Time Travel at the Swings

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We’re at the park on a perfect May day.  The sun and clouds take equal turns in the sky.  The breeze is quiet and peaceful.  The temperature rests in a perfect Goldilocks balance.  And the soft creaking of the swings in front of me doesn’t grate, the way some are apt to do.  Their gentle rhythm and volume simply remind me to stay present.

But ‘present’ is fleeting.  In the distance to the right, there’s a group of 12-year-old girls laughing and playing on the tennis court.  They are young and spirited, but old enough that, even from a distance, I can see they prefer this time with friends, away from their parents.  My own 9-year-old daughter is in front of me on a swing, giggling with her brother next to her.  Her dad is pushing the swing, and I am in front of her, teasing as I tap her feet.  She is happy here in our bubble, but my heart knows this moment is not forever.  I time travel to the not-so-distant future when she’s ‘over there,’ choosing to spend these blissful moments with friends instead.

To my left at the swing set is a set of new parents, placing their young one in the bucket swing for the first time.  They all delight in this occasion and remain tightly close to one another.  I don’t remember all the milestones from my children’s lives, but I do remember this one.  I know this moment.  The excitement and quiet fears of putting our babies in the playground swing for the first time, watching their every movement or reaction so we can react accordingly.  My 4-year-old is only two swings away, pumping his own legs, balancing his body effortlessly on the belt swing, giddy at the prospect of swinging as high in the air as his sister.  He is no longer the baby being pushed in the cradle swing, dangling towards the front, relying on us keep him going or help him stop.

Our family, who tends to shy away from crowds and people, is not accustomed to being around others at the playground lately.  This time travel to the past and the future overwhelms my heart and tears begin to roll down my cheeks as I smile.  The memories of babyhood and the glimpse of the future are almost too much to bear.  The creaking of the swings in front of me somehow seems to grow louder.  The rhythm of the back-and-forth seems to speed up, and with it, the passage of time.  I feel the forward momentum of my children’s lives.  And my own.  Time seems to rush by with each *creak*, *creak* of the swings.  The tears become sad and almost out of my control.

But then.  Then.  Somehow my heart settles.  The swings’ dizzying time-travel tune seems to magically slow to its previous rhythm and volume.  Time is passing, yes.  I hear it, I see it, I feel it.  But this here?  This moment.  This day.  These ages…. This is perfect.

 

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Rubik’s Cube and Possibilities

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Last weekend I learned to solve a Rubik’s cube!  No, I am not a genius, and, Yes, I did use the YouTube to learn how to solve it.  Nevertheless, I’m quite proud of myself.  Our kids had received mini cubes in their Easter baskets, and that afternoon I just decided I was going to learn.  (Side note:  Do not learn on a mini cube; they are frustrating as heck to learn on.)

I grew up in the 1980s, so, of course we had a Rubik’s cube in our game cupboard.  I probably half tried it a few times, but I think I knew the task was out of my reach, so I never put much time or thought into it.  When the Rubik’s cube gained in popularity once more and YouTube was a resource, I still didn’t really care enough to try learning.  But, for some reason, magically, it was time. (Ok, ok. I’m procrastinating on a big project right now, but that’s besides the point.)

I went from being super amazed and proud at solving the cube at all to realizing I could do it in 5 or 6 minutes.  What?!  By the third day, my time was down to about 3 minutes.  And now, a week later and after combining two methods, I’m consistently under 2 1/2 minutes.  I’m certainly not a “speed cuber,” nor do I necessarily aspire to be (ok, maybe a little), but I’m feeling pretty rad about all of this.

But one of the coolest, unexpected side effects of learning The Cube is that I am looking at all the other seemingly difficult things I’ve wanted to learn or accomplish, and it all just seems so….possible.  Learn ASL?  Sure, I can do that.  Working towards my first-ever splits?  Yeah, I got that.  Knitting socks?  Of course.  Writing a book?  No problem.  Threading a Serger?  Why not.  Getting through another day of meltdowns and tantrums? Easy peasy.

There are 43 quintillion (!!!) possibilities on a Rubik’s cube.  Which is totally insane, right?  So, if I can solve that in less than 2 1/2 minutes, just think of all that I could accomplish.

Dance Update

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Two years ago, just 2 months into Covid shutdowns, our daughter told me she’d like to stop doing ballet.  After years of showing a passion for dance, she had finally just started lessons.  (Come on!)  We had found a wonderful, supportive studio, and my daughter’s wish to stop really threw me.  I wrote about it here.

But, dancing in a dance studio and dancing in our foyer with a computer screen are very different things.  She was so young and so new to ballet to be able to cope with the Zoom world of classes.  And, so, with a heavy heart and a very big effort to keep the faith that she would find another creative outlet that fit her so well, I supported her decision to stop.  Of course we talked about it, and I was honest about my feelings and concerns, but, ultimately, I wasn’t going to ‘force’ her to stay.  (I don’t think anyone could force this girl to do anything anyway.)  So, she left the Zoom classes at the end of the session, and she didn’t talk about ballet classes for a whole year.  Occasionally she’d dance in the living room, and she started expressing her love for dance through other dance forms, but ballet class seemed to be history.  And then one day, I don’t know why, it wasn’t.

She asked if she could take classes again.  I was beyond thrilled.  Turns out we had missed a dramatic year of ballet anyway.   The classes had fluctuated from in-person to Zoom, masks to no masks, with some families on board with the studio’s constant efforts to stick by the state’s protocols, and some who were a little less understanding.  Our return timing felt perfect.

I’ve watched our daughter progress these last 8 months or so, growing in her skills and confidence and expression.  Every night at dinner we share a highlight of our day and a proud moment.  And, without fail, every single ballet class day since she went back, our daughter tells us class was her favorite and proudest part of that day.  As a parent, my heart is warmed to see our child have something she loves so much and feels so proud of.  I know that there may be future times where she wants to stop, and I’m not sure how we’ll handle those.  I know there may be other things our kids ask to stop and never want to return to (even if they’re the things we, parents, really love).  But, ultimately, I know these are their journeys to live.  And as much as my over-thinking, worrying mind likes to interfere, I know at some point I just have to trust that their Life journeys will unfold exactly as they’re supposed to.  In the meantime though, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the dancing.

Preserving Memories, Digitally

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Somewhere along the line, I appointed myself as the family historian.  (Well, as one of the family historians – My dad has done incredible family research, which I’d be lost without, and both my parents have preserved so many family moments in pictures and videos.)  I don’t know why or when this happened, but I can’t help but spend free time researching family trees, scanning and organizing old photos, and digitizing old home movies.  It’s definitely a mixed blessing.  This can feel like a time-sucking hobby, for sure.  I also feel a strong urge to be recording my current family’s moments, as well as, you know, LIVING these moments.  But, since it’s part of who I am, I may as well embrace it, enjoy it, and try to be efficient in it.

One of the issues for me has been how quickly technology and systems change.  Just when I think I’ve found a good way to do something, a better system presents itself.  Ah, well.

PHOTOS

I started my journey as the family photo scanner.  I scanned countless photos over the years and have countless more that haven’t been touched.  (My family of origin REALLY liked taking photos.)  Here are some of photo scanning tips, from my experience:

–I know not everyone agrees with this, but if you’re dealing with massive amounts of photos, or even a moderate amount, I recommend only scanning the “star” photos.  I started by scanning EVERY. SINGLE. PHOTO.  Not only does this eat up scanning time and computer memory, but it’s just more to sort through and label.  And, frankly, there’s not much desire to even look at all of these, so why go through the trouble?  Not everyone has this “problem” of too many memories preserved in photos, so it may sound strange, but for those who are blessed with a lot of photos, this is my recommendation.

–When I did most of my initial photo scanning, I used a scan bed.  Now there are apps that make this process ridiculously simple.  I don’t have much experience with them, but I would definitely be using these if I was starting the digitizing now.

–I recommend labeling as you go, and labeling groups of photos, rather than individual ones.  I used to label each photo with who was in the picture and where it was.  Not to say this isn’t helpful, perhaps to future generations, but I just keep it simple for now.

Here’s how I label photos so they can be sorted in order–  YEAR-MONTH NUMBER (then) MONTH.  [Example:  1985-03 March]

When programs or computers organize in alphabetical/numerical order, this will ensure the photos stay in order.  Also, if you only know the year, you can still get photos into their general chronological order.  After that basic label, I then decide if I want to add details.  If years aren’t known, I try to group by decades based on the ages of the people in the photos.

–I also wish I had posted these into an online file storage site as I went.  At the time I started scanning, I was copying everything onto discs, and now I wish I had just been sharing and storing things online from the start.

SLIDES

We inherited quite a few boxes of slides, so I was very excited to find a way to convert them into digital format. I used a simple converter machine for awhile – nothing fancy, but it worked.  It actually seemed a bit flimsy at first, but it did what I needed.  Now as I revisit the lightweight machine years later though, I’m sad to say it hasn’t held up.  I’m trying to decide if getting a new converter is worth it for the remainder of the slides we have.  Our local library system has a Library of Things that loans out everything from board games to telescopes.  They finally got a slide converter in the system, but it’s checked out for months in advance.  Just requires a little patience and planning.

8MM TAPES

Researching how to convert 8mm video tapes took me FOR.EV.ER!  I finally figured it out and purchased an old camcorder and a VidBox and it’s been super easy ever since (just time-consuming).  The tapes do have to play and record in “real time,” but I find that if I’m doing other things and get a tape started, this doesn’t really matter.  Tips:

–My family of origin has Sooooo much footage.  I know this might not be a “problem” most people have, so some of this may sound silly to those who are happy to have the little bits of home video they do have.  For me, I find that it’s really helpful to transfer our footage into iMovie and do some editing.  There is no way my family is ever going to sit and watch the hours and hours of video.  Sometimes I edit these by events.  Sometimes I simply upload a short bit that would be fun to view and share.  I’ve got a clip of my brother at age 10 waving to the camera and saying “Hello” to his future kids, who are now that age.  How cool is that!  So, I uploaded that 15-second video by itself.  But, usually, I’ll edit a sports game or recital or holiday or trip as its own video.

–Sites like Sync, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. are great for sharing old videos or photos.  You can organize into folders and share select links.

CURRENT

The tricky balance for me is keeping up with the current photos and videos, in addition to all those cool ones from my own childhood.  I know many people who take tons of photos and footage on their phones and then hardly look at it again.  I try my best to do something with the footage I take, but it’s tough.

–I regularly download photos onto my computer and organize/label by month.  (Nope.  I’ve finally caught up with the times and use synching iCloud)

–I delete the bad photos/videos or less-than-awesome ones.  (Hard to do with sweet kiddos in the pic, but worth it.)

–I (*try to*) regularly pick the best photos/videos of the month and transfer them to an online storage platform.

–Even with all the other digital chaos I’ve got going on, I always take a monthly photo of each child and load it to a file.  I also work very hard to make a short birthday compilation video for each child every year.  Having at least these makes me feel better that I haven’t organized the hundreds of photos and videos I take each month.

SHARING

For me, one of the best parts of all of this is sharing with other family members.  I know the photo/video sharing thing is crazy trendy on social media sites.  But since I don’t have the Twitter or Instantgram, I thought it would be fun to share old photos in a place where they can easily be accessed and categorized.  In the past I’ve put together discs, online storage files, and even private blogs.  I’m currently working on some online Family Trees for each branch of the family.  I may be the only one who actually looks at these, but I love having these as a reference, and someday, someday, someone from the family may be interested.  (I recently went to a virtual Genealogy conference, and I was so relieved to find some people who are just as dorky as I am about family history.  Huzzah!)

 

I’m working at realizing this is an ongoing process and not a project that I’ll get to just cross off my to-do list one productive Saturday.  I’m trying to enjoy the treasures of videos and photos I do find and share, instead of thinking about the pile of ones I haven’t gotten to.  I’m trying to remember that sometimes by preserving/digitizing a special handful of photos and videos rather than the whole massive pile, I can actually have the space to appreciate those ones more.  For anyone else in the rare position of having an overabundance of preserved family memories, perhaps you can relate.  But some of the methods above have helped me at least begin this journey, and I’m hoping that maybe some of these ideas can help someone else.

 

Resources for Songs, Rhymes, and Finger Plays

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Online Resources of Song, Rhyme, and Finger Play Collections

–Alina Celeste
Alina’s YouTube channel has an incredible assortment of songs and finger plays.  Many of them are in Spanish as well!  Her cute quirkiness and fun interactions make these entertaining for kids and adults.

–Jbrary
Dana and Lindsey are children’s librarians who have posted a very generous number of videos that might be found at a StoryTime circle.  There are songs, rhymes, finger plays, and more all organized by theme.  They are so darling to watch, and they remind me of some of the enthusiasm I used to have with children before becoming a mom.  =D  Check out their website too for wonderful book recommendations and felt board activities.

–Singing Games for Children
Dany Rosevear has an amazing collection of songs and resources on here, as well as links to her singing them on YouTube!  So sweet and so organized.  I want to sit and have tea with her on a weekly basis!

–Mamalisa
MamaLisa has a beautiful collection of children’s songs from around the world.  Most of the songs have an audio of the song, lyrics in multiple languages, sheet music, and links to multiple YouTube videos of the song.  The blog also has incredible links and information.  If you’re looking a multi-cultural approach to your children’s song collection, you must visit this site.

–Molly Whuppie
Ack! Just found Molly, and I love her so much!

Children’s Songs and Musicians that Aren’t Annoying

In this post I talk about how often I walk into a kids’ shop and hear either completely sappy ‘kid’ tracks that seem to belittle our kids’ tastes or pumping club music that seems to rob our kids of childhood with every bass thump.  Here’s the thing.  There’s PLENTY of kid-geared music in between these two extremes.  I’m just not sure why the shops I’ve visited can’t seem to find them.

So, here’s a(n ongoing) list of some of the songs and musicians who (I, personally, think) find the wonderful balance of gearing their music towards children, without trying to “sing down” to them and without trying to make their music into a dance club.  Bonus is that it’s all music we adults can enjoy too.

–Emily Arrow
We found Emily on her YouTube channel where she sings songs based on children’s picture books.  But she also teaches ukulele, writes books, and runs a podcast, among other things.  She’s darling, and I adore her.

–Okee Dokee Brothers
I only recently found the Okee Dokee Brothers.  Joe and Justin sing Nature-themed songs that are so much fun.  Love these guys.

–Minnutes
I can’t find a lot of information on Minnutes, nor can I tell if they’re geared solely towards children’s music, but I’ve heard some of their songs on Spotify and they’re fun and happy.

 

–Elizabeth Mitchell
I “found” Elizabeth Mitchell when I was pregnant with my first.  I immediately fell in love with her gentle and soulful interpretations of children’s folk songs.
You can also find some music videos on YouTube for some of her songs that always make me yearn to run through meadows and picnic under the stars.

 

YouTube kid songs:

–Lily on Adventure Sandwich has wonderful songs like: Just the Way You Are, New Friends Make You Feel Special, and Happy Father’s Day