It was eleven this morning, and we had eaten breakfast, cleaned up, brushed teeth, read a book, and the next sequence (even though out of sequence) was “wash face and get dressed” for Ford. He balked, meanwhile charming his way to watching I Robot,eventually turning the movie on outright, and I started losing it, irrationally complaining that I have no control over my kids. I was so ruffled over trying to get the kids out the door by noon, for chrissakes that I was starting to jerk my weight around and complain about not having enough control all the while. Damon walked into the room and pulled my horses to a screeching halt with his lucid analysis. He told me to rephrase “I have no control over the kids” (a self-centered, gun-in-the-foot approach) to “What does Ford need right now? What needs to happen?” (goal-oriented approach). It was an amazing moment of silence in my raging brain. All the birds swooped down to the tree branches, the monkeys stopped throwing papayas at me and the “to do” list tickertape died. It’s one of the things I love most about Damon, his ability to help me regain control over my temper (which translates to forgetting about regaining control over the kids), because hostility and irrational moments are part of my makeup as much as moments of clarity and calm. So thank you, again. I needed that, so did Ford.
Plein air paintings, studio art and lessons
Thank you for reframing that quality that Damon possesses–a direct and extreme confidence as if only he can see things clearly, which I admit, is often the case, and oh how love him for that, and for nothing as well.
You two as a team and the two beautiful products that resulted proves that God has an ultimate purpose for each of us and can and does put us to good use. Not to build big churches on corners for people to see, but to be there to control the storm, to make a difference and that is one thing Damon has done for me as well since he was a young boy. That’s a tough thing to do, but I see it as gentleness and a demonstration of love.