Just some chalk...

and they were content for hours! Someone graciously passed on a whole case of jumbo, colored, sidewalk chalk. My daughter was in heaven! She couldn't wait to get her hands on them. "You're going to have to be careful. It'll make a lot of dust.", says me

"I know.", she replies

"It always gets yours allergies up (she's got asthma and she's allergic to dust)."

"I know!", she replies again.

A very good friend of mine came by with all of her daughters and told me that they were there to kidnap us and take us to lunch. Who am I to turn down a free lunch? LOL So, off we went. It wasn't long before we were back to the house and my good friend and I hadn't finish visiting.

"Taryn, go get the new chalks and play outside with the girls.", I called.

*Cheers of excitement ring out from the other room.

They were out there for at least an hour before I even thought of them again! I decided I better check on them.

I was amazed. I had moved our van so that the girls would have plenty of space to be creative. Wow. There were tracings of each of the girls. Each labeled by name. There were sentiments of love and cute hearts and flowers. A very nicely quoted "Girls Rule, Boys Drool" to one side. I was impressed.

I immediately thought of Taryn's asthma when I saw her covered head to toe in blue and pink chalk dust.

"How's your breathing?", I asked. "It's okay mom..." she answered with kind of a sheez attitude.

Later on, after the girls were gone, I noticed she was weezing. I told her she needed to take a bath and then do a treatment. "You're weezing.", I told her. "I know, but it was worth it Mama. It was so much fun. I felt like a was an artist and that I didn't have to worry if I messed up because it was just chalk and we could always erase it. I loved it, Mom."

Wow. I thought about what my little one said as she went off to take her bath. What if we lived our life that way? It's like Anne says in Anne of Green Gables to Marilla Cuthbert, "Marilla, isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" She could live life to the fullest because it was new and fresh. There was room for mistakes. I remember watching a show called "Simon and Land of Chalk Drawings" I think it came on Captain Kangaroo. Everything Simon drew, came to life. Sometimes, he got himself into a situation that seemed like doom. In the end, he always came out okay because it was chalk. It always helped him to learn a real life lesson.

So whatever goals or resolutions you've set this year and feel like you've already failed - try, try again! You can always start again!