The Vernacular Has Changed

by

Patti Dickinson

Funny --- it dawned on me this morning that the vernacular has changed at the Dickinson house.

It used to be that we had "the big kids" and "the little kids". I was taking "the big kids" to school, or taking "the little kids" to the pool. And now there are no little kids. (Although Margaret Dickinson will always be the "baby of eight".)

Now we have the "kids out of the house" (four of them), "the college kids" (two of them) and the kids at home (two of them). How did that happen? This is a common theme in my blogs. How did we go from diapers to curling irons in every bathroom? How did we go from strollers to jalopies with collision-only insurance? How did we go from subtraction worksheet homework, to math homework that requires a graphing calculator and paper to match? From baby teeth to retainers? From slip-'n-slides in the backyard to Outward Bound adventures far from home?

This week I was reminded of how much I like each stage. I watched my JV volleyball kid (okay, I do labels for my kids in the blogs because I know that you can't remember all the names of my kids!!!) play in a game. A goof up, and then a little "coaching" from the coach on the sidelines (I know that's a lot of "coaches" in one sentence, but I didn't want you to think that I coach from the sidelines --- not one of my vices) and then I could see her regroup. Suck it up, as the kids say. Shake it off. (This is the kid who used to be a bundle of tears on homeplate if she swung at the wrong time)

Andrew, freshman at UNL is taking a photojournalism class this semester. The assignment was to go take pictures of a person. Andrew told me he'd done the assignment but wasn't happy with it. Long story short, he decided at the last minute to redo the assignment and had an encounter with a homeless man. Take a look: www.adickinson.wordpress.com

And then there's Mary --- third year nursing student. She called with big news yesterday. She gave an enema to a dummy. (I couldn't make this stuff up) I didn't ask the details. This is the kid who still doesn't understand how funny she really is. (Years ago, my two high school kids would call for a ride home after cross country practice. Mary would answer the phone. Act like she was a Chinese carry-out restaurant with her version of a Chinese accent. The cross-country kids would say, "Mary --- GET MOM" and she would be asking "You want fried rice with that?" Every afternoon.)

Kathleen had an interview yesterday for a stage-managing job in Chicago. They called her. Good sign. She has been beating the sidewalks looking for work. Actually she has been pedaling the sidewalks on her trusty, rusty Schwinn. Her internship is up at the end of October. She has been diligent, unfailingly optimistic and determined. Some mighty fine qualities.

This weekend we are taking our first grandchild, Ben to the circus. He just turned three. So I will have my fix of half a dozen trips to the bathroom and sticky cotton candy fingers, and wonder in his eyes. Lucky me.....all ages and stages at once.