Memories and Musings

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Yesterday I had to get a haircut.  And yes I said HAD.  My hair was getting shaggy in the back and definitely did not look cute.  Plus Mr. J's company's Christmas party is this weekend so you know I wanted to look my best! So many things tried to keep me from getting my haircut that I felt like it was me against the world!  First I got asked to work, well I actually got asked if I could work, which of course I said yes.  But it wasn't a definite, she said she wasn't sure if she would need me so she would let me know.  Thankfully she didn't need me! First obstacle managed.  Then they started threatening snow. This in and of itself isn't too amazing. I mean it IS December and we live in the Midwest; we are used to snow.  But with snow comes school delays.  My haircut was at 9am and if we had a two hour delay that means I would have to cancel.  Enter me praying for no delay.  ANSWERED PRAYER!  Thankfully no delay! Second obstacle managed.  But then it decided to snow at the exact time I needed to leave to get my haircut.  I don't know if you have snow where you live or if you have ever driven when it's snowing but it basically means driving slower and more cautiously than you normally might.  I'm usually a pretty cautious driver but I am what Mr. J would call an "offensive" driver.  Meaning I have a destination and my goal is to get there.  He on the other hand is a "defensive" driver.  He has a destination but he is more concerned with the other 400 idiots on the road and making sure they are staying in their lane and where they are going.  So we have a bit of a difference in driving styles but we are both pretty good drivers.  And although I will admit I'm an offensive driver most of the time, when the snow comes I play defense! I slow down and put the car in neutral when I need to stop and I constantly look around to make sure the other 400 idiots on the road are driving like it's snowing, not like it's summertime.  So I leave early for my haircut and sure enough everyone is driving 25 mph because it's snowing.  Now like I said, I drive safe & slow in the snow but it was NOT 25 mph snowing! So obstacle number 3 was driving there!  But I went slow & safe and got there only 2 min late.  NOT BAD!! Third obstacle managed! 

It was Wednesday so that means Miss V didn't have school; so she got to go to the beauty shop with me.  This wasn't anything new.  She has gone with me a few times to get my haircut.  She even has a chair she sits in each time.  I just tell her to have a seat, give her the cell phone (or my sweet stylist gives her an ipad) and she literally won't move or complain.  She is such a well behaved and good girl.  But while she was sitting there I got to thinking about my own experience with the beauty shop when I was a kid.  My mom used to get her hair permed and she also kept her hair pretty short so we visited the beauty shop often.  The one my mom went to was very small.  It was in a small town in the next town over (what a very country/small town thing to say!).  It was just 2 chairs, 2 stylists, 2 wash chairs, and maybe 4 or 5 dryer chairs. They had a very small (just a couch and a coffee table) sitting area.  I remember sitting there often.  A few things I remember about the salon was the smell first.  If you have never smelt a perm then you haven't lived!  It's a very distinct smell and I can still smell it now if I think about it.  I can remember they used to have a coffee pot with cups.  But the cups were plastic on the outside and paper on the side.  So basically it was a paper cup with a plastic holder.  But the two holders were brown & orange.  I always liked to get the orange one if my mom would let me get a cup of tea. But the thing that I remember most was the coffee table.  It was filled with books and magazines.  I'm sure the magazines would have been interesting if I was an adult (people, Country Woman,  Woman's Day) but as a kid it was the books I loved.  All the books were about different haircuts.  Most of them had short haircuts but there were so many different styles.  I loved looking at the pictures and imagining myself with the different haircuts.  The same lady that cut my mom's hair also cut mine so she would always ask how school was going and what was new.  I remember getting my first perm there and some of my favorite haircuts.  I remember what the painting on the front window looked like and where we used to park to go in. The memories are so vivid I'm sure I could draw the whole place out if I needed to. 

It makes me wonder what memories will Miss. V have of being with me.  I was raised an only child so I spent a lot of time with my mom.  But my 3 share me.  Do I give them each enough alone time? Do I make memories with all of them or just her because she is with me the most?  Are they getting the experiences that, when they are older, they can say "I remember doing that with mom." As a mom, I realize how amazing my mom really was when I was little.  She still is amazing (especially as a grandma) but when you are a kid you don't realize how good you have it.  My mom was there all the time.  She volunteered in my classes, she helped with field day and she tried to make every day life special.  I used to get notes in my lunch, or a special snack (or balloons) for my birthday.  She always seemed to go out of her way to make my life special.  I hope that I'm doing that for my kids.  I want my kids to know how much they are loved.  How important they are, not only to me (and Mr. J) but to God.  I try to make sure I pray over them each night (after we pray as a family). I pray that they would always know, honor, & serve the Lord.  And then I wonder if I'm showing them those things in my life.  Having kids makes you very self reflective. Especially when you see your child do or say something that you do or say! 

Two verses come to mind in regards to being a parent. Proverbs 22:6 says "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."  And Joshua  24:15 (the end of the verse) says "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".  The first talks about training your children in the ways of the Lord. That what they learn as a child will be important to them when they are old.   And the second talks about taking a stand and serving the Lord.  In Joshua he says "BUT as for me and my house" and I feel a bit like that.  In a world that seems to say "SERVE YOURSELF!  Do what is fun and feels good", I will serve the Lord.  It also says "me and my house."  My kids are watching.  They are watching me every min or listening to me or my radio.  What do all those things show them or say to them?  That I serve God and want to do His will?  Or that I serve myself and do what I want?  

Love, Lacey