Summer Pastimes

I feel bad that the circumstances with having a new baby have made the summer a bit of a drag for the kids. No vacation plans, the new piano teacher I had lined up fell through. Never got around to signing the kids up for swim lessons. You get the idea. We have all been incredibly lazy. Yes, there are young women and scout camps, family reunions and youth conference, and dentist and orthodontist appointments. But day to day, we sleep in and take turns holding and tending the sweet baby, read lots and lots of books, try to get some chores done, play some video games, and sometimes have a friend or two over to play. But I think we might all remember best the shows we have watched together.

For example, during the past year, Scott and I have watched episodes of "modern family" after putting the kids to bed. But the last episode or two, the kids ended up watching with us, so then they wanted to go back and watch all of them. It became a motivator for them to get pjs on and do a quick few chores with the promise of a "modern family" episode or two when they were done.

It has been so good for the kids and I to laugh and enjoy them together. Then, the next day, they continue to quote their favorite parts and we laugh some more. Not only are the shows hilarious, but I like how they show a realistic side of families--structures both traditional and non-traditional (including a gay couple and adopted baby), individuals that sometimes get along and often don't, but they learn from their mistakes and work things out and it is always evident that they care for and love each other.

The last few days, Scott has finally been able to take a bit of time off work/work from home, so we began a "lord of the rings" marathon, watching the DVD extended versions, one each day for three days.

Though I've seen the movies once before and read the books once (about the same time, when they came out on DVD) I had forgotten many details. What an amazing story of friendship and loyalty, hope, adversity, humility vs. pride, family, honor, sacrifice, and never giving up. There are some great one-liners. I wish I could remember all of the phrases that touched my heart, like "there is always hope" or "I cannot carry it [the ring] for you, but I can carry you." It reminded me of friends and blog readers that have been most supportive, not by giving advice, not by complaining about Scott's choices, but rather simply by recognizing that what we face is hard, that there are no easy answers, but they will love us and continue to be our friends, supporting and being there for us regardless of what we decide to do.

I'm grateful for a therapist who, instead of saying "what you need to do is divorce", listens and sympathizes and recognizes that there are several options, and agrees that taking one day at a time is wise.

Now that we are done with all of the "modern family" episodes and the "lord of the rings" trilogy, I'm not sure what we will watch next. A couple of us want to see "How to train your dragon" again, a wonderful movie about how the young generation goes against tradition to solve an ancient problem in their community.  After we saw it the first time, I really wanted to blog about how it made me think of the young generation now, about my children, and how at the moment they are growing up with both the LDS church and our gay friends in their lives. Will they be able to break the tradition of generations before them and reconcile the gospel with their views on gay rights? I hope so. There is always hope, hope that they and others like them will be able to help change attitudes and conflicts within the membership of the church.