Parenting

Leader/Follower

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Are you a leader or a follower?
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This prompt gives me pause.

I mean, I like to think of myself as being a serious person that people listen to, but I’ve not held many traditional leadership roles in my life. I can’t think of one committee that I ever chaired or co-chaired. Maybe that will change, as I’ve been appointed to my church’s executive team for next fiscal year.

At work, I was always a respected “individual contributor” (as they say in HR). I never managed a team.

With my family, I’d say I’m pretty much the leader (CEO), with my husband as CFO (and let’s face it, CTO—I’m clueless about technology), but with my son soon to be fully launched, I may be in more of an advisory role soon.

With my activist volunteer work, I’m definitely a follower. Tell me who to call or write, and what to say, and I’ll get it done. I respect the work of the smart and serious activists in my community and I gladly follow them. We’re united in our mission to create a blue wave in 2024 and save democracy from the MAGA cult. We’ve got new and different people showing up every week (including men—yay men!), plus many helping out from home.

Can you tell who the leader of this group is? It’s Denali (front right)—an experienced, passionate activist who has been organizing since the 60s. She even gives us tips on how to quickly apply stamps. 😉

Froot Loops

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Daily writing prompt
List your top 5 favorite fruits.
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Just kidding, everyone knows there’s not one speck of real fruit in Froot Loops.

This is one of the many jokes in Jerry Seinfeld’s new film “Unfrosted” on Netflix, which I recommend if you’re an American between the ages of 55 and 70.

Did your mother watch Jack LaLanne on TV—or even own one of his “calisthenics” records—like my mom did?

Did you ever make a newsprint transfer with Silly Putty?

Did you have a Milk Man?

If you ever ate astronaut-inspired “food” or grew Sea Monkeys in a fish bowl, this movie is for you!

It’s basically 90 minutes of non-stop jokes and cultural references to our 1960s childhoods. The premise of the film is the battle between Post and Kellogg’s over the race to invent a breakfast pastry kids will love even more than sugary cereals like Frosted Flakes or Froot Loops. (Spoiler alert: Kellogg’s wins with the ubiquitous, sugar-filled Pop Tart)

I don’t typically like the comedian Bill Burr, but he’s really funny as JFK in this movie. Plus, there’s a ton of other celebrities in roles both large and small.

My generation ate bananas (sliced up into cereal), apples, and dry navel oranges. In the summer, there was watermelon and the occasional strawberry shortcake (especially on the Fourth of July). I’ll stick with those as my top five fruits. Thank goodness the citrus options have improved!

A fun time in 1968

Every Day is Kids Day

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.
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It’s Mothers Day in the United States.

Wishing mothers—and motherers—everywhere a happy day!

Here’s some photo back-up for the universally given answer to the inevitable question: “But when is Kids Day?”

Getting a makeover with magic markers

The next generation

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is your career plan?
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I’m retired (I think) and looking forward to becoming a grandmother and doing some meaningful volunteer work. So, I’m going use this prompt to provide an update on the next generation.

I’m extremely pleased to report that my son landed a job! He’s a senior in college and this is his first post-grad position. I’m super proud of him!

The college class of 2024 (high school class of 2020) has not had it easy. They had their senior prom, graduation, senior spring sports seasons, and numerous other rites of passage cancelled due to Covid. In addition, many of them (including my son) took their very first semester of college classes remotely from home. MAJOR bummer is an understatement! His second semester, though not remote, was not at all normal. Masks, testing, and Zoom classes from dorm rooms are not fun. My son got put in isolation for TEN DAYS over Easter because he was exposed to a bus driver who tested positive. (My son never did.)

Sophomore year was somewhat normal and thankfully he had a terrific semester abroad junior year. And now, the famous final scene…the last few weeks of college.

So here’s to these very resilient young people. GenZ is in the house and they are going to do things differently. We’re handing them a broken world, but I have faith that they will improve things in ways we can’t yet imagine.

Cheers 🍻 to my son and the Class of 2024 ❤️

Rain Camping

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Have you ever been camping?
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Yes, I have been camping. And not just regular camping, but hike-up-a-mountain-with-everything-on-your back-and-sleep-in-a-tent-in-the-rain camping.

In addition, I have taken young children camping—also in the rain.

Anyone can camp in good weather. The misery of hiking, cooking and sleeping outside in the rain requires fortitude.

WordPress, I demand an A+ on this assignment!

White Mountains, New Hampshire, 1991
Kids do not care if it rains while you’re camping. They think it’s fun to eat dinner in their sleeping bags.

Related post:

Beach v Mountains

MAJOR News

~ MaryG ~ 27 Comments

When is the last time you took a risk? How did it work out?

I quit my job last November. So far, it’s working out well, but my husband is still working part-time, so we haven’t really hit the “fixed income” phase, which I think of as true retirement.

And people, I have extremely exciting news! My retirement is about to get a whole lot better. My beautiful daughter has informed me (via coffee mug) that I will be receiving THE BEST PROMOTION EVER in 2024!

She did an adorable gender reveal on Easter. There were yellow peeps in three Easter eggs. The fourth (mine!) had the big news.

The Pink Peep 🐥 😀
These two are going to be great parents.

💗

Sunny Orlando

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite type of weather?
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Sun makes all the difference, right? Cold and gray is so much worse than cold and sunny. I know one family that left Seattle (including a tenured academic position) after 10+ years, due to the infrequency of sunny days. I’ve never been to Seattle, but that does sound rough.

New England winters are LONG. It’s best to break it up with a trip south, if possible. For years, Orlando (Florida) was our top family destination for school vacation weeks. My sister-in-law lives there, so we’ve been many times. Don’t knock Orlando ‘til you’ve tried it. They’ve got something for everyone.

It wasn’t always hot when we went to Orlando in February (or even in April), but it was always sunny.

Related posts:

Summer is our Glory in New England

Leaving on a jet plane

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments
Daily writing prompt
You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?
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If we’re talking about my country (the U.S), I’m going on an airplane. The days when I may have fantasized about doing a Jack Kerouac/Hunter S. Thompson/Bob Dylan/Route 66 Great American Road Trip are over. It always sounded cool and like something you should do at least once in your life, but I never did it. I once drove from Massachusetts to Florida with a boyfriend. We had no particular plan. It was spring break and we just wanted to get warm, so we headed south. I think we made it to Daytona Beach before heading back.

Driving all the way to California from Massachusetts would’ve been a great adventure in my twenties, but I won’t be adding it to my bucket list now. I’m too old for that shit. And a bus would be even worse.

Actually, my mother took a bus from Massachusetts to California with two of her friends (one from high school and one from college) in 1960, between her junior and senior year of college. This was before women could get birth control or hold a credit card in their own name. They got jobs in Los Angeles and stayed for the whole summer, then took the bus back. They just wanted to see the country and have an adventure. I’ve always been impressed that my grandmother allowed her to plan that trip and that she had the guts to go.

Los Angeles in 1959 (photo by Railroad Jack on Flickr)
My mother in the 1950s

I suppose you could take a train across the United States, but nobody I know has done that, so perhaps it’s not that great of an experience.

Six years after my mother’s adventure, I was born. Two years after that, Peter, Paul and Mary wrote Leaving on a Jet Plane. I always loved that song.

My daughter

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Who is the most confident person you know?
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My entrepreneurial daughter has a quiet confidence beyond her years. She’s not a loud extrovert (that’s more my lane), but she knows herself and what she wants, and focuses on it calmly and deliberately.

She’s in her late twenties and holds down a full-time (remote) job in the biotech industry and runs her own business.

After college, she took her passion for astrology and turned it into a legitimate, profitable business, including all the necessary paperwork like setting up an LLC. Her business is successful because of her hard work and creativity. I’m always impressed with the way she speaks so clearly and confidently in her videos.

If you’re into astrology, check her out on Instagram or TikTok (@lunarxluci).

She and her boyfriend were able to buy a house last year, because of their hard work and determination.

I take no credit. I’m not entrepreneurial. She really did it all on her own. I did read her a lot of books when she was little. She especially loved Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat was one of her all-time favorites. She called him “hat cat.”

Come to think of it, Cat in the Hat was a confident, creative, multitasker…maybe he had an influence?

In case you’re curious, I’m a Gemini ♊️ and she’s an Aquarius ♒️.

Her website: Lunarxluci.com

Honor Thy Mother

~ MaryG ~ Leave a comment
Daily writing prompt
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
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I’ve posted before about my double name: Mary Sue. Sue is my mother’s name, so I like it. Most of us get our last names from our fathers (because patriarchy), so it’s nice to get your first and/or middle name from your mother, or your mother’s side of the family. We followed that tradition with our kids.

I kept my own last name when I got married (even though it’s much harder than my husband’s to pronounce and spell). This could’ve caused a fight about our kids’ last name, but it didn’t, because I’m a pragmatist and a feminist. 😉

My mom and me, late 1960s

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Related post:

Freaky Friday