Oh woe is me....

[Serenity]

[analog]

On a happier note...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PcL6-mjRNk

would've put it under 'projects' if it'd been my invention...

[dai bread]

My son-in-law's dog would have loved that!

[jamiebk]

I need that.....badly!

[Serenity]

[analog]

I appreciate your effort but the thread is titled "Oh woe is me...". (I did like the dog!)
Only wallowing in misery allowed here....(add ray of hope if you like...please...we need it)

okay..

i was a bit concerned for you, Serenity, what with the morose timbre of some of those songs.
BUt every generation has its own sad songs.

here's one of my favorites--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nztKkgmyWlQ

although i think Shirley Bassey does it better here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ExFjcAtwiA

YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG
Shirley Bassey

Yesterday when I was young
The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game
The way the evening breeze may tease the candle flame

The thousand dreams I dreamed
The splendid things I've planned
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day
And only now I see how the years ran away

Yesterday when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

I ran so fast the time and youth at last ran out
I never stopped to think what life was all about
And every conversation I can now recall
Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all

Yesterday the moon was blue
And every crazy day brought something new to do
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond

The game of love I played with arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away
And only I am left on stage to end the play

There are so many songs in me that won't be sung
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue
The time has come for me
To pay for yesterday
When I was young

Yesterday when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

Yesterday when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

Yesterday when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung . . .
Category: Music


a.

about that ray of hope

ever read "Spoon River Anthology" ?
Google "Fiddler Jones" ...

How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.

[Serenity]

[analog]

you're raising kids at home and likely another set at work..... it seems eternal and thankless.

Parents are taken for granted until some maturity sets in... Mom always said the "terrible two's last twenty years". I may have exceeded that......

Mine are in their twenties now and the return on emotional investment was worth the wait.

This was written 1840-ish,

"I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within it, nowhere does she enjoy a higher station. And if anyone asks me what I think the chief cause of the extraordinary prosperity and growing power of this nation, I should answer that it is due to the superiority of their women."

Tocqueville, Alexis De · Women

If he could only see y'all now!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4CWgQQG ... re=related

a.

[Serenity]

Being a parent is tough because we set our own standards high. I regret failing to live up to my own expectations of myself as a parent. At the same time, I bite my lip and try not to let my kids sense that struggle within myself; at least not now while they are young. I believe children need to feel an unwavering sense of security from where they may explore the uncertain world around them and return to that stable, secure feeling every now and then. I am afraid to let them know that I too struggle internally with self-doubts on my ability to engage and understand the world around me. I do not want to present them with a problem that I do not have a solution for yet.

[analog]

hear, hear.

And thank you Serenity for the kind words. Means more than you know.

a.

[jamiebk]

I hear what you are saying...and perhaps it is true for small kids. Once they are grown and dealing with reality, I think it's OK to let them in on our own humanity, trials, tribulations etc. Otherwise, when they encounter them (and they will), they begin to feel like something is really wrong. What's important is that they see HOW we deal with the issues. Everyone struggles with our own security...Ask any Mom or Dad who has been a sole breadwinner for the family how much pressure that can be. We fret and fear about keeping our families safe, healthy, happy, fed, clothed etc. Kids should not share that responsibility. My Dad always believed that it was his honor and joy to provide (as do I). However, sometimes it can lead to some real fear and depression about being able to maintain a stable home...for instance in the case of losing one's job. As far as protecting them from problems (and always having an answer)...well, we don't always have an answer. But, we can show them how to keep our attitudes strong, productive and teach them ways to cope.

[dai bread]

It's a graduated matter really. When children are small, say up to 7, parents are the Rock of Ages. As the children grow and mature, parents' weaknesses and failings can be allowed to show. By the teen years, those weaknesses and failings will be apparent to the children anyway, and attempts to hide them lay a parent open to charges of hypocrisy.

For instance, my own children figured out quite early that if they committed some minor sin like breaking a toy, it was better for them if they came to me. If it was major, like crashing the car, they went to their mother.

[analog]

Their little antennae are out and they're more observant than we suspect.

Probably to be consistent is as important as anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pphVs8bF0&feature=related

On last visit to the kids' house my daughter astonished me.
She's been communicating with the 16 month old grandbaby by sign language for some months now. Apparently the ability to process words appears before the ability to speak them. The toddler has a signing vocabulary of at least twenty words - "Cup", "Eat", "Milk", Banana", "More", "Book", "Please", "Thank you", etc.

Here's a NPR piece on toddler signing:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=5441254&m=5441255
With my Missouri roots I wouldn't have believed it without being shown... And it sure beats guessing!

Apparently this is popular with my kids' generation of moms but it was new to me and if it's old news i apologize.

[barfle]

Serenity, it appears your name will not be the one used for the new module of the International Space Station.

[Serenity]

Serenity, it appears your name will not be the one used for the new module of the International Space Station.

...but NASA is still thinking about it. I think they won't give Colbert the satisfaction; they may name the toilet after him. As the Colbert states "Serenity? .....That's not a space station, that's an adult diaper." And, some seek serenity by locking themselves in the bathroom....

[analog]

relocated from one of our politics threads... a.

i found James Kavanaugh comforting in my dark times.

Will You Be My Friend?
- James Kavanaugh

There are so many reasons why you never should:
I'm sometimes sullen, often shy, acutely sensitive,
My fear erupts as anger, I find it hard to give,
I talk about myself when I'm afraid
And often spend the day without anything to say

But I will make you laugh
And love you quite a bit
And hold you when you're sad.
I cry a little almost every day
Because I'm more caring than the strangers ever know,
And, if at times, I show my tender side
(The soft and warmer part I hide)
I wonder

Will you be my friend?
A friend
Who far beyond the feebleness of any vow or tie
Will touch the secret place where I am really I,
To know the pain of lips that plead and eyes that weep,
Who will not run away when you find me in the street
Alone and lying mangled by my quota of defeats
But will stop and stay - to tell me of another day
When I was beautiful.

Will you be my friend?
There are so many reasons why you never should;
Often I'm too serious, seldom predictable the same,
Sometimes cold and distant, probably I'll always change.
I bluster and brag, seek attention like a child.
I broud and pout, my anger can be wild,
But I will make you laugh
And love you quite a bit
And be near when you're afraid.
I shake a little almost every day
Because I'm more frightened than the strangers ever know

And if at times I show my trembling side
(The anxious, fearful part I hide)
I wonder,
Will you be my friend?
A friend
Who, when I fear your closeness, feels me push away
And stubbornly will stay to share what's left on such a day
Who, when no one knows my name or calls me on the phone,
When there's no concern for me - what I have or haven't done -
And those I've helped and counted on have,
oh so deftly, run.
Who, when there's nothing left but me,
Stripped of charm and subtlety,
Will nonetheless remain.

Will you be my friend?
For no reason that I know
Except I want you so.

- The End -

[piqaboo]

Thanks for posting that.

[analog]

no offense meant. if it does i'll delete. Somebody sounded sad, that's all.


a.

[Serenity]

Thank you! I appreciate your empathy. I sense you have been through these feelings. Thank you for offering guidance and perspective.

[analog]

thank you, Ms Serenity.

hang in there.

a.