Playing Favorites

Orange: Mommy, you’re the best in this whole, in this whole, in this whole family.

Me: That is why you are my favorite.

(Just kidding.  Never tell them who’s your favorite; they’ll have no reason to compete for your affection.)

Did I Ever Tell You About the Time…

that I asked the Jellyman to buy me some glycerine for bubble solution?  And the only form he could find was as suppositories, so he came home with like this giant pack of suppositories so that I could make the stupid bubbles?  And he was all, “That was awesome, thanks for that experience?”

And then it only took part of the pack to make the bubbles, which were lame anyway, so we’ve had these glycerine suppositories sitting in the kitchen cupboard for months?  And the Jellyman’s brain somehow blocked out the entire humiliating event?  And then he came across the remainder of the suppository pack when he was looking for something else, and he was all, “Why in the hell do we have suppositories in the KITCHEN CUPBOARD?”  And I had to remind him that he went all over the pharmacy and had to discuss the uses of glycerine with some teenage pharmacy employee in order to find stuff so his kids could make bubbles that weren’t nearly as good as the store-bought kind?

And he said, “Right, I think you still owe me for that.”

I probably do.   But it’s still funny.

Really

If you’re going to tell me “no” anyway, is it necessary to make me defend my position first, just so I can feel worse when you dismiss all my reasons?

I’m just saying.

A Different Take on Tragedy

I wish you all could see the posts on my friends’ Facebook pages today.  One of them is the wife of a pastor at the Wichita church where Dr. Tiller was shot yesterday, and the other is a member of that congregation.

Every single comment (EVERY. ONE.) is about love and peace, and none (NOT. ONE.) mentions abortion at all.

There are a lot of divisive, difficult issues wrapped up in Dr. Tiller’s story, and Christians (being human) will naturally disagree about the rights and wrongs of it all.  True Christians, however, will work hard to look past the disagreements and focus on loving all the people affected by this.  I’m watching love in action as I obsessively refresh my Facebook feeds, and it’s balm to my heart after the comments I’ve read in many news stories about the shooting.

There are suggestions out there today that people should donate to pro-choice organizations in support of Dr. Tiller, or to pro-life organizations in support of nonviolent abortion protests.  Those are both completely valid responses, as far as I’m concerned.*  For my part, I think I’ll be donating to the church that will need to minister simultaneously to the family, friends, and supporters of Dr. Tiller and to members of the community who disagreed with him but still decry his killing.

*I’ve edited this part several times, and I’m still not satisfied, but here goes: I can live with the contradictions of a middle-of-the-road position better than I can live with the what-ifs of an all-or-nothing approach.