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Marching On

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    I opened the book, and we read about Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diane Nash, and Daisy Bates. We looked at pictures of civil rights marches, and we talked about why people march. “Someone once said that marching is praying with your feet,” I told them.

 

    Amma pointed to a white woman holding a sign, marching in a sea of black and brown people.  Her eyes popped and she said, “Mama, look! Would we have been marching with them?  Like her?”

 

    I fixed my mouth to say, “Of course.  Of course we would have, baby.”

 

    But before I could say it, Tish said, “No, Amma. We wouldn’t have been marching with them back then. I mean, we’re not marching now.”  Untamed, by Glennon Doyle (2020), p. 207


Gut punch. Ouch.

Our community held a Black Live Matter rally this afternoon, and I invited my family to join me.  While it wasn’t technically the least I could do, it was a far gap from the most that could be done.  Dwayne was the first one to volunteer to come with me, even though it was “sixteen miles” out of our comfort zone.  By the time we left, all three kids were with us.  (Wesley agreed to join us when he found out he would not be allowed to play video games while we were gone.)  

Photo bombed by Piper’s BFF and her dad

We stumbled into friends right away, and the bonus was seeing so many friends and neighbors I hadn’t seen for 3 months.

It wasn’t a very diverse group, but the local paper estimated about 500 marchers.  The line stretched from the local park to City Hall, where we knelt for 8:46 in remembrance of George Floyd.  Onward to the city center, where local leaders and impassioned voices spoke of their experiences. 


I was so glad to share this with my family and proud of my children for participating and listening during the two-and-a-half-hour rally.  I was able to grab a box of ice cream treats for the kids so they ended on a sweet note. 


On our way home, I got a text from a friend who saw our picture on a local twitter feed.


This afternoon was the easy part.  Now our job is to keep up the momentum outwardly while doing a lot of inward reflection and learning.  My summer reading list has lots of new titles on it!  

Wesley’s Catalogue of Self-Injuries, May 2020

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This is a very abbreviated list, but Wesley creatively injured himself this month.


It began with the knees.  It seems like big bandages = big deal, but he’s already forgotten how he scraped both his knees.  I think it was wheel-to-asphalt injury, but since this happened earlier this month, it’s been overwritten with other memories.



This one sticks with him–not only does he remember it vividly, but a month later, he still has a bruise under his fingernail after slamming it in a door.  We heard the death scream from all corners of the property.  Of course, it’s his middle finger.


This one is far more subtle.  I also heard echos of a death scream from where I was working outside, but Dwayne was in the same room with him, so I didn’t come running.  But I cleaned up the blood for days afterward!


If you look closely right in the middle of the picture at the green railing, you can see a blood spot. That’s actually a large splatter on the kitchen window, and more splatters were found later on the cupboards appliances, and walls.  Wesley has seen me fix the “oil on top of the peanut butter” problem by mixing it with an immersion blender, and being an independent-ish child, he was going to do it instead of asking me to.  As Dwayne later described it, “Wesley found out the hard way that the immersion blender has fast-moving blades on it.”  He still has all his fingers and didn’t even need stitches, but that new knowledge about kitchen appliances is going to stick with him for the rest of his life. 

Luckily, snuggling with Kyla makes everything better!

Piper Steps Up for Wes

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In his daily tantrum (#YayHomeschool), Wes fell apart over supplementary angles, catching Piper’s attention.  I took a time out for myself, and Piper got to work. She put all of Wesley’s favorites together to cheer him on: Spidy, with an I 💗 Tacos sign around his neck; Spot the Dog; Larry the Cactus; the Ender Dragon she had knitted for him; and his favorite color highlighter, green.  

Then when he had calmed down, she brought him out and helped him figure out the last problem. I must have gone somewhere, because when I returned home, it was all done and ready for me to check. #PiperWins!

Frederick Down! Frederick Down!

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Uh, oh. 

Wes took Frederick to the back deck, and the baby gate was down from Excessive Deck Maintenance.  Frederick went down the steps, and picked up speed as he careened down the ravine, hitting several trees as he went. 

Wes immediately called for back up.  I was too busy laughing and taking pictures, so Sisters showed up.  Kyla is one with the forest, so she led the expedition.  


Piper is our finder, and she spotted it.  
Finally, Wes had Frederick the Balance Ball back.  He has promised to keep him inside for now on!

Deckadence

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It’s a ridiculous name, but I’m now calling the front of our house “Deckadence”.  I got my container plants that make me happy,


and my outdoor couch finally arrived! The kids adopted it right away but we’ve all had cuddles on this couch, on the handful of sunny days we’ve had thus far.


It’s really only good for about 2-3 months of outdoor use where we live, but it will winter downstairs in front of the fireplace, if the cats can let it survive that long. 

Everything’s Coming Up Rainbows

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All my children are happiest when they are doing something with their hands while listening to stories.  Wes likes to busy his hands with video games , Kyla likes to do puzzles of all sorts, and Piper creates. I bought them all paint pens, first for rocks, and then we added white T’s for canvases. Piper ran with it, and with her fabulous apron behind her, she created two identical rainbow t-shirts, one for her and another for her BFF. 

I love all the details she carefully created. The back reads “You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.”  


Jumping for Joy

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The rain began in earnest this afternoon, and when Kyla saw it, she donned her swimsuit, ran through the neighborhood barefoot, and finished her triathlon on the trampoline.  I love the pure joy she had when I spotted her from my bedroom window. She is full-heartedly herself.