Courage, Dear Heart

We put a light up letter board in our kitchen.  I have always wanted one but honestly, what mother has the time to sit down and get creative with quirky little inspiring quotes for the family when everyone is hungry and the dust bunnies are lining up by two’s and the dog needs a walk and Piper can’t find her swim goggles and the new vegan cookbook has arrived and needs reading. Sigh……but I’m all island-y and chill now (skull-cracking eye roll), so we did the letter board thing.

Now, I have 5 people in this family that can read, write and spell- littlest is still working her way there. So, you can imagine what has sprung up on the letter board when Mama wasn’t looking. After our initial agreed-upon, “Happy 4th of July”, the kids deemed the next big holiday to be Halloween, so we were all staring at Happy Halloween in July.  Bodey came on the scene and smiled his Joker-like smile after rearranging it to Happy Ween-O-Hall. Then Jay got a hold of it (after a cocktail), and I dropped my strainer of pasta as I turned around towards the sign and read the words:

“Relax Yo Ass, Brah”

Now, I think we all have knowledge of Cecily’s ability to curse with the best of them.  I’m not offended by cursing, never have been (I love words so much- all of them). Furthering my point, I sat in our car one day listing off every curse word to the kids reminding them they are just that, words. There is a certain “nuance” to curse words and one needs the ability to decipher if the person with whom they are speaking can handle them. Some can, some cannot. We use them in times of great frustration and emotion but we TRY to never direct them to people we love or really any people for that matter and don’t say them at school and never in front of grandparents or teachers or the mail person or the checkout lady at Publix. Fuck. Ok not my best parenting strategy, but I’m a work- in- progress, my friends.

So I dropped my pasta and laughed hysterically. It’s funny. I mean, seriously- that is funny and actually a wonderful reminder. Stop. Relax. The kids are all right. We are all right. We are here and now in this moment doing the very best we can. Breathe. We are lucky. We are in love. We are on this earth for a hot quick minute only, so pull up your big-girl panties and charge forth with love in your heart and wit on your brain and kindness as your guide and then take a nap. Relax.

I changed the letter board today (please forgive my google search for “short quotes”, good lord, Cecily, get creative). I found one by C.S. Lewis which just struck my dramatic heart chords and captured a strange use of words that makes sense as only C.S. Lewis can. “Courage, dear heart.” It takes great courage of the heart to be an honest, imperfect human who loves and gets hurt and tries and tries again and who keeps breathing and falling down and laughing with glee while squirming out of rabbit holes. I think Jay and C.S. Lewis have a pretty perfect life plan here.

Relax yo ass, brah.

Courage, dear heart.