Swine Computer

I really like this quote about journal keeping by Spencer W. Kimball (there were actually a lot of good ones, but I decided this one summed them up):

"If you have not already commenced this important duty in your lives, get a good notebook, a good book that will last through time and into eternity for the angels to look upon. Begin today and write in it your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. We hope you will do this, our brothers and sisters, for this is what the Lord has commanded, and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives."

And then one day, after 6 years- and 65 pages later- of keeping a journal on the computer (because while it's much less romantic than handwriting, it's faster to type and therefore more likely to get done), Satan will enter your hard drive and your computer will lose your journal file. Luckily, you will have thought to print it out a year ago, but still, the last year is completely gone. So much for lasting into eternity.

I'm not so sure I wanted the angels reading my journal anyway....

Dr. Diary: Part Deux

My son has been interested in guns for some time now. I have not purchased a single toy firearm for the child, and yet everything has the potential to become such. Sticks, mugs, and K'nex are only a few of the items that he has used to "pack heat" around the house. I don't mind so much, but when I am ambushed and shot at point blank range for no apparent reason, I can't help but find it somewhat disturbing. Of course, his understanding of weapons is much different than mine, I get that, but still... I am his dear mother, not his enemy. How could he be so heartless in his dealings with me?
I mentioned in a previous post that I found a diary that I kept when I was 8 years old, and that it has given me renewed perspective of how my child might view me. Here is another favorite entry, dated July 18, that perhaps shines some light on the matter. In its entirety, it reads:

"Mom strikes again. To make our bed"

Perhaps I should design some kind of symbol that I could leave on his walls or toys to mark my dastardly presence each time I ask him to do something. Any suggestions as to what that symbol could look like?

Dear Diary

Most of the journals I kept during my youth, I have a strong desire to burn. I thought I had them all under lock and key, but recently, I found another journal in my parent's attic. I was 8 at the time, and somehow the excerpts aren't as painful to read as my middle school journal (probably the absence of crazy hormones?). In fact, it is pretty insightful into the mind of a child. Most of the entries are pretty dull- mainly recording the schedule of my day. But there are a few gems of emotional expression. Here's one of my favorites, dated November 30th. The subject is my grandpa, who would frequently babysit us:

"Dear Diary,
today went I got home from school my grandpa messed up everything[.] [F]irst when I got something folded up and put into a bag my grandpa recked it up. Then he recked one of my activity scenes up and was not! minding his own business.
Well bye-bye"

Wouldn't it be interesting to go back in time and see how these events really unfolded? My Grandpa was certainly not a monster roaming the house, leaving mass destruction in his wake. In fact, I suspect he was getting after me to clean up, and I suspect I wasn't obeying. But isn't my perspective interesting? It has made me wonder how my little one thinks of me as I attempt to maintain order in our home.

I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a monster roaming the house, leaving mass destruction in my wake.