Feature Friday | Seeing the Glitter
Can you guys believe that next week is Christmas?! Have you done your shopping yet? I finished up yesterday (finally). The only thing I’m really lacking is a few more things for the little guys’ stocking. Stockings were always one of my favorites parts of Christmas growing up. Candy, tiny little trinkets that usually ended up scattered across the floor. We’re spending Christmas with our closest friends and neighbors next week. A big get together with lots of food on Christmas Eve and then church with their family Christmas morning. One upside to being military-you become family to people that are of no relation to you because you’re all in the same boat during the holidays. We’re grateful to have such wonderful friends.
And I’m grateful to be introducing one of my wonderful blog friends today for Feature Friday. Do you guys know Galit from These Little Waves? She’s…well, pretty fabulous. She’s writing a novel, spills her heart on her blog week after week and is a super-fantastic commenter and supporter. I’m so happy to be featuring her this week!
Galit Breen blogs at These Little Waves. On any given day she can be found juggling one husband, one puggle, three children, and one laptop.
Glitter
Morning sun glistens through gray curtains. When the light, the timing, my eyes catch just right, our bedroom sparkles.
But right now doesn’t glitter. This moment is colored in by the need to get out the door.
Chloe and Brody, long ago up and ready, run through my quiet.
I reach for dark jeans and nubby knits; grateful for cozy weather, wishing I was reaching for that cup of coffee cooling on the counter.
Peeking at the clock, I see its bright reminder, we’re an eyelash flutter away from late- again.
8:50 Ten minutes before we have to leave for school
Kayli steps beside me, a titch too close, I can’t quite get dressed.
“Mom,” she starts.
“Get ready first, then tell me your story, okay?” I answer.
Out of the edge of my heart, I see her shoulders slump.
8:52 Eight minutes before we have to leave for school
She’s back, half dressed. Her voice lilts towards me, but my thoughts overpower her words.
Pencil strokes etch before my eyes- Brush teeth, pull back hair, find socks, maybe a different shirt?
My mental checklist is noisy.
8:54 Six minutes before we have to leave for school
“Mom? C’s mom-”
My to-dos and her bare feet call Mom louder than she does.
“Kay,” I interrupt, a slice wrapping around my voice, “We have to get ready now.”
8:58 Two minutes before we have to leave for school
She stands before me, shoulders back, suddenly tall. She’s fully dressed and her pink tipped fingers are
laced, cupping one fuschia ponytail holder, matching lip gloss, and socks- second grade necessities.
I pull on my own socks, brush my lips across her forehead as I squeeze by her side, reaching for my own necessities.
“Mom!” She says, her own voice is edged and wrapped and telling- she has something to say.
“C’s mom is sick. We made cards. Mine’s purple, I think she’ll like it. Do you?”
And finally, I pause. I look at my girl with her auburn locks and chocolate eyes. Her edges are soft, caring, and in this case- demanding. I’m thankful for all three.
With one minute to spare, I finally see the glitter, in my girl.
Your daughter is generous indeed; and glitter-filled and lovely.
But when I read this post, I saw myself in the rushed mother who isn’t stopping to really listen (not that this is you at all); but it is me, often enough. So frequently these days I find that I’m half-hearing what my children are telling me; that only part of my ears are tuned in and my frustration at their interruptions take center stage.
Even now as I’m typing my daughter walked in and I thought, “I hope I can finish this comment before she needs me.”
So now, it’s time for me to shut down the computer and be with my family.
Thank you so much for this reminder, Galit.
Your daughter’s generosity of spirit comes from you.
And her heart.
Just beautiful.
Thank you, as always, for your words Julie. They are perfection.
And for the record- oh my, yes. Yes, that is me rushing and not listening. I love that she “put her foot down” and made herself BIGGER in my eyes, in the best way, you know?
{Sparkles for everyone}
xo
I am so happy you saw the glitter, even in that last moment. I hate getting ready in the morning; I am always way too close to late 🙁
Thank you, Angela!
{And me, too!}
I love their way of making us stop dead in our tracks and slowing us down…your girl so so special to write a card for that child’s mom.
Yes, and yes.
{And thank you!}
I am so glad she wanted to share her gift with you! What joy she had about the card she created.
Thank you for your words, Deirdre, so very much!
Thank you for hosting Galit! I am a new huge fan of her. Galit, if you are reading this, these lines: Out of the edge of my heart
My mental checklist is noisy……. in relationship to my daily interactions with my three small grandchildren are RIGHT on the mark! I feel them so heavily at times!
Of course I’m reading your lovely words! Thank you! {truly}
Galit! You capture the hurry hurry rush rush of our lives so well. I am so grateful my son’s school is in our backyard! Slowly down in the fast, super-scheduled world is no easy feat. But you always seem to find time.
Thank you, Renee. I’m always thankful for your faith in me!
{And I should admit here, that our school is way close, too. Ahem. Yes, I really am *that* bad at getting out the door! 🙂
So sweet. I love the goodness in her little heart. So glad you had just enough time to see the glitter.
Thank you, Amy. {so very much!}
Caroline has Asperger’s syndrome, it’s SO hard for me to distinguish between the times when I need to pause and listen and the times when she just needs to do what I said first. Because she is mortally convinced of the importance of whatever she has to tell me. And half the time that something is “I found a ROCK yesterday!” She has a rock obsession. She finds a rock every time she walks past our front flowerbeds which are ringed with colorful gravel. On the other hand? She’s going to sparkle when she sees the rock tumbler she’s getting for Christmas.
Hi Jessie! It is so very hard to know what to do when, isn’t it?
P.S. Kayli loves rocks, too! We got her a rock tumbler for her last birthday and oh my, yes- sparkles galore! 🙂