Kaylee & Quotes

On the way home from school, Kaylee informed me that she would like to duct tape Mistress M to a wall. I didn't think that was very nice of Kaylee, and suggested she find a more positive and productive way to think about it. Kaylee then said that M.M. had told her that she (Kaylee) was dumb, bad at everything, and had a "stupid" sounding name. I asked her what she thought about that, and she said that her name is perfectly normal and that she "knows more stuff" than M.M. anyway, and that she knows that what M.M. said isn't true. The next thing she said was "She doesn't act like a Christian mom. She's just mean. She doesn't have any friends because she's mean to everybody." I mentioned that maybe she's mean to people because she doesn't have any friends and that maybe she needs someone to be kind to her. Kaylee said "No, Mom, she's just always been mean. I've tried to be kind. She won't let me. Now she's always saying hurtful and mean things. I want her out of my life." (She actually said that.) I told her that for now she'd just have to let the mean things this girl says go in one ear and out the other, that she knows what the truth is and what's important, and that soon enough this girl will be a memory. That if it escalates, to let us know. As I said, there will always be one, somewhere, and dealing with them is an unfortunate part of life.

After school today, she was giving me a hug, and she said that she wished that she could tie a rope between us that would always connect us, forever. I told her that she couldn't see it, but there was already a rope between us that tied us together forever. She immediately got it, and after a little thought she said very quietly "I got really mad at you once, and I even said I hated you. Did that break the rope?" I said that no, that didn't break the rope. She asked me if I would ever cut the rope, and I said that I couldn't, she was part of me no matter what. She reassured me that she would never want to lose that connection either. She's a sweetheart.

"Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no other is, and to do what no other can do."
~William Ellery Channing

"We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light."
~Mary Dunbar

[From the great military strategist, John Boyd...]

"Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road. And you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments." Then Boyd raised his other hand and pointed another direction. "Or you can go that way and you can do something – something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference.

To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do. Which way will you go?"
~John Boyd

"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin."
~H.L. Mencken