Flash Forward

There are those moments. Like when you come across the new trombone left in the living room.

Left just so. Leaning against the stool.

And you flash forward. Maybe you are at a small jazz club. Maybe it's just a dive bar. You're visiting your grown son. He's getting his MBA. He's working hard at a day job and getting a second degree at night. And for a creative outlet, he's playing jazz with a group of friends in a club at night.

Maybe his girlfriend sits next to you. You think she's amazing, of course. A perfect fit for your son.

You have a drink together and smile at his success. At his happiness.

And you reflect back to this moment. When he left his trombone just so in the living room.

The mini-moment makes it feel a little bit better that he didn't clean up after himself.

And somehow it makes the painful honks and wails and moans that come out of the instrument a bit more palatable right now.

And sometimes your kids make you cry

We have a new niece. And she is lovely and beautiful and perfect.

As we knew she would be.

We prepared to take the whole family to the hospital to meet her the other night. And I found myself, as I sometimes do, entering more of my drill sergeant mode that I'd like to.

"And how do we behave at the hospital?"

"Good, ma'am, yes ma'am." (No they don't respond that way, by the way. And thank goodness. Holy guilt complex...)

"And do we run in the hallways?"

"No, ma'am!"

"And are the other people there to have a party sponsored by the Snyder boys? Or to have a baby?"

"A baby!"

And then we got there and met her. And I was amazed by what happened.

They adored her.

Giddily, adoringly loved her.

Not that it's hard to. But these boys adore Pokemon cards. And light sabers.

Sleeping six-pound mushy delights? I wasn't so sure about.

And then all on his own, Noah leaned over and kissed her. And I melted.

Yes, they can be wild men. The boysiest (totally a word) of all boys.

But they are sweet and good and kind.

Even if right before we left the house I had to say,

"And don't jump on the bed! Do we all know what your Aunt went through today?"

(side note: c-section)

To which Noah replied:

"Yeah, it sounds horrible. I am pretty sure she, like, had her vagina dissected."


Yes. Still boys. Still wonderful. Still them. 

Yup, that's my kid

"You know Mom, when you get out of the shower? You know what you need next? You need praw-ducts. Yots of praw-ducts. Like yo-shun and creams."

Oh proud moment. Because you really can't say enough about great skin. I have taught him so well.

Is your school fighting hunger?

Over the past month I have shared my most recent experiences learning more from Feeding America, ConAgra Foods and Schools Fight Hunger. These organizations have come together to tackle a huge, incredibly sad fact here in America.

That one out of four of America's children don't know where their next meal is coming from.

For those of you who have kids, if you haven't already, I encourage you to talk about that concept with your own kids. Take time to explain what that really means.

I know as soon as I did with my own kids, they wanted to do something. Caleb grabbed his wallet and offered to give me some money to pass along. Noah wanted to go shopping to get food.

And we will do both. Because they both make a difference. But even more important is that we don't stop there. You see, a big part of the reason that ConAgra partners with Feeding America and Schools Fight Hunger, and why they do it in such a visible way it to get our attention. And not just get our attention, but get us involved. Each of us. This isn't an issue that one company or one nonprofit group can fix.

It is something we all need to know about. To think about. And to do something about.

All of us.

And here is one way. As I mentioned, their efforts are focused on getting kids involved. Kids like Caleb and Noah (and Eli, too) and kids you have in your own lives.

1. Reach out to your school and see if they'd like to get involved. You can share details on child hunger in your own community using this interactive map.
2. You can then officially sign up here. (And each school that signs up is registered for a chance to win $10,000 in money for field trips.) Afterwards, you will receive a kit to kick things off. 
3. Each school then hosts their own food drive, but with a twist. They can also collect lables from participating ConAgra Foods brands. For each UPC code that is collected, ConAgra will donate one meal up to 5 million meals.

Will you join me in this effort? I'd love to check back in a month or two and hear from all of you who participated and read the success stories at your local schools.

Join me.

Not buying it

Somehow, this just didn't instill a lot of confidence in me.

White van, tinted windows and hand applied "Catastrophe Team" letters?

Nope, not buying it.