Recently, I had an early afternoon appointment in downtown Baltimore, MD. Since my husband was off work that day I invited him and the kids to come along and wait for me to finish my meeting so we could visit Port Discovery (the beginning of our stacation adventures...stay tuned for more entries).
This whole opportunity for quality family time turned out to be a cultural learning experience. While we were at the Baltimore Inner Harbor we saw the last Coast Guard cutter that survived Pearl Harbor. After quizzing the kids on where Pearl Harbor was (Hawaii), Jonathan asked, “Who bombed us?” Well that lead me to tie in Japan and the story my Dad just told them the weekend before about his two-year military stay in Okinawa. At Port Discovery we got a private tour of the Egyptian Exhibit where we learned even more about a culture in a faraway place.
At a recent scrapbook convention, I used this story as an example of Ethnic Scrapbooking and one woman responded that I have too much time on my hands…is that really the case? Absolutely not, dealing with four kids and their summer schedules too much time on my hands couldn’t be further from the truth, but being an engaged parent …Absolutely, that’s what I’m about…taking every opportunity to inspire my children to learn, embrace, and understand.
I salute you for being so engaged, especially with four children. I know how difficult it is to keep up with one child's schedule. I can't even imagine having to do it for four! Try not to take that woman's comment too seriously. I'm certain she wasn't thinking clearly when she blurted out such an obnoxious statement.
Posted by: Ericka | July 15, 2008 at 02:50 AM
How bizarre and a little sad. My husband and I have no children of our own but try our best to find activities that we believe would be of interest to our niece, nephews and friends' children. We consider that time well-spent (and keeps our minds sharp!). My newest "obsession" is The Newseum in downtown DC. Amazing structure, thought-provoking and relevant exhibits, and truly a little something for everyone. We hope to take them all there one day soon. And yes, encourage them to record their thoughts and work on their in-progress pages). Keep doing what you're doing, Lisa.
Posted by: Cheryl C. | July 15, 2008 at 08:31 PM
gurlllllllllllllllllll...........i use to live in okinawa, japan...my father was stationed there for 2 years...i think thats why i love rice so much...i have a feeling me and you are related...LOL...wow!...ask you dad if he kinows where Kadena Air Force base is...we lived off base but still had access to go there...i do know the year we left, they were building an Omni hotel on the corner of our street..we lived 210 sunabe...man that brings back memories!...email me or something sis...i'm so happy right now i could go in the kitchen a steam some rice!!!!..LOLOLOLOL
Posted by: essensevibez | July 16, 2008 at 09:11 PM
I know this is a very late comment but...I just wanna say that when that lady said "You have too much time on your hands." She really meant "I wish I had more time on my hands." When the truth is, it is not about how much time we have, but what we do with our time that counts. When things are important to us we MAKE time for them.
Posted by: Ayshaday | September 16, 2008 at 04:52 AM