The Facts of Life

"You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have...The Facts of Life. ."

1980's television. I sure do miss it amidst all the reality stuff that liters the airways these days. Sure, a hit TV program about an alien keeping residence with a normal American family does not really make a lot of sense nor does a program depicting brothers (and eventually cousins) settling all disputes and injustices in their county resemble a normal existence....but they were entertaining and I never once had to pick up my phone to vote someone off.

(Alf, anyone? Perhaps "Dukes of Hazards"?)

One television series I dearly loved as a kid was the "Facts of Life" (Did you remember this guy was Jo's boyfriend???). It was fun story lines, the girls ran a college bookstore which appealed to my organizational sense, and I thought the fashion was divine.

As many of you know, Lisa Whelchel who played "Blair" on this program eventually found a niche speaking about her faith, parenting, and her role as a mom. I have read a few of her books and check her website on occasion. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to catch her two minute interview on our local morning news.

She was promoting the upcoming "Women of Faith" tour and her role as a speaker this summer, along with several other women. When asked how she manages to be a public speaker, an author, an avid scrapbooker, a teacher (she homeschools), and a full-time mom, Lisa replied with the answer I wish every woman/mom/wanna-do-it-all-right-now person could hear.

She laughed and said, "I don't do it all at once. That just isn't reality."

Ahhh.

Lately Isaac has really been into asking me what I want to do when I grow up. I have attempted to explain to him that I am indeed "grown-up" (I think I am, however I did just make an Alf reference a few paragraphs ago), how I used to be a teacher before he was born, and some dreams I have for myself in upcoming years. This answer does not seem to satisfy him because the question keeps popping into our conversations.

Today I approached my answer in a new way, hoping to provide a better understanding for him. I asked him about the cotton seeds he, Tobe, and Evelyn just planted a few weeks ago.

I asked him if once they put the seeds in the ground the cotton plant immediately popped out of the soil.

He said the obligatory "No" and we discussed how we have to wait a few weeks to see those first tiny green leaves emerge and then wait even longer to see the actual plant form. We talked about how it takes several months for our cotton plants to go from tiny seed into a cotton producing thing.

His eyes may have glazed over just a bit and his sister's cries for raisins coming from the seat next to him may have drowned out my words, but I wanted him (and Evelyn...once she got over her raisin cries) to understand that life is not immediate. We cannot have all, be all, do all, and experience all at once. I wanted him to understand that although Mommy is technically "grown-up" her definite path is not set in stone. That she, like everyone else, has been granted time to grow and move through life, experiencing things in seasons and in stages.

Life takes a bit of time, a bit of cultivation, and a lot of care to be able to go from tiny seed into productive adult.

It's the facts of life.