It may have been on the way home from India, maybe it was a
trip to California, all I remember for sure is that Papa, Mama, and Isaiah were
in an airplane. Our boy was unhappy and
loud, as small children often are while traveling. We did what we needed to do
to get through the trip and convince him to calm down. My wife processed the
experience publicly through Facebook, sharing something like:
“I hope I’m not a bad
parent giving my kid this much chocolate on the airplane”
The resounding response from our friends and family was
that, even for great parents, exceptions are permissible during airline travel.
It would be chaos, anarchy, and foolishness to live without
guidelines, standards, and even rules. We should all aspire to The Good.
Parents should not give children large amounts of chocolate.
On the other hand, all of these rules need to allow for
exceptions. Compassion, necessity, or wisdom will reveal times when the rule
must be suspended.
…Like on an airplane with a three year old.
In each gift bag was a small piece of wood with nails and yarn affixed to it. The idea was, by winding the yarn around the nails in the appropriate way, the yarn would form the shape of a cross. It was a clever Easter themed craft.
I’ve been thinking about how people interact with each other
and how we can understand where others are coming from and what their
circumstances are specifically in the area of race. I have read White Like Me by Tim Wise and I
have had several conversations with people of different races than me. I recently stated reading Why Are All theBlack Kids Sitting Together In the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum. Lately I have
read about this issue in articles and opinion pieces in adoption
magazines. 
Dominion is a card based strategy game by Rio Grande
Games. It was bad enough that we played
it with some friends of ours, then bought it and an expansion, then bought
three more expansions, then played it with more friends….but then I
found that I could play it online. No
set up time. No counting cards. No
double checking rules in the rule book.
No getting anything else done. 
Today was the second day that our son rode the bus to
school. He walked Candice and me outside
to wait really early. He yelled and
laughed at a squirrel in a tree. He
pointed happily to where the bus would be arriving. Then he screamed in terror when it was time
to get on and leave. Mama and Papa
discussed whether or not he’s ready for this as we walked back in the
apartment. 
