Making Room for Memories. . .

As a self proclaimed amnesiac, I find myself trying to go back and recall those lost memories that seem to have alluded me.  It's amazing, as I sat here to write them down, just how stuffed full my head is, with apparently useless information, and just how unfull it is of the things I need to write of.  What a dilemma.  Do I purge some of the useless stuff, and thus fill your poor heads with it, in an effort to regain some access to those lost recesses of my mind, or do I just leave it alone and try to pull out the "stuff" through all of the other "stuff".  Hmmm. . . I say, PURGE!

So here goes, as a fore warning, some of this info did appear useful at some point, so maybe, just maybe, you'll find it interesting and useful too.

1.  WhiteOut, does not "wash" off, nor does any known kitchen or medical product remove it without a great deal of friction. . .and as a side note, children do not like friction. So, don't let your child paint themselves from head to toe in WhiteOut.
 2.  You should never try to carry hot grease across a kitchen in a Rubbermaid disposable bowl while wearing  running shoes with vented toes.  It hurts like the dickens and the stain on the shoe is everlasting.
 3. Children can fall down a flight of stairs, look like they've killed themselves, only to surface with a bent pinky finger (numerous times apparently in life), an adult, can only fall once and inflict numerous injuries to themselves while looking like they never touched a step on the way down.  Akin to the "bumbles bounce" analogy in Rudolph, "children bounce", adults don't.
 4.  Don't teach children the phrase, "Shut your pie hole." unless you are properly prepared to face the teacher to whom your child has used said phrase.  
5.  Don't put a fake tattoo on a child's butt cheek in an effort to conceal it from his teachers.  The child, thinking it is an awesome tattoo, will drop his pants happily on his school bus to share his artwork and earn himself a 2 day stint of school bus suspension. 
6.  Using the "leash" on a child is fine.  Unless, said child is black, you're white and the place is Disney World on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Though, very needed at the time due to said child's inability to refrain from literally attacking the characters and running without a single thought of losing us, it was not received well throughout the park.  I may need to keep that piece of knowledge, now that I've thought of it.  Hmmm

Ok, that may only be six things, but it's enough to make a start on extracting a few deeply placed memories.

Where to begin with recessed memories is hard to determine. But, as I sit here and scan through photo after photo of my life and the amazing, silly, loving and sometimes downright terrifying, I have just realized something. . . I do remember.  I do remember what I feel I need to remember.  I see a photo and I am transported back to that moment.  What a wonderful realization.  Maybe I'm not a true amnesiac after all.

My Dad's last family outing with us.  Miss him so much.

Sergio's first visit to our home, he was slightly larger that he is now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cody, thinking he was funny spraying me with one of our favorite "toys", 60cc syringes filled with water.  Awesome water guns!

Daddy hanging out with his boys on the steps that don't exist anymore. 

My sweet Nettie.

As I sat here typing this, I've had 3 children yell, "I love you."  I've made breakfast for 5 kids, hugged my husband and gave him a kiss as he walked out the door, folded 3 baskets of laundry and now sit and help my son play a game on the Ipad.  I am feeling loved, needed and despite not being able to recall some random memory or event, I know that I have many stuck in this crazy head of mine.  So I'm going to just sit back today and look through the couple of thousands of photos and soak in all those "lost" memories.  There'll be some tears, lots of laughing and some moments of quiet reflection, but I will revel in the fact that I'm not suffering from amnesia after all.