Okay, by now most of our sponsors are aware that Patreon is making things more difficult and more expensive for supporters. As a result I’ve had a couple people ask for an alternate route for giving.
My paypal address is susie.w.rodriguez@gmail.com. I don’t know if there’s a way to set up recurring payments (please comment here if you do) but it will do while I find a long term solution at the very least.
Thank you to everyone for bearing with us during the transition.
I have been remiss in keeping this up, largely because Facebook means pretty much all my readers see this stuff as it happens.
Cupcake is seven. She remains bright, funny and brave. We’re coming up on the end of her first season of competitive figure skating and she has done well, skating cleanly, demonstrating good sportsmanship and winning some medals. The last bit is least important. She’s making me proud and working hard to be a credit to her coach.
She’s a better Christian than I am. Faced with a mean girl her reaction is that she will simply be as kind as possible and as loving as possible, because even though the other party may never change, “Mama, I gotta be what I’M supposed to be. Jesus SAID. Didn’t you listen when you were in Godly Play?” Sometimes a gentle reprimand from God comes from the mouths of babes.
She’s loving home schooling and is academically successful. We’re studying Medieval History, space, reading Trumpet of the Swan and locking in some addition facts so we can move on to, “the good stuff. Like Fractions!” Weirdo.
She’s completed her second year as a Daisy Scout and will be bridging to Brownie next month. She adores her troop leaders (one of whom is her godmother aka mother of Dalek Rex and The Pediatrician) and her scout sisters.
She is well. She is thriving. She is mighty!
“So… dare I ask what the story was in Godly Play?”
“You can dare.”
…
“Okay, what WAS the story in Godly Play?”
“Well, I’d heard it before. We had the story in the sandbox. It was the one where the people wandered in the desert for like, all the time, because God got them lost. The Moses went up a mountain and got the ten… umm… God rules…”
“Commandments?”
“Yes, the ten commam… coband… commum…those. ANYWAY, he brought them down and the people were having a dance party with that gold cow. Moses yelled at them and broke their cow and then everyone followed the rules. Except people stopped some time and now they don’t. They should. It would be nicer. Mama, are you crying?”
I continue to pray for Charlotteville. I continue to pray for my friend who is in protective custody because a bad man wishes to do her harm. It should be nicer.
“So what did you learn in Godly Play today?”
“Today we were carpenters. And we learned a story and did pumpkins.”
“Okay… what was the story about?”
“About Josephus. And his building. Josephus worshipped the building.”
“And…”
“And we all took turns building the building.”
“Then what?”
“I told you. That was the end of the story. Then we made pumpkins. They were not Jesus pumpkins. Mine has a kitty face.”
In grown up church, I (mom) nearly got in trouble but it was totally not entirely my fault. The Pastor referred to Jesus’ teaching method as “crafty.” Then I got a vision of Ninja Jesus in my head and everything else in the sermon became about Ninja Jesus and I was sitting next to Dalek Rex’ mother and I couldn’t even *look* at her until I got under control, but then I told her and we sat there muttering Ninja Jesus stories at each other. We should probably not be allowed out unsupervised, but since we are, bonus.
Cupcake’s first recital solo is today. Pictures and maybe video to come later. It’s a big day for us.
Note: “The sand people” came from Dalek Rex. When they tell stories about people in the desert they use a sand tray and DR, being the proper little Star Wars geek that she is, calls the people in the sand, “the sand people.” And now so does Cupcake.
“The sand people followed the smoke and fire to the mountain. One special guy went up and got the Ten Best Rules For Living.
When he was up there the people down below made a golden calf cow, 2 warships and danced a lot. But the one guy and God didn’t like it.”
M: So what was the story today?
C: It was about two shepherds. And some sheep.
…
M: Okay… what happened?
C: Um. You don’t need to know all the details.
M: Yes. Yes I do. What happened?
C:Fine. Well… there was this wolf. RAWR! And this normal shepherd ranned away. AHH! But the GOOD shepherd stayed and protected the sheep.
M: How?
C: He was like, “BACK OFF, WOLF!” and he jumped between the wolf and the sheep. And I had a cookie.
This one’s from a year ago, but it’s worth preserving.
Sunday School According to Cupcake:
“So, what was the story today?”
“It was about the four faces of Easter! The first face is Jesus. He DIED.”
“Oh? Then what happened?”
“Well, he DIED. Die is the end. Dun-dun-DUN!!!!! Only then it wasn’t the end. The buried him in a cave. With a rock for a door. That’s a dumb door.”
“And then?”
“I can’t remember. But before that, Jesus was a baby. He touched a blind person’s eyes. And then all the people could see differently. He made people able to do things they couldn’t do, like see him touch the blind person’s eyes. ”
“Um…So…after Jesus died, people went to the tomb to see him, right?”
“Yes, to the CAVE. With the rock.”
“And was Jesus there?”
“Jesus was everywhere. He’s everywhere. He’s even in the bread and grown up drink he shares with God. Before all that he was born. Because you get born before you die. There’s lots of donkeys. ”
And that, ladies and gentleman, is Palm Sunday according to Cupcake.
No singing with your mouth full.
No, not even if Minnie started it.
No, not even if it’s for a really good reason.
Hoc-KEY, Hoc-KEY, Hoc-KEY!
She’s waited for this day for a year and a half, with focus unwavering. It’s hard to scold too firmly.
So I just realized Cupcake doesn’t know the word gay. I mean, she knows that some boys like girls and some boys like boys, etc. She knows gay people and she knows about the concept of being gay but it doesn’t seem to have occurred to her that there needs to be language about that.
She calls the couple who sit in front of us at church “the love guys” because they are guys and are clearly in love what with the hand holding and standing close and whatnot. (The fact that names are not really a thing she’s good at, is also part of it.) She doesn’t appear to be aware that there’s a need to distinguish that love from the love her father and I share. It’s all one and the same to her.
Imagine not needing to label love beyond it being love.
Some days I want to be five.
Cupcake Triumphant 