Pink Slip

Dear oppressive part of my inner self;

I am here by releasing you of your self appointed dutys.
Sabotage is no longer needed.
Self doubt has been removed from your job description.
Feelings of inferiority are due to be replaced with confidence this very day.
Second guessing and shutting down, although you have 100% efficiency in these areas, have been deemed counter productive and are not in accordance with the newly revised vision statement.
There will be no compensation pay and you may take nothing with you.
All pieces of me you have, over the years, been claiming as your own will need to be relinquished at the end of this reading; along with your badge and keys.
In light of these developments a new position is being formed in which the Spirit himself will reside.

Riley's Song

this poem is written by my mother Marlene Macauley, about the birth of my 4 child Riley.

Song of Riley’s
Today the doctor says,
“There’s a baby ready”
“There’s a babe ready to sing her Ready Song
Mama, Dada, Miss Tammi, Gushi, and Ma
We say,
“We know that”
We ready for that singing too!
The bag be ready
Mama hair be ready
Yesterday the name got ready
Baby, she know she ready now
So mama, dada, miss tammi, gushi and ma
We sit we talk we time we count we wait
There a baby ready
There’s a baby getting ready to sing her Ready Song
We sit we talk we time we count we wait some more
Until Mama say it’s time to call that doctor
It’s time to see if baby ready to start her song
At the hospital
Dada, Miss Tammie, Gushi and Ma
We become a small marching band , marching behind Mama
We’re loaded down with bags for Mama
We’re loaded down with bags for Baby
We march into that elevator
Baby’s own private marchin band
Makin the Song of the Ready Baby
We stand there hummin That Song
Waiting for the elevator to move us on up
Move us on up to the baby ready room
When we get there,
Doctor says That Baby ready, - maybe
Walk the hall and we’ll see if we can hear her song
So Dada walk with Mama
Miss Tammi walk with Mama
Gushi walk with Mama
Ma walk with Mama
But the only singing is our own
The only singing is the song of the ready Baby that only we sing
So we become the small parade marching back down the hall
We march to that elevator
We march back to the house
We sit we talk we time we count we wait
“There a Baby ready, now,” Mama say,
“She’s starting to hum her Ready Song now.”
Mama hears her humming
Dada hears her, Miss Tammi and Gushi and Ma hear her humming too
At the Hospital Again
We march our parade right on up to the Baby ready room
Doctor say, “Baby be ready, now.”
“We hear her humming too.”
So we start hummin the Song of the Ready Baby again
But Mama, she start singin that song
She start to sing loud
She sing for that Baby
She sing for that Pain
She sing for that Hard Work she got goin on
Then doctor say,
“I’ll help her sing that song.”
“She’ll start singin it slow and sweet, her Baby Song”
And help her he did
And Mama’s song got slow and sweet and ready for Baby
We sit we talk we time we count we wait - we ready
We listen to Baby hummin, humming that ready song
But then Baby, she start singin her Song
We all hear it
She start to sing her here I come song and the I can’t wait song
Her singing is sweet and clear
But after awhile her songs they start getting soft,
She keeps loosin her voice
“Sing loud, Baby, sing loud”, we say, we can’t hear you anymore – Sing loud
But she don’t, and her singing gets low and lower and lower
Until the doctor rushes in and says,
“It’s time we make this Baby sing her song loud and louder”
The doctor say,
“Baby need to sing loud and louder whether she ready or not”
Mama you need to start singing loud and louder whether you’re ready or not
So sing mama does – She sings her I’m ready for my baby now song – and she sing so loud we can’t understand the words no more
So Dada Miss Tammi Gushi Ma they start singing their Worry Song
Doctors and nurses start singing the Hurry Up and Get Born Song
Mama start singin the Low Deep Pushing Song
We’re all ready and we’re all singing loud
Now sing Baby, sing, you have to join our singing too
Baby’s voice starts to join in low at first but it starts to gets loud and louder
And Finally, our Baby start singin her own song
And we stop our singin and just listen
We listen to her Here I Am Song!
“Here I am sweet and pink and singin loud
That cord around my neck can’t stop my song
That knot in that cord can’t stop it neither
Nothin can stop my song.”
So we all here now and we all be ready now to sing with baby
To Sing with Baby Riley Zion Elizabeth Toon her song
Sing that Life Song
That Here I Am Song
That Welcome World Song
And we all sing together sweet and loud, “Amen and Amen!”

love adds a little chocolate

In the book Love Adds a Little Chocolate, Linda Andersen writes:
Duty can pack an adequate sack lunch, but love may decide to enclose a little love note inside... Obligation sends the children to bed on time, but love tucks the covers in around their necks and passes out kisses and hugs (even to teenagers!)... Duty gets offended quickly if it isn't appreciated, but love learns to laugh a lot and work for the sheer joy of doing it. Obligation can pour a glass of milk, but quite often, love adds a little chocolate.