Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The value of a girl...

I am a podcast addict. Seriously, there is hardly any music on my iTunes profile. It's all about the spoken word. Talk radio, too. I just love listening to people talk. Maybe it's because I spend so much time alone? But that's another blog post.

I was listening to a podcast about gender selection during pregnancy, and the podcasters were talking about the fact that female children are undervalued. I remember listening to one 'cast about all the "missing" women in China, mostly due to their one child policy and the fact that nobody wanted to have a girl, and all the problems that caused. And I thought about how much I wanted another boy when I was pregnant with Edith.

Here's the thing though--it wasn't that I didn't want to have a daughter. Had Dylan been female, I would have been thrilled to have a girl. But I grew up with all sisters (love you, Jace, but you didn't come along until I was 17) and I loved the dynamic there. It was us girls, all together. If I'd had a girl first, I would have wanted another girl. But since I had a boy first, I really wanted another son. I wanted to be the only girl in the house. I wanted my kids to bond strongly with each other. I wanted it to be me and my boys. Then Edith came along!

From the moment she was born, I started changing my mind about wanting another boy. This gentle pink haze descended on the house. The ironing bag filled up with ruffles and flounces. And all of a sudden, I had Barbie dolls on my horizon. BONUS!

Edith has been my little sunshine ever since then. She is my living doll, to dress up and fix her hair. She is also my hairdresser and makeup artist. We are shopping buddies and we love to be "ladies who lunch" together. I was actually a little bit sad when she started full days at school. I absolutely LOVE having a daughter, and I don't understand why anybody would choose to abort a foetus simply because it didn't have a penis. Daughters are the BEST!

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Connections...

I had an awkward conversation with Dylan the other day. He had been outside on the "ramp" (his name for the drive leading from the main road to Eagle House) riding his bike. He came in really upset, so we had a chat.

Apparently, our neighbour and his teenaged daughter were having a fight out by their car, and she was screaming and kicking the car, punching the roof, etc. Dylan, my sensitive soul, was really upset by this. So we talked about puberty and irrational teenagers, about how our neighbours are a bit shouty anyway and the fighting is normal behaviour for a girl her age. He understood, and calmed down right away.

Fast forward a few days, and he asked if he could go out and ride his bike on the ramp again. I said yes, and warned him to watch out for cars. Not eve missing a beat, he quipped, "and teenagers!"

Man, that kid has a keen sense of humour. His mind is just so quick!

We got school reports on the kids last week, and they are doing every bit as well as we expected them to do. Dylan especially is excelling academically. Edith's mainly ahead of the game socially, and also in her reading. She's going to be a popular little lady!

Martin has been working on the last little bit of tiling downstairs. I'm hoping the project will be finished tomorrow. Pretty exciting stuff. And they are doing a refit at Stables in a few weeks. It'll be exciting to see what it looks like when it's finished. Fingers crossed for a few leftovers.

And me? Nothing new to report. I did yoga today and managed a rock solid tree pose. That's about as exciting as it gets. Oh, and I'm considering reupholstering the sofa in a dark grey chenille fabric. Ordered a sample online this evening. Total rock star!

Saturday, February 01, 2014

My favourite part of winter...

It's no secret that I hate winter in England. Autumn is lovely, summer is nice, and spring in this country is the most glorious thing I have ever seen. But winter is cold, grey, and dark. I have two things that I look forward to during this long, horrible season. The first thing is the Winter Solstice, which marks the start of slightly longer days. It's such a relief when the shortest day of the year has passed.

The second thing I look forward to happened just this week. I saw my first snowdrop! Soon it will be daffodils and tulips, then the hedgerows will begin to bloom. That creeping mist of green will descend, the rhododendrons will explode with almost tropical colour, and I will be happy. It happens every year, without fail.

England is amazing--the history, the scenery, and the green. Oh, the green! But I'm just not cut out for winter here. Utah is so much colder, but the sun still shines. I miss that so much. Especially the way fresh powder on the mountains looks--like diamonds with the sun glinting off the ice crystals.

I'm melancholy tonight. I think I'd sell my soul right now to move back home. It might be easier than trying to sell my house.

It must be time to go somewhere or do something to remind myself how much I love England. Maybe a little trip to York next Saturday? Maybe Lincoln? How about it family? If you were in England, what would you do next weekend?