Wonderful Wimpy

Today Thing 1 invited Thing 2 into her bedroom and Thing 2 went willingly. The impetice to this major event was Jeff Kinney, author of the bestselling series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Thing 2 had mentioned that many of his classmates were reading them so Thing 1 offered her books to Thing 2. The compedium is incomplete- numbers 2 and 3 are missing. They are likely under the pit from hell (her bed) or gone forever because they were mistaken for library books and returned. At any rate, parents overheard a normal conversation happening and were so stunned that Things overheard parent's sudden silence and closed the door. Hmph!

Thing 2 later emerged skipping out of Thing 1's bedroom. Yes, he was skipping! And he settled right in to read and no one forced him to!

These kids of mine do not fight every minute of the day, but they certainly do not seek out one another's company so I left feeling grateful for Jeff Kinney, bestselling author and miracle worker.

Maybe I should box up a few thousand copies of the Wimpy Kid series and ship them off to Iraq and Iran. It seems we've tried everything else...

I don't watch a lot of tv, but I tuned in to see Gabby Giffords last night. After the hell of last week that continues to emerge, I thought a good story was in order. And while her journey is far from over, the journey itself was remarkable to see. If, as individuals,we possessed an ounce of her tenacity and spirit and fight, collectively we could really turn a lot around in our own lives and in society.

I started to think about love. It seemed to emanate from the screen- her husband was next to her every inch of the way and his desires to see her succeed seemed to match her own. I wonder, do we all feel that kind of love from someone. I am blessed. I do. And because of that, the only thing that beats me down....is myself.

The Gabby Giffords in our world need to stand up. They need to shout, they need to bring us to our feet in a chorus of let's do it. Let's get it done, inch by inch...come on!