Cruisin' to Panama

Well, we are back from our cruise and we had such a great time!! We flew to Miami, Florida, had a relaxing evening in our hotel and shuttled off to the pier the next morning to go aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. There was 14 of us and 3 cabins had a balcony and 4 had nice big windows. Our balconies were on the deck above the life boats and just in front of that lifeboat closest to the front of the ship. The windows cabins were right below that lifeboat!

We all had lunch together at the buffet, then went our separate ways to explore and unpack. Every afternoon around 5 several of us gathered in a lounge area where we could enjoy the view out the big windows and relax before we went into the dining room for dinner. This is my mom, her cruising buddy "L" and hubby the first night out.

No matter where we all went during the day, we all met for dinner every night in the main dining room - the food was great and our waiter and asst. waiter were just great! Every evening we had super entertainment in the big theater and we all met together to enjoy that too!

I decided I wanted to try the rock climbing wall on the ship - so hubby and I "geared up" and we did it! Hubby went right up and rang the bell at the top like he did it every day! I took a bit longer - it was harder than I thought it would be - but I made it and rang that bell!! It was fun - I don't know if I'll every try it again, but I did it!!

Our first 2 days were at sea and by the 2nd day we had relaxed sufficiently to really enjoy a deck chair and a good book instead of rushing from one activitity to the next! I was particularly fond of the solarium - no wind, plenty of sun, but not too hot - - I spent many lovely hours there over the course of our 5 sea days!! The guys could usually be found in the solarium playing cards - they had a great time!

Aruba was deserty - not what I expected. I guess the resorts are probably pretty - the beaches were beautiful white sand - but not someplace I would go out of the way to visit again. We did go to a butterfly farm on a tour - interesting!! I had no idea there were so many types and colors of butterflies!! They were beautiful!

The Panama Canal was amazing! We woke up early and watched the process from our balconies, with coffee, fruit and sweet rolls provided by room service! Our 3 balcony rooms were in a row, so we were all together and it was great!! It took about 2.5 hours once we were hooked up to the "mules" (engines that pull the ships through the locks). We were the largest class of ship that can go through and although we had about 17 feet in front and behind us, there was only 2 feet on either side! The mules kept us perfectly centered! There was a cargo ship that went up in the set of locks right beside us, so we could see how they handled that ship - It was facinating!! We went through the 3 locks on the east side of Panama and into Gatun lake where we went off the ship to go on sightseeing tours. The ship cruised around the lake, then went back out on the Caribbean side where our tours delivered us at the end of the day. Each port offered tours and since we only had a day in each, and they were foreign countries, we all took tours. Our group was usually split on their interests and at the end of each day we had several tours to share about.

The next day was Costa Rica and it is beautiful!! I think it was my favorite of the 4 countries we visited. This is where 9 of us went on the Crazy Monkey Canopy Tour! As promised - here are pictures! Here is mom getting hooked into her gear, and mom and hubby getting ready to climb up to the first platform! You can see the first level, the stairs to the 2nd level, and what you can't see is the 3rd level 60 feet in the air!!! Climbing those ladders was the scariest, although we were always hooked to safety lines and there was no chance of falling off. Once we were at the top the guy (or gal) hooked us to the cable and off we went to the next platform! There were 13 platforms and 12 spans - the shortest 60 feet, the longest over 400. I came very close to bad words looking down from that first platform, but since hubby and my 83-yr old mom had just gone before me I had to do it too!! Sliding on the cable was great - it felt very safe and flying through the treetops was incredible!! We would land on a platform, then climb up to the upper platform and take off again! The was a guy to make sure we landed safely, and another one who hooked us up to go again! Since I had the camera and followed mom, these pictures are of her not me! One of the "send-off" guys took a movie of me with my camera, but I can't figure out how to post it!!

We had another relaxing sea day then arrived at Grand Cayman - The sky was beautiful and the sea is the most incredible color there - several colors of turquoise and so clear that when we went snorkeling I could see the SeaPass card that had come out of hubby's bathing suit pocket and had settled on the sandy bottom 40 feet below! One of the guys from the snorkel boat dove down and got it! Whew!! - that was his security card to get back on the ship!! I think his angel guided me over there - I saw a 5-ft tarpin and followed it, looked down and saw a card. The water was so crystal clear I could see that it had our ship's logo on it, but didn't realize it was his til we got back on the ship. I told him what I had found and he patted his pocket and it was empty! Thank goodness it didn't fall out over the caves that dotted the nearby coral reef!! Here's mom, L and I getting ready to snorkle!

Our last day was a sea day going back to Miami. It was funny, before we left, some of the guys were apprehensive about spending 10 days on a cruise ship - they were afraid they might be bored! But on that 10th day we were all ready to turn around and do it again!! It was a wonderful trip!!

Now mom and L and hubby and I are looking forward to an Alaskan cruise with Morning Glory, the Dr, their daughter Beth and her hubby in July!! Yippee - I love practicing for retirement!!

Parenting Different Personalities

My goodness - it's been a long while since I actively parented. My boys both left home when they started college at 17 & 18 respectively, and with the execption of 1 summer for the younger, they never lived at home again!

I remember being amazed at how different 2 boys could be. I have 1 brother, so in my family we were different of course, because we were different sexes. But I was blown away at how different 2 of the same sex could be! I used a lot of humor with my guys - I am only 5'4" and my boys are 6'4 and 6'1", and they reached those heights fairly young. So the picture of me trying to physically restrain them after a while got pretty funny! Computer Guy would just hold my hands so I couldn't chase him with a wooden spoon and look at me with a smirk and tell me that it was time to settle down!! Humor and exaggeration of the consequences seemed to be a better path. I can remember sometimes telling them (possibly loudly!) that until they cleaned their rooms up I was done cooking - even if it took several days!! Since they were growing boys this got their attention!! They usually took care of their rooms fairly quickly!! I also gave them time frames - before dinner; before bed - that way I didn't have to nag - it usually worked! I was the mom however, I was the boss - they just didn't realize I was ultimately winning!

Once they got to Jr High I taught them to sort and do their own laundry. (This was wonderful for me and they did a really good job after they learned how!) Doing that and putting away the clean clothes were part of their chores. Dog p*op and sweeping the pool were the other main ones. I had summers off, so we went to the beach a lot - and during the first week after school let out, just when they had hit their lazy summer stride - we would always have the "Summer-will-be-horrible-if-you-don't-pitch-in" session. The deal was they did their chores first thing and then we would have fun!! No chores = no fun. I always put a lot of energy into this session, because I wanted to go play, and if I had to stay home and nag about chores it would be awful for everyone!!

As they got older and were driving, (yes, we bought them their first cars - older of course, but we both needed ours and having their own cars gave them opportunity to develop more responsibility!) they had to make us some promises. First, curfew was negotiable depending on the activity, but if their faces weren't in the house by 11 on the weekend, their voice needed to be on the phone telling us why, where they were, and what time they would be home. (As they got older they informed us they expected the same courtesy from us if they were home and we were out!!) Second, if they did something stupid and decided to drink they were NOT to drive home. They were to call, and no matter what shape they were in or where they were we would come get them with no punishment. They never took us up on that, but we were serious.

Computer Guy was first and easy - ok pregnancy and an easy kid. He was a cuddly, happy-go-lucky child and although we had the normal "head-butting" it usually resolved itself pretty quickly. A couple of swats (yes, I spanked) usually did the trick - putting him in his room was no big deal, he would just crawl on his bed and take a nap! As he grew older I could figure him out fairly easily - I could tell when he was telling me a tale, or if he had done something wrong. He was happy to hang out with family and although he was excited to go away to college, I think if we had tried to talk him out of it we might have kept him close to home a couple more years. It was so great for him to go when he did though, and he just blossomed! His personal growth and maturity was wonderful to see over the next 4 years! He developed an amazing talent with the guitar and sang in a band for several years during and after college. It was so fun to go and watch the group play - they were loud (we did take ear plugs!), but they were SOOOO GOOD!! We loved it!!

He has continued to grow and become an amazing man. He is a wonderful dad to his little girl and from my perspective, a terriffic husband! Darling Wife seems to think so too!! He is active in his church and is a loyal caring man, who will go many miles for his friends.

VP was 2nd - a "sicker" pregnancy (and THE LAST! - I was not a good pregnant lady!) and from day 1 had a more focused personality. He had his own idea how things should be done and went to great lengths to make his point. Swats never fazed him, but putting him in his bedroom was the worst and he would lay on the floor with his face at the bottom of the door and cry loudly so I could tell how upset he was!! Since he hated being in there he would of course, try to get out - so I would sit on the floor and hold the doorknob til he gave up. That was quite a picture - me on the floor in the hall holding the doorknob, VP on the other side trying the door then crying loudly with his mouth to the crack below the door just to make sure I knew he was angry!! Sometimes the whole situation would get me laughing and it was a real chore to make sure he didn't hear me!! I had a harder time reading him - and could never tell if he was really sick on a school morning or if he just needed more sleep. Sometimes he actually laid around all day, sometimes he had a miraculus healing by about noon!

He had pretty strong ideas of how he should be parented, and he and I butted heads when my (yes - also strong) ideas differed!! Sometimes we compromised, sometimes we just had to agree to disagree!! Hubby and he were more often on the same wave length, and could usually talk things through easier! Along with his strong will, he also developed a compassionate side and many nights as he grew up, he and his friends would gather in the jacuzzi in the back yard and he would "counsel" them! We listened in a few times and his advice was usually pretty good!

After he was in high school and I was working full time, he would call me to find out what I had planned for dinner. If he didn't "approve" he would volunteer to bbq chicken instead - which was grand - I didn't have to cook after all! He could hardly wait to leave for college, and although he came home 1 summer to work as an interim youth pastor at our church, my "mothering" was pretty much over by then. He married the week before graduation, and although that relationship is challenging, his tenacious personality has served him well. He is a wonderful, loving dad and husband and has faced the challenges in his marriage with a maturity and wisdom that sometimes takes our breath away.

Being a mom was great - I loved it! I loved that I was able to stay home with them, have a snack ready when they got home from school, and drive them to their sports practices. I had fun with them - we went to the beach, parks, out for ice cream cones and laid on the grass and watched the clouds. We went on ski trips and camping trips and baseball games. Our house was where the other kids gathered to swim and they gathered often. We were very active with our church, and the majority of their friends were in the same church. Our faith was (and is) a huge part of our lives and they really never rebelled over being at church. They are both Christians, married Christians and are raising their families in loving Christian churches. I raised 2 men I am enormously proud of and I have no regrets that I didn't have a career!

I'm not sure if I covered how, exactly, I parented - other than what I wrote. I just loved them and prayed for them a lot - - still do!