Would you rather ...

High School Girl has a game she plays with her friends when they're so bored that board games are the only stopgap in the long, bleak moments stretching between activities in their go-go-go summer. It's called "Would You Rather" and it poses two equally terrible options that the player must choose and offer reasons why.

WOULD YOU RATHER have five bottles stuck on the fingers of one hand for a year -OR- a bucket stuck on your foot for a year? "Neither" is not an option here!

The fascinating part of this game for a parent is hearing their reasons, which are ultimately based on value systems they're only vaguely aware they are developing. 

Adults live in WOULD YOU RATHER land every day. We have to make difficult choices, resorting to the "lesser of two evils" without always being fully aware of the consequences. We're given misinformation, insufficient information, and downright incorrect information, and must formulate intelligent decisions based on factors out of our control.

Do I take that high-paying job with all its risks and unknowns when my present job, while boring and stressful, is at least stable?  Will my kid thrive in the new neighborhood and schools when we chose them based on a realtor's recommendation and a few Google searches?  Should I invest in the higher cost health plan with its lower deductibles and extensive coverage or the low cost plan that assumes my family will stay healthy?

I have a few suggestions for the game: 

WOULD YOU RATHER go into bankruptcy-inducing debt to pay for your kid's college OR take a great job you love that has no healthcare benefits?

WOULD YOU RATHER be sentenced to watch Nancy Grace 24 hours a day for a year OR to go back to Middle School for three years?

WOULD YOU RATHER everyone knows where you are thanks to smart phones OR no one care where you are?

WOULD YOU RATHER have 1,000+ friends on Facebook OR a few really good, lifelong friends?

WOULD YOU RATHER pay higher property taxes because your home value is stable OR pay lower taxes because your home value is declining?

WOULD YOU RATHER own a large flat screen TV with no cable service OR a clunky old TV with free, extended cable service?

Despite the game's rules, sometimes the real-world answer is both. Or neither.

Have fun with that ...

I love a parade.

This year, the Knitternall family enjoyed Dunwoody's 4th of July parade from quite a different perspective. While we've marched alongside Troop 764, St. Luke's Presbyterian Church, swim team, and Dunwoody Nature Center entries in the past, this year, we did this:

We're having a blast supporting Terry in his bid for City Council. And discovering even more reasons to love Dunwoody.

For example:

• Kids say "thank you" when you give them candy. (Even the loudly assertive "We want candy!" contingent said "thanks.")
• In one morning, we got to say hello to more friends and neighbors than we normally see in a week.
• Dunwoody Police Officers on Segways - fun!
• Boy Scouts serving barbecue - the logistics are impressive and food quite good.
• Even as they melted into a sweaty puddle of overheated, flushed red exhaustion, parade participants and watchers wished each other a "Happy 4th!"
• The Dunwoody Homeowners Association and their volunteers ... just wow. Until you've been IN the parade, you can't fully appreciate all the work that goes into staging the state's largest 4th of July event.
• I bet the MJCC's Clifford the Big Red Dog bus could do a brisk business just giving rides to small ones. Loved the balloon ears.
• Hint to Italian food aficionados - Dunwoody's Carrabba's Italian Grill is not only a great place to eat, but the manager is a really nice guy and the restaurant is very generous in supporting the community.
• Master Gardeners ... the secret behind Dunwoody Nature Center's native plantings.  Their parade entry was accompanied by Junior Counselors, a cadre of volunteer teens who support the environmental education center's summer camp.
• Dunwoody High School ... band, football players, cheerleaders, lacrosse team, principal - our home town school does us proud every year.
• Peachtree race runners, who arrive to cheer on the parade after their early morning exertions (and celebrations).
• Unabashed patriotism, from Army and Marine bands to small children in special July 4th ensembles. Gotta love it.
• Instant gratification - getting to see all the parade entries we missed thanks to Dunwoody Patch.

We look forward to next year's parade. Rain or shine, it's the anchor of our family's July 4th celebrations.

Suddenly, grass.

We're still adjusting to life without the tri-maple that came down in our front yard. Brighter sunlight outlines every spider web and dirt appearing on windows and trim. (So I'm washing the outside more often.) The hydrangeas are frying in the heat and direct light. (When they go dormant this winter, I'll move them to a shadier spot.) Tomatoes are greedily soaking up the sun's energy, producing a gracious bounty for BLT's and salsa. (I'll relocate the raised bed as well this winter, creating a decorative border in its new spot in the front yard.)

And grass is popping up everywhere.

Long dormant grass seed is finally getting much-needed moisture now that the maple's roots aren't soaking up every drop. We may actually have a lawn by next summer.

It'll be serendipity if we do, because I am not Lawn Woman. I don't love grass the way my dad did. Cutting the grass is simply a way to make the yard look tidy rather than part of an all-out assault on weeds and bare patches. I love the smell of newly cut grass, and appreciate the green. But weeds are green, too. And they all blend together when they're cut, into one green canvas over the hard-packed clay.

(I also view grass cutting as exercise, mowing at a near run to see how quickly I can finish the front and back. I bet my neighbors get a kick out of the sight.)

Found this ... Looks way more fun than my cranky lawn beast.

Long distance booking.

When I drove my mother home to North Carolina Sunday, we listened to Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, an absorbing and wrenching "read by ear" about a hapless kid who did a Jack London and didn't live to tell the tale.

Chris McCandless took off after graduating from Emory University with honors. He gave away and burned inheritance and cash, and cut bonds completely with his parents and siblings. For more than two years, he lived off the land as a modern day explorer, stopping briefly here and there without staying long enough to forge any real emotional bonds. He was fearless and self-indulgent, brilliant and disconnected, hard working and quick to move on, careful and careless.
Fascinating story, zigging around McCandless' odyssey with rich details gathered by a biographer who connected the tenuous dots of McCandless' life on the road. He wraps up McCandless' story in the epilogue, as the boy's parents fly by helicopter to see where he starved to death in the Denali wilderness. Abandoned by their child, scorned by him for reasons he never explained to them, and absolutely flattened by his life and death, they were seeking answers that simply were not there.

The book ended as I approached Greenville, South Carolina on the return trip. I turned off the audio and drove in silence back to Atlanta.

By all accounts from people he met, as well as the self-portraits McCandless took, he was happy. He loved the life he chose. That's what a parent hopes for a child. But the price for McCandless' parents ... not knowing where their child was for more than two years, not understanding why he cut all bonds with them: too dear.

Quite compelling.  I'm very glad I listened to the book.

But I do NOT want to see the movie.

The first time your kid takes himself to the dentist ...

... is rather surreal. Suddenly, your kid is College Guy, perfectly capable of handling his own appointments, thank you very much.

He's handling haircuts, shopping for clothes and toiletries, picking up his prescriptions and supplements (which are legion), and living more and more of each day on his own terms.

I couldn't be happier. Or more bemused. At the same time.

Mothers remember those last few weeks of a pregnancy that seems to go on forever, to the point that all you can think about is "when is this baby going to come out!!!!" It's the same feeling with an 18 year old. You've done all the loving and tending and admonishing and nurturing until you're just plain tired of repeating yourself. At which point, it's time for that kid to get out ... already!!!!

Okay, that's an exaggeration. I like having College Guy around because he's really a nice person. Scrupulously honest. Quite funny. And very caring.

On the other hand, he's also messy, prone to staying up all night and sleeping past noon, and impervious to smells wafting from dirty clothes kicked into the corners of his bedroom. His response to "clean your room" is kicking through the clutter to blaze a path from the door to the bed.

He may be fairly typical for his age and gender., but he's my oldest - the practice kid. (Teen Girl has had a much more relaxed mother than College Guy has ever enjoyed.) So perhaps I overreact. From time to time.

I have a feeling that I'll miss that messy room when he's living on his own - even the smells.

Both of my kids loved this book ... were they just preparing me for the teen years?

Big things are happening in the Knitternall family.

College guy is heading to North Georgia, teen girl is moving up to Dunwoody High School, I'm writing for several new freelance clients, and Terry is stepping forth to serve the town that means so much to the Knitternall family.


Sneak peek here.

We hosted a large campaign committee brunch this morning, getting input from a wide range of supporters as we begin to develop logos, positioning statements, July 4th Parade essentials, and strategies. I am simply humbled by the enthusiasm and energy of neighbors and friends - so many great ideas came out of the meeting.

The campaign website will have all the details, while I continue to chronicle our slice of life in Dunwoody here on this blog.

Fall 2011 will be especially memorable for all of us.

Things to do when you're not thinking.

Saw this headline in the AJC:  Jumping from bridges into lakes risky.  Um, seriously?

How about Forest Park votes to drop age limit on public breast-feeding. Micromanaging much? Pretty sure that was a no-winner for the council.

And a gem:  Weiner admits photo, won't quit.


Too much information featuring boneheaded moments in the lives of the average (and high profile) citizen. Add cable news' screaming diatribes by so-called experts and I'm just numb.

I'm more interested in the local news ... really, really local news ... for today. Such as

College Guy Returns Home from Freshman Orientation.

High School Girl Cleaned Her Room and It's Still Clean Two Days Later. 

Milk, Bread, and Dog Food Nearly Out.

Husband On Business Trip, Needs to Get Home to Kill The Huge Roach That Just Sped Through the Front Door.

Preschool Phonics Classes Nearly Full For Fall 2011. 

Scooter the Wonder Dog Still Hasn't Caught the Chipmunks Living Under the Front Porch.

Swamplandia Finally Ready for Pick-Up at Dunwoody Library.

Now that's news I can use.