I have a four and a half year old son that has a very active imagination. He comes up with the craziest thoughts, all of which make perfect sense to him.
For example, while brushing his teeth the other morning I was informing him that we were going to need to replace his mirror in his bathroom. No big deal you say? Um, pretty big deal for Calin. Apparently he loves the tacky 80′s mirror that is currently gracing the wall because when I told him that we were replacing it he pitches a fit. When he finally calms down, he says “I am okay now. I can get a new mirror. They have them in New Mexico.”
Another such story involves sharks. When putting my son to bed recently he told me that sharks live in Alaska in the sea. He then told me that they eat people. I tried to explain that they usually don’t eat people, but bite them and not to worry we weren’t planning on going to Alaska. He asks “so sharks don’t eat people?” I said “no”. His response” “Flying squirrels do.”
This very morning he asked me where heaven was. I told him it was way up in the sky. He thought about this for a minute then looked at me and said “I know, if we fly in a plane to California way up in the clouds we will be in heaven”.
When telling these stories to others, I am often asked two questions. The first being, “How do you keep a straight face?” (the answer being I look away from him to keep from laughing). The second question is, “Are you writing this stuff down?” The answer is yes. I want him to be able to look back years from now and see what an innocent and active imagination he had (and it comes in handy when you need a good laugh).
- Helen Trabue
Dine out for Books From Birth of Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, July 27th from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Sole Mio.
Sole Mio will donate half of their evening food sales to Books from Birth of Middle Tennessee, a non-profit childhood literacy organization operating under Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Feed your taste buds while feeding the imaginations of local preschoolers in Middle Tennessee through programs like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Jo’s Reach Out & Read Book Club.
To reserve a table, please call 615-256-4013. (Take out orders count, too!)
Books from Birth of Middle Tennessee
With many of Nashville’s at-risk neighborhoods recovering from the recent flood, more Nashville students than ever will lack the supplies they need to go back to school prepared for success.
Join United Way of Metropolitan Nashville for the 3rd National Day of Action as they STUFF THE BUS with school supplies for children and teens served through United Way’s Neighborhood Family Resource Centers and partner agencies working daily to equip the youth of Nashville’s neighborhoods for success. 50,000 of Nashville public school students are living at or below the poverty line…this Day of Action will help ensure their success in school.
What: School Supply Item Drop-off & Sort-a-thon
Where: McGruder Family Resource Center (located less than 2 miles from Metro Center)
2013 25th Avenue North | Nashville, TN 37208
When: Thursday, July 22, 2010
Choose either:
Shift #1 – 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Shift #2 – 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Wish List Items
Click here to RSVP
Click here to donate
I have been fortunate enough to give birth to two beautiful, healthy babies. And, I confess, I took the whole birthing experience for granted. I didn’t worry about whether there would be the appropriate medical supplies available for the doctor to use, let alone if they were sterile. But, many women in developing countries (where infant and maternal mortality is high) must give birth in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
Here’s how one mother can help another. By donating $25 to IMA World Health, you can sponsor a Safe Motherhood Kit, which is designed to “provide a clean delivery and safe birth.” Included in the kit are sterile items for childbirth and warm clothes for the newborn. In addition, “IMA provides education on the importance of clean and sterile birthing procedures and training of the proper use of a Safe Motherhood Kit.” These kits are sent to Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, as well as Haiti in the Caribbean – areas where infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
IMA World Health
Safe Motherhood Kits
- Malinda Moseley
Posted in Activities, Attitude of Gratitude, Development, Diversity, Education, Family, Health & Wellness, Healthcare & Medical Issues, Poverty, Safety, Volunteer
“The time is always right to do the right thing.” This is what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said. There are a lot of things we can do to help our schools and our community. We shouldn’t judge people by their skin color. Also, we shouldn’t be mean to people because of their accent or size. The right thing to do is to treat people the way you want to be treated. This means if a person hurts you by hand or word, you shouldn’t hurt them back.
There are many things people can do to help our community. One example is the Heifer Project. The Heifer Project is when people give money to buy animals for people in other parts of the world. Another example is The East Tuscaloosa Community Soup Bowl. Some people give money or food. Other people give out sack lunches. Some people prepare hot meals.
At my school we should follow the 3 R’s: Be Responsible, Be Resourceful, and Be Respectful. If everybody followed the 3 R’s, we wouldn’t have anything to worry about. These are a few ways to help our schools and community. It is up to each of us to follow Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideas.
Now is the time to do the right thing!!
- Bailey Farish (Age 9, Tuscaloosa, AL)
Are you traveling this summer? My family is about to travel to Colorado for a week. We have some ideas about what we will do while we are out there, but it would be great to have an easy way to find fun nature-related activities that are nearby, too. Luckily, now we can, with a new free iPhone app from NatureFind.
This unique app features more than 9,000 nature-related places and their events, including parks, nature centers, zoos, and botanical gardens. The app highlights more than 200,000 wide-ranging events such as nature walks, birding hikes, water adventures, and programs on all kinds of animals and phenomena of the nature world.
The app helps families find events of interest for all ages, from tots to singles to seniors. The events selected are engaging, informative and affordable. Each NatureFind featured place or event is reviewed by an editor to assure that each offers a quality experience of nature.
* Find events in three easy taps
* Zoom in and get directions
* Switch instantly between listings and maps
* Watch demos on featured events and activities
When traveling around town or in a new area, the NatureFind iPhone app makes it easy to browse for things to do and places to visit.
So, go on and get out and find nature!
- Malinda Moseley
www.naturefind.com
Way Late Play Date
Location: Adventure Science Center
Date: Thursday, June 24 and Tuesday, July 27
Time: 7 – 10 p.m.
What: Re-Discover Your Inner Child! Ever watch all those kids having a great time at Adventure Science Center and wished YOU were the one turning all the knobs and playing with the experiments?
Adventure Science Center introduces its Way Late Play Date for adults (21+) only!
Enjoy a night at the Science Center without the kids. You’ll have all the exhibits to yourself, including the laser game Body Battles in BodyQuest, the Tilt a World in Space Chase and the many levels of the Adventure Tower. All the center’s exhibits are adult-friendly, so if the kids can climb it or slide down it, SO CAN YOU!
Your ticket grants you admission to the center and two adult beverage tickets for the night, as well as some light munchies.
Tickets: $15 individual; $25 couple
Purchase tickets here
Adventure Science Center Nashville
My daughter is taking swimming lessons this summer. Usually my husband takes her because I can be somewhat of an overprotective mother hen. Basically, I get stressed out. It’s hard watching her do something she’s never done before. Her swimming teacher is awesome with her, I know. But, for some reason I just want to jump in when I see her start to falter. Never mind the teacher is right there with her watching her every move. So, anyway, my husband has been the one taking her. Until last week when he couldn’t.
I found myself sitting on the bench beside the pool watching her teacher take her hand and lead her to the water. She was so small in that great big pool. Yet, she was so brave. One of the things she cannot stand is to put her face in the water. However, she told me after the lesson that her teacher had encouraged her to try to put her face in the water to blow bubbles. She said, “Mommy, I was scared, and I only put my face in half-way, but I tried.” I told her that she was actually very brave and that sometimes new things are scary and it’s okay to take small steps.
As I walked hand in hand with her to our car, I asked myself, “When was the last time I was brave?”
- Malinda Moseley
I never met my mother-in-law. Not in this lifetime, anyway. She died a year before I even met my husband. I have heard about her in stories, seen home movies of her, and looked at her beautiful face in photos. I would have liked to have met her and talked with her. Especially now that I have a son. I would love to ask her advice on raising a boy as well as hear, from a mom’s perspective, what it was like raising my husband.
Last week marked the 15th anniversary of her death. Every year, since 1997, my husband and I have gone together to her grave. It sits on a large grassy hill close to a tree-line. The view is quite breathtaking. It is peaceful there. My 5-year-old daughter has gone with us every year of her short life. She is only now really aware of the fact that her daddy’s mommy is not alive. This brings up all sorts of questions that are directed to me: “Why did she die?…Why did she get sick?…Who will be my mommy when you die?” Hard questions to answer. But, I try.
This year, we continued the tradition and took a bunch of fresh-cut flowers (my mother-in-law did not like the idea of fake flowers) to her grave. Our 11-month-old son accompanied us. I don’t know why, but I felt as if I were introducing him to her for the first time. I stood there with my baby boy in one arm, my other arm around her baby boy, and felt somehow connected to her.
My daughter took the flowers and placed them on the grave, and then stood there in the sun in her sparkly pink shoes and laughed and danced right there on her grave. The lyrics of a Jars of Clay song came to mind…
“Not silhouette of trodden faith
Nor death shall not my steps be guide
I’ll pirouette upon mine grave
For in Your path I’ll run and hide”
As I watched my husband carry my son back towards the car with my daughter laughing and running ahead of him, I whispered to this woman I have never met, yet feel that I know, ”thank you.”
- Malinda Moseley
