The Chalk Family

Times are tight, as they say. Scott has been out of work for over a year now and we could definitely use a few extra bucks. But, we're more fortunate than some - we can almost always pay our bills - and food is never scarce. Nor is a good time! The kid is in a summer program through her soon-to-be-school. The program is from 8-Noon, totally free and they pick her up and drop her off at home on the bus and feed her breakfast and lunch! We're all very excited about it! Scott and I are, so far, pleased to have her in this school district. From what I can tell, by most respects, Emma does not have a lot of toys. And, even though cash is tight, that is not the reason she doesn't have a lot of toys. We choose to not get her much. the Grandparents are great about this too. We've never had a family meeting to discuss our self imposed toy deprivation, but we just have really cool parents that "get it." Please don't think that the kid has no toys, or never gets indulged - because that is far from it! Not to worry, the child does just fine... So, with the kid being back in a school atmosphere I figured she would be exposed to the more material side of life. Not long ago, as we were sitting quietly on the porch listening to and observing the bird, I asked her if there was anything that she wanted or needed that she didn't have. "Well, there is one thing..." she started. I was expecting her to announce her need for some plastic imported piece of junk that can only be purchased by calling an 800 number. But, my sweet, wonderful child proclaimed her need for - no, really - a massage table! I had, moments before, given her a quick little massage at her request. She was achy from having to stand for so long to make her soup. Her soup, you see, is for now made up of trillions of cut up pieces of paper. This has been an on again - off again obsession since Christmas. Her first batch of soup also contained beans (real ones that we planted), beads, buttons, pompoms and a smattering of other miscellaneous little trinkets. But, because that must not have been flavorful enough, she added ripped up pieces of paper towel. You know - the fluff. But, the fluff must have been a little tough, so before our friend Josh could convince her otherwise, she added a couple of Dixie Cups of water to her mixture. Oy! Currently, the kid is entertaining herself with a family of sidewalk chalks. the family is taking a ride in the car - a big stock pot lid. And, because the closest sidewalk is in the little village at the bottom of the mountain about two miles away, we let her color on the porch. And all the rocks are fair game. Recently she colored a big section of the porch purple - because she wanted it to look pretty. The dog likes to lay on the porch... We were left with a lovely lavender tinted polka dotted doggie. Purple dogs, chalk families, massage tables and oodles of cheap plastic toys... We could have more, but we choose to make do with less. I'm pretty sure our kid is better off because of it. Our life is slower than most. And that works for us. Life is good.