The matriarchs

I am blessed with fabulous women in my ancestry. Wise, witty, generous, spunky, smart, sometimes fiery, always authentic--I've got a rich supply of role models on the branches of my family tree, including aunts, grandmas, great-grandmas, mom, sister. They are my mental pantheon of matriarchs. I crave their wisdom and advice, in person or through scouring their journals. To pay tribute, I'd like to share some of their insights. It might even turn into a weekly feature...we'll see.

This is from my great grandma Brockbank, fondly known as Grandma B, mother to nine daughters:

"Relax and enjoy your children. 99% of them turn out all right anyway. Just let your memory go back to all the obnoxious little boys and girls you used to know and think of them now. They're not delinquents. They're married now and going to work each morning, coming home at night to work in the yard, play with their children, go out with friends...they are the salt of the earth and yours will be among them, so love them and stop worrying. Especially ease up on the oldest one. My, we expect a lot of the first one. We set out to show the world what we can do, and it is a wonder they survive at all with our constant, erratic, unreasonable supervision. It is a good thing that children are resilient and so loyal. They forgive us and love us anyway."

See? Wise!

Productive Neglect

Tonight I am knee-deep in productive neglect. A term coined by my g-grandma Brockbank but a concept practiced by humans all over the world (or at least the ones I know), productive neglect means being fantastically dedicated to every other task except the one you are supposed to be doing. Take now, for instance. I am supposed to be readying our house for our realtor to photograph tomorrow morning, since the house goes on the market this week. The to-do list involved in this undertaking is exhaustive and exhausting: repaint patches of dirty wall, clean the floors, put away all evidence of clutter or that anyone actually lives and eats and breaths here, let alone five tidy-challenged people. Instead, I am suddenly overcome with the compulsion to blog. Nevermind that I haven't posted in almost two months or that there are only two existing posts on this blog. Tonight I Must Blog. Same thing when I have a deadline for school. Suddenly ripping up the kitchen floor to find out what's underneath becomes monumentally important. But..but! At least something gets accomplished!

Can I pause to sing the praises to my new Mac laptop? I have named her Clementine and because I have found an unsecured wireless network to borrow (thanks, Stratford connection, whoever you are!) I am able to actually sit in bed and read and write and surf the net and even watch missed episodes of Friday Night Lights. I know, I know, welcome to the 21st century but I am a new convert to the wireless computer thing. Love it.