From the bottom up.

How we approach tasks, whether menial or significant, is interesting and I always wonder what it says about who we really are. For instance, my son always gets naked and puts his socks on first. I find this odd for the obvious reasons and when I asked him about his method his reply was, "I start at the bottom, work my way up, and that way I don't forget any pieces." What stops him from also putting on his shoes is that he tried it once and found it too hard to shove everything through the holes in his underwear (assuming underwear was going to be part of his day). At any rate, he revised his system a bit and it works for him.

I guess we all have methods that work for us and they don't really need to make sense to others, unless what you are doing is affecting someone else. How Thing 2 arrives at getting dressed doesn't really matter. But I don't impose my will on it and that is what really counts. In fact, it's a major milestone in our relationhip and I like to think it will pay off as silly as it sounds. Too much of his own little world is dictated by the big people of his world and the parameters of school. No matter how many rules get thrown his way, Thing 2 always seems to find some little way to tweak it so that it looks like he is following the rules...but barely. He just doesn't like to do things exactly as expected. He has a light in his eye and a ready smile for those who notice and I love to see people who catch it and appreciate it. He will learn all too soon that this won't always fly, but part of growing up is making these judgements and dealing with the consequences.

So now I smile when I know he's dressing. As much as I worry about his rogue behavior, I think, "This boy, my boy, is going to be just fine. He is always going to find a way to make something his own and he is going to be more than fine."

Taking the Long Way Around

This is supposed to be the year of writing, the year of the Book. Tell that to the kids, the husband, the book group, the dog, the part-time job, the schools, and my home. None seems real supportive of my efforts. Progress made: None.

CNN has dissed me but I do have an editor in my address box, I've missed yet another deadline, and the number of original words written since school started is sitting at about 14. Oh well.

I did give a two hour presentation to a group of day care providers on the differences in parenting cultures- Eastern versus Western philosphies. It's a long story as to how that happened for me but suffice to say that is was fun, I got to talk, and they paid me. None of this was part of my original 2011 plan for Year of the Book.

What is happening is the formation of a group called ART. This stands for Andrew's Round Table and we are a group of concerned straight citizens who want to promote dialogue regarding the marriage amendment and what it could mean to Minnesotans. To that end, we have secured a young man by the name of Randy Potts to help us with our quest. Randy just happens to be the gay grandson of the late Oral Roberts. He has a heart-breaking and compelling story that puts yet one more face on the humanity of our mission. And lucky beyond measure, I am charged with the task of finding a venue in Winona for him to share this story, as well as seeing to the other details that go along with planning an event.

I guess I have made some progress....just not in the form of my original plan. This seems to be the way of the world...reality constantly butts into your personal agenda. The trick is rolling with it and soaking up unforeseen gifts and finding the grace in times of great personal challenge.

Randy Potts will be in Winona on October 24th no matter how little progress gets made on My Book. And I care so much that he is coming that it will be worth setting aside my own agenda to give myself over to this experience.

What I thought I would write and what needs to be written may not jive and maybe that's the point. The plan I had versus the one out there for me aren't the same and I am just too slow to recognize it. So my new plan is to not make one and take advantage of all that comes my way.