Dear Moms, Grandmoms, Aunts and Your Partners,

Being a parent is an awesome experience.  This weekend we celebrate moms. While parenting is non-stop responsibility for 18+ years, along with the challenges come memorable rewards: the way your heart swells when you hold your new baby, the delight in your daughter's beautiful singing voice, the relief when you find out your lost son is at the Dumbo ticket booth, the moments they made you laugh "til the tears were streaming, the phone call from across the country to say "Hi Mom, I love you."   Mother's Day may have its commercial tones, and we do love those flowers, dinners out, times at a spa, girl's night out, new earrings, etc., but the very best part of the day is when the children say "Thanks Mom."

Have a wonderful mother's day,

Parmalee

I've been working on editing the video of my daughter's school play. In editing the video, I have to go back and forth through small parts of it to find the places to cut, merge, add subtitles, etc. It's painstaking work, and should be boring, but I find it enjoyable. It's a sort of meditation.

And in doing this, I get to see other people's kids, over and over, repeating themselves each time the same, yet different, more deeply. I particularly enjoyed one part where I was trying to match the subtitles to what a small girl was chanting as she danced. You couldn't really hear the chant; it faded away into nothing somewhere a few words before the end.

But you can definitely see her dance. You can see that she loves the dance, she is inhabiting the dance. The way one of my kids might look when figuring something out on the computer, or making new clothes for her babydoll. The entranced look, that rapture, that people get when they're doing something they love. That's the look that this girl has for her dance. Who cares about the words? The dance says it all.

What amazes me about this...  >>>>read more

Below is only a partial list of upcoming events and activities so be sure to click on our EVENT CALENDAR so you do not miss anything >>

Use the PARENT PLANNER to click on events and resources you are interested in and click PRINT MY PLANNER to print or email your list.

Kite Flying • Skim Boarding• Food and Vendor Booths • Live Music and Entertainment • Giant Inflatable Air Park • Kite Making and Wind-Related Kids Crafts • Science and Technology Tent • Free Medical Screening • Marina Volunteer Firefighters Association Pancake Breakfast on Saturday

◊ Giant Inflatable Air Park: Giant Tiger, Iron Man, Tiki, and Hot Air Balloon Bounce House
◊ Skate Board Contest at Marina Skate Park
◊ Children's Educational Activities: Kite Making Workshops, Kite Competition, Hands-on Wind-related Crafts, including Wind Chimes with Marina Youth Arts, and Wind-related Science projects with the National Weather Service.
◊ A.J. Robinson Free Medical Screening: On Cardoza Avenue, above the Park
◊ Professional Kite Demonstrations featuring Dan Whitney, Brian Champie and David Sabilino. Both Saturday and Sunday!
◊ Mission Soaring Center - Free hang gliding simulator and "mini" lessons at the Park

Saturday 1-3pm Kite making workshop; 3pm Kite Competition; John "Broadway" Tucker will be performing
Sat & Sun: Free A.J. Robinson Health Screening and Crime Stoppers Children's Fingerprinting
Sunday: Shinsho Mugen Taiko Japanese Drums, El Sol Folklorico, and the Kaye Bohler Blues Band

More information

The following answers were given by elementary school age children:

Why did God make mothers?
· "She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is".
· "Mostly to clean the house".
· "To help us out of there when we were getting born".

How did God make mothers?
· "He used dirt, just like for the rest of us".
· "Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring".
· "God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts".

What ingredients are mothers made of?
· "God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean".
· "They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think".

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
· "We're related".
· "God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me".

What kind of little girl was your mom?
· "My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff".
· "I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy".
· "They say she used to be nice".

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
· "His last name".
· "She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer"?
· "Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores"?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
· "My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot".
· "She got too old to do anything else with him".
· "My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on".

Who's the boss at your house?
· "Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball".
· "Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed".
· "I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad".

What's the difference between moms and dads?
· "Moms work at work & work at home, & dads just go to work at work".
· "Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them".
· "Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's".
· "Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine".

What does your mom do in her spare time?
· "Mothers don't do spare time".
· "To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long".

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
· "On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery".
· "Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue".

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
· "She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that".
· "I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me".
· "I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back of her head".

Happy Mother's Day!