two people I think about all the time though…

a dear blogger in Bulgaria of all places Patrecia at 

http://misswhiplash.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/bad-news/

and my own hero Mark facing what could be the best or worst surgery of his life at redriverpak.wordpress.com

If you have a couple extra prayers or well wishes do send their way.

I have a whole bunch of folk I could ask for but right now these guys are a good place to start.

I WISH I HAD SAID THAT!!

 

I WISH I HAD SAID THAT!

Everyone I read, I love.  Of course.  That’s why I read them.  I had a thought that I should write down their brilliance, and might get a post out of it, but once I started I realized I would have to go on and on and on and would never get done.  I love so many of you who are not here but time, space and rapidly advancing age prevented me from completion.  And yes I truly wish I had the wit, the capability, the originality for uttering such gems.

 LINDA

http://lindacassidylewis.com

Lover of words, drinker of wine, liar by necessity. I write life as fiction … and blog about the experience. Author of The Brevity of Roses.

MARK

http://redriverpak.wordpress.com/

A Blog about Sex, Murder, Movies, Music, Idiots, and other silly subjects that appeal to Common Simpletons

JACKIE

http://thejackieblog.com/about/

Once upon a time, there was a little, oddly-shaped hermit girl who lived in a small, hippie-inspired apartment in a big city far, far away from home.  She had opinions on lots of things and felt like dedicating her life to a cause greater than herself.  Without being able to go outside for fear of the stupidity of society,  and with nothing to contribute to the world but her loudmouthed mockery, she made a pact with herself to reignite her blog and to post every single day in 2011.   And in a true display of creativity and wit, she named it The Jackie Blog.

Check out the introduction of its rebirth here.

JAMIE

http://thelifeofjamie.wordpress.com/about/

Wife of 1.  Mom of 2.  Going crazy by 3!

Loving wife, happy homemaker, skilled craftsman, expert marksman, big game hunter, roller derby enthusiast, synchronized swimmer, accomplished singer, award-winning bodybuilder, left-wing political activist, humanitarian, thespian, best-selling author, Miss May 2003, lover of polka music, former exotic dancer, and loving and caring Mother to my two kids.

SUSAN

http://susanthecoach.wordpress.com/

Susanthecoach’s Blog

Susan Castle empowers people to live rich and wonderful lives with unconventional wisdom, and inspires them to realise their dreams

PAUL

http://thegoodgreatsby.com/2011/12/08/is-a-photoshopped-picture-still-worth-a-thousands-words/

The Good Greatsby

With your host Paul Johnson, a man whose mother raved about his comedic writing talents, describing his work as, ‘I don’t get it,’ and ‘Is the page with the funny part missing?’

CECILIA

http://thekitchensgarden.wordpress.com/about/

A NZ girl married to an American fella, living on the prairies. Growing, cooking and eating using sustainable and organic methods. We tell a lot of stories at our table. Sometimes I even get to write a few for you. Welcome. I am here most days. celi

COLLEEN

http://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/about/

I’M NOT VERY WITTY*

Uhm.  That pretty much says it.  I am not very witty.  Though I love humor.  I can’t write funny.  But I can read funny.  I’ll write because I have something to say.  I’ll write because I need to physically write.  Love that process.  Sorry for anything dull.  Sorry for anything crappy.  But if you hit upon a gem…. YAY me!

PATRECIA

http://misswhiplash.wordpress.com/about/

Hi… My name is Patrecia, also known on here as  Misswhiplash. I am 72 years of age . I am English but I live in Bulgaria with my husband Neville , five dogs, one cat and  two donkey.

JOSS

http://crowingcrone.wordpress.com/home/

A number of people have commented about the negative image that the word “crone” brings to mind.

First I want to say that I love being a Crone.  Second, I chose the name  intuitively and very deliberately.

Long ago, when women held a place of honour in society, women of a certain age were referred to as crones.  Back then, Crone meant “wise woman” and it was known that women who had lived a number of decades had seen and lived through enough turmoil, joy, pain and grace, that they had words of wisdom and insight to offer the community.

11 Famous Successes That Stemmed From Failure

I have seen this list a number of times and find it inspiring and then forget about it, so am putting it front and center

11 Famous Successes that Stemmed from Failure

Peter Legge

http://www.healthywealthynwise.com

The pursuit of success is full of some failures. In fact,

the more we fail, the greater our success. History is

chock-a-block full of people who might never have made a

success of their lives without some big challenges.

See if you can figure out who’s who in these descriptions.

(Answers found at the bottom.)

A.) He failed the sixth grade and was defeated in every

single election for public office until he became Prime

Minister at the young age of 62.

B.) He was booed from the podium when he first released his

ideas, and was considered an outcast by his peers and the

scientific community.

C.) In the first year of her contract, she was dropped by

her producers because they thought she was unattractive and

couldn’t act.

D.) He did not speak until he was four years old, and

couldn’t read until he was seven. His parents thought he

was “sub-normal.” He was expelled from school and his

teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and

adrift forever in foolish dreams.”

E.) He was fired after his first performance at the Grand

Ole Opry and told by the manager, “You ain’t going nowhere

son, you otta go back to driving a truck.”

F.) She was broke, living on welfare, severely depressed,

divorced and a single mother while attending school and

attempting to write her first novel.

G.) After a screen test, the memo from the director read,

“can’t act, can’t sing, slightly bald, can dance…a

little.”

H.) A professor suggested he drop out of the English

department and college altogether. At his very first job,

he was paid in cases of shaving cream, soda and nail

clippers. His first book was rejected by 27 publishers

before printers accepted it.

I.) Enduring a rough and often abusive childhood, she faced

numerous career setbacks including being fired from her

first job because she was unfit for TV.

J.) He was told by Emperor Ferdinand that his operas were

“far too noisy” and contained “far too many notes.”

K.) They said he was too small and didn’t skate well

enough. Yet, he set the standard for grit, courage, skill

and humility.

Answers:

A) Winston Churchill; B) Sigmund Freud; C) Marilyn Monroe;

D) Albert Einstein; E) Elvis Presley; F) J.K. Rowling; G)

Fred Astaire; H) Dr. Seuss; I) Oprah Winfrey; J) Wolfgang

Mozart; K) Stan “Steamer” Smyl – Vancouver Canucks.

If you never fail, you’ll never succeed.

  http://www.healthywealthynwise.com

Joss Burnell That Crowing Crone Has Done It

My friend has created a wonderful book.  How do I know it is wonderful? Why because I assisted in my own little way so I have had a preview of what is to come.  Joss doesn’t have a ‘press this’ button so I have endevoured to copy and paste it her announcement of the coming work.  Some of us talk about doing….Joss does it!

Find her at crowingcrone.wordpress.com

Now for the attempted copy..

 

..I can hardly stand it!  The final editing of my book is done. The cover is ready and I’m just bursting with pride and excitement.  All that’s left is the hours of work to upload it to the self publishing software.  They make it sound so easy but it is time consuming for sure. But that’s okay.

 

A huge thank you to Chris King over at Bridges Burning for her wondrous editing work.  Chris was oh so patient, oh so gracious, and oh so paid attention to detail.  I am thrilled with the end product.

Also must thank my friend, photographer John T. Fowler for allowing me to use his image on the cover.  Isn’t it just beautiful?

And last, but definitely not least, thank you to my BFF Christine for reading the manuscript all in one go – she who hates to read at the computer!  Christine, your support and love, as you know, mean the world to me.

So, there it is folks.  I can’t wait to hold the first real copy in my hands.

More Questions Than Answers

Mommy Dearest

More Questions Than Answers

I happened to be leafing through one of those supermarket rags the other day.  You know the ones that claim Angelina Jolie is really wicked, Jennifer Aniston will never recover from Brad, the Kardashians are actually people of importance and George Clooney is truly in love this time.

These things have not changed in the decades since rags became reading material but what has changed is children.  Most notably ‘star’ children – and a suspicious number of twins who are ‘star’ children.

There are whole sections of magazines devoted to toddler fashion declaring that Jennifer Garner’s child out fashions Sarah Jessica’s.

And the one thing in common with all the smiling parents is how much they adore their children, or out adore compared to others.  The sign of good parenthood is no longer teaching, guiding, or God forbid, disciplining.  It’s all about adoration.  And it is not just the stars but those more common folk who mimic fake magazine people; in fashion, food and music who are into the whole adoring thing.

So just a few questions that come to mind:

1)       When your children are grown and they are not the center of everyone else’s universe will you make provisions to hire an Adorer because in time, a very short time you Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sarah…Jennifer..etc etc are going to get pretty sick and tired of giving, giving, giving?

2)      When you are spending your life adoring your children are you going to invest in bubble wrap to protect their poor psyches from a cruel and harsh world that might actually expect them think of something other than themselves?

3)      How will we gauge who the better adoring parent is?  Could it be by smiles, gifts?  Or could it be by how they turn out?  I guess we would need a standard, a gold standard for that.  Paris Hilton comes to mind. And Lindsay Lohen. And……

4)      When you have praised every word, every action, every little burp, how are you going to continue the praise when there is nothing left?  Perhaps complimenting what isn’t there…’Good for you that you do not have an extra toe..that’s a good girl and at 23 I don’t think you will ever develop one.’

5)      If push comes to shove will you sacrifice your own self-respect to make your child feel good about themselves?  ‘Oh you are so wonderful, much more than I am.  I am so lucky to have you, blessed by your very presence.’

I can only hope that all these babies of adoration will someday live in their own city, perhaps called Centerville so that all the real children who learn that you have to actually earn points by hard work, that life is hard but can be mastered and that not everyone is going to like you let alone adore you, can get on with their life in the real world.  Children, who will know that in spite of hardship they are loved, and that adoration is nothing, except a façade setting up unrealistic expectations for these wee ones.

Besides, all that smiling and reporters saying, “He/She adores their little one so much.  It is proof how well loved they are.”  Adoration has never been an indicator of love and too much smiling just makes me wonder how many Mommy Dearest books are waiting to be written.

The Pain of Wisdom

The Pain of Wisdom

CartoonStock

There have been moments in the last year or two in which I have impressed myself mightily with my Wisdom Quotient or Content or whatever the correct term is, if indeed there is a term at all.  The thing is that I have found myself becoming wiser.

It started I believe sometime in my forties when for one moment I was trying to think laboriously about something in discussion when, poof, words of wisdom just fell from my lips almost as though I knew what I was talking about.  Well, thought I that was nice.  Then it began to happen more frequently and I decided perhaps it was Mother Nature’s way of giving back a little when she mercilessly began to strip away my youth.  Well this is darn nice!

Eventually I caught on that this had something to do with experience and I found this very thrilling as experience I had – in so many things.

Within my closest group of friends I noticed our chatter took on matters of wisdom, opinions founded in experience and it was a very heady experience.  It almost felt like adolescence where all of a sudden you know everything and anyone over a certain age knows nothing.  You know that sort of special feeling, except rather than just anyone older not knowing anything, the ignorant included young and old alike; anyone, anywhere, not in the ‘in crowd’ which really meant all non-menopausal creatures of the planet.

But then I began to notice that our conversations turned more and more to aches and pains and what the latest medication of the day was, and our observations of society and all within were turning into gripes and complaints and we were sounding more like, grumpy old folk! Yikes!

Now I have taken a closer look at wisdom and the perception of the world.  I can see it on the horizon, you know where you say something you think is brilliant, and the family just pats you on the shoulder and says, ‘right Ma’ with just a hint of patronization. (Please note they have never called me Ma, but I see it fast approaching).

I am seriously looking at ‘wisdom indicators’ and realize the next chance to be considered wise is at 102 when the evening news does a story on your birthday and every word out of your mouth is a treasure, largely because the population as a whole is amazed you can even utter a word at that age.

“Say can you tell us to what you attribute your old age?”

“Well,” I squeak out, “mostly drinkin heavily, smokin and makin rude comments to the world.” (When you get to the age of being called ‘Ma’ you naturally drop the letter g from words.)

Oh yes, I almost forgot my point on the Pain of Wisdom.  When you are truly wise, when you know it all, when you can solve anything with just a word, you learn to keep your mouth shut.  That, my friends, is the pain of wisdom for which there is one cure and one cure only.  Blog away.  Be smart, funny, wise, cranky and somewhere, somehow you might pass on all that accumulated wisdom.