Temporary Paragon

June 15, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Professional Development, Speech Language Pathology, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: children, Funnies, Just So, parenting, Perfection, speech therapy, The Daily Post, Things Kids Say Leave a comment

illustration: grandmasgraphics.com

She is a paragon of deliberateness. Personifies all things just-so aligned. Her veggies must be on the left, her french-fries on the right.

She draws her letters so they march in perfect rows. No effort (or eraser) spared to ensure strict discipline among her lines.

She is a model of sheer focus. She will not be dissuaded. She absolutely won’t be rushed.

She examines every detail for correctness, chooses only hues that match.

She rejects any suggestion to skip corners or leave even the least uneven mark.

She will garner no discussion. Her exactness is fiercely protected.

All things must be in place. Each squiggle inspected.

Until an ice-cream truck chimes outdoors … and messy life once more accepted.

For The Daily Post

Half-Punctured

June 14, 2017June 14, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: children, Halfway, parenting, Pierced Ears, Punchure, speech therapy, The Daily Post, Things Kids Say 2 Comments

IMG-20170614-WA0009

She came in half-victorious, half-blushing.

“I have a earring,” she announced.

“Emphasis on the singular,” the mom added pointedly.

The five-year-old glanced at her mom, narrowed her eyes in potential protestation and shrugged. “I still have a earring,” she stressed. “See?” she turned her face to showcase a glittery heart on an exposed earlobe. I peeked around her head: the other earlobe was conveniently concealed under a lock of hair.

“She refused to have the other one done,” the mom sighed.

“It hurt!” the gal accused.

“I told you it would hurt a little,” her mom responded, “you said you wanted earrings anyway.”

“Yeah, but it hurt a LOT!”

I had a feeling this was a dialogue with some accumulated mileage.

“So …” I interfered, “you have one pierced ear … Doesn’t it mean you can wear only half of your new earrings?”

She considered that.

“Yeah,” she twisted her lip in contemplation. “But … maybe I’ll have the other one done … I mean … when I’m older. Maybe like, twelve. Or even nine.”

For The Daily Post

Empty Focus

June 14, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Focus, Mystery, Photo Challenge, Photography, Reflection, The Daily Post, Transformation 10 Comments

My nephew took this photo some years back during a summer hiking trip. I love it for its absolute focus and the mystery of the inhabitant that had created this fabulously textured, now deserted, sheltered place of transformation. A dried out speck in the blurry landscape and yet so wholly a world onto its own, now gone.

Photo: A. Asif

For The Daily Post – Photo Challenge

Taper to Expand

June 13, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Meditations, Professional Development, Reflections, Writing Tags: compassion, Current events, humanity, Open mind, Opinion, Prejudice, Self-Growth, The Daily Post, Understanding Leave a comment

Photo: Playbuzz.com

Taper your prejudices

So they not block the light

Of real understanding.

Taper your worries

So they let in

Newborn paths.

Taper your reliance on

Hearing only what fits

Your opinion.

Taper your righteous

Indignation

So it leaves room

For your heart

And mind

To truly

Expand.

For The Daily Post

Volume of Life

June 12, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Quotes, Reflections, Writing Tags: Balance, Challenges, Joy, life, Quote, Reflection, The Daily Post, Writing 2 Comments

Write the volume of your life

In full color: joy and strife.

writing forward

For The Daily Post

Triumphant

June 11, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Funnies, Life and love, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Cherry Picking, Cute kids, delight, Funnies, Joy, Photography, The Daily Post Leave a comment

There is no joy as radiant nor victory as sweet as that of conquering the cherry tree!

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

For The Daily Post

A Moment in Time

June 10, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Good stuff!, Life and love, Quotes, Reflections, Writing Tags: A moment in time, Breath, Eternity, life, Meditation, Pause, Photography, Poetry, Quote, Reflections 4 Comments

A moment in time (Photo: Atara Katz)

In the pause

Between the breath in

And breath out

There’s a moment

In time

Eternity

Slowed,

All movements

Frozen,

Thawed,

Life

Buoyed.

Natty Patty

June 6, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Dressed to the ninths, Fashionista, Funny, Joy, parenting, The Daily Post, Things Kids Say 6 Comments

fashionista stool

Her closet is a playground. Her vanity and mirror reflect paradise. She prances with a feather boa. She jingles bangles, beads, and bracelets. She twirls her skirts and points her toes for glimpses of a toenail polish. She sings as she applies her makeup, adores her hair elaborately done. She claps at tutus, ribbons, purses. Has ensembles de rigueur for the library, parties, park benches. She dresses up for the bathroom. She spruces up old pajamas for pizazz. Savors weekend deliberations for outfits in the days to come. She dreams of owning a boutique and her bedroom offers a perpetual rehearsal: dots and stripes, waves and glory, gold and hearts, purple and pink. Her shirts have flare, her shirts can sparkle, her shoes light up, her ribbons glitter, she is a glory in the sun.

She’s the family fashionista, put together to the ninths.

For The Daily Post

Forever Uniform

June 5, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Meditations, Reflections, Writing Tags: Change, Division, Forever, Hate, hope, Life Lessons, The Daily Post, Truths, What matters, wisdom 2 Comments

Photo: idealmente.tumblr.com

While life streams by in flows of odd

And change evolves

Or roils

Or frightens,

Some truths remain forever uniform:

Love holds

Hate shatters,

Reason wizens

Division splatters,

Hope grows

Care matters.

For The Daily Post

A Little Closer

June 4, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Professional Development, Reflections, Speech Language Pathology, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: attachment, connection, Coping skills, Distance, grandparents, love, Sorrow, The Daily Post, Things Kids Say 2 Comments

Photo: vugust on tumblr

“Granpa is no here anymore,” he stated, morose, “he go back to very far.”

The little boy raised impossibly long-lashed honey eyes to me but I didn’t think he was looking at anything in the room. His eyes were seeing through the walls and out to where a presence is not constrained by oceans, mileage, and topography.

His little face was pinched in a sad frown and he fingered the edge of his shirt, before taking in a long breath that seemed to fill not only his lungs but also return the sparkle into his eyes. He pointed a small finger at the center of his chest. Exhaled. Took another breath.

“But Granpa no really faraway,” he declared, the last two words blended into one in a sing-song. “My heart think so he only little closer very far.”

For The Daily Post