Parenting: THE THREE Rs

When I was struggling through my teen rebellions with authoritarian parents there were certain things I vowed never to say to my kids. When we would have our power struggles, my parents both had a low tolerance for “back talk.” I wanted to have what I considered reasoned negotiations, but after the third exchange I would hear, “Because I say so.”  “Because I am your mother.” “I’m the parent, and what I say goes.” “Say one more thing and you’re grounded.”  ARRRRRRGH! The frustration when they would pull rank! I promised myself that I would not serve that gritty dish to my children. And I didn’t.

Politics: HELLO, WASHINGTON ???

This is the American People calling.
We thought you should know that, in spite of media attempts to make news over the details of your squabbles, we’re on to you. We know there have been only three things going on in government since Election 2010: three kinds of nothing except looking out for your jobs. We don't like our tax dollars paying for your campaigns and we have some ideas about changing that....

Da Kine Stories: SOB STORY

I'm not one to cry - except when I hear Hawai`i Aloha...or Kaulana Na Pua...or Honolulu City Lights. I never make it through Aloha `Oe....

I'm not one to tear up - except when I see the Big Island through the window of a jet and know I'm almost home from self-imposed exile.

I'm not one to sob - except when I see pictures of my beloved Queen Lili`uokalani, hear her music, read her words, or touch her statue.

Wordage: FREELY BORN WORDS

Contributions Welcomed and Credited
Unless otherwise attributed Freely Born Words are created by Abby Freeborn and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you have a different source for any of the words listed above, please comment so proper acknowledgement  can be made.


Freightening (freight`en`ing ) - (adj.) an occurrence that threatens or disrupts one’s patterns and weighs heavily on one’s mind (e.g., “A falling stock market is a freightening experience.”)

Jibnastics (jib`nas`tics) -  (n) <Traditional> what a sailor does on the foredeck during races or repairs. (e.g.,“Fixing the head of the roller furling jib will require expert jibnastics.”)

Scoopage (scoop`age) - (n) 1.<according to Connie Harrison> the capacity of a serving spoon, e.g. “I don’t think the scoopage of this spoon is sufficient for a man-sized portion of ice cream;” 2 .<according to Abby Freeborn> what reporters are seeking when they wiretap, hack into computers, or pursue a hot tip; 3. the degree to which a garment reveals a woman's breasts, e.g., “No matter how deep the scoopage, a woman's clothes must not reveal the maternal aspects of her sex appeal.”

Bread Crumb: THE LAST EMPOWERMENT

We all knew Mom was dying of lung cancer. When we arrived for the family reunion that she had billed as a prelude to my youngest brother’s wedding. we found her sitting on the porch of her island home looking out over the water, smoking and sipping her wine. (“No sense quitting now!”) Mom’s siblings, who hadn’t spoken in years, had put aside their hostilities and were bustling about, being helpful, cracking family jokes, and trotting out their different versions of family events. Those three days were amazing - more fun than we’d had together in years!

Gitalongs: THE SIX PRIMITIVE EMOTIONS

Let's use use your hand, palm up, to explain the six survival emotions of our primitive brain.


Let your palm represent LOVE –- acceptance, attraction, protectiveness, nurture are a few manifestations of love:
Let your pinkie represent JOY –- confidence, peace, happiness, contentment are manifestations of joy; 
Let your ring finger represent GRIEF –- sadness, loss, emptiness, heartfelt angst, vulnerability;
Let your middle finger represent PAIN –- physical and/or emotional discomfort, feeling vulnerable;
Let your pointer represent FEAR –-  uncertainty, lack of control, vulnerability, fight or flight;
And let your thumb represent ANGER –- hot rage or cold fury, a protective/defensive response to Grief, Pain, or Fear.

Now make a hard fist.

Poetry: WEDNESDAY OUT OF SYNC

Have you ever found yourself
someplace you thought you wanted to be
but didn’t,
and wanting to be where you wish you didn’t
but did,
so then tried to be where you wished to be
but shouldn't,
then tried to be present where your body was
but couldn’t? 

Go home, sleep it off.
The cure for this problem is Thursday.

Annapolis, Maryland - 1979
Wednesday Out of Sync by Abby Freeborn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. For permission to use contact randmxcentric@gmail.com