BayouKidz | Remembering Our Privilege

article by Cindy G. Foust

Happy birthday to the United States of America, readers, as I write this column from the comfort of my rocker on my patio. You may not know this about me and my family, but we love college baseball. That’s important because it is in fact, the week leading up to the College World Series, and we love as a family to throw something on the grill and watch the games. It helps when there’s a team we recognize, and of course, being from Louisiana, we are cheering on the LSU Tigers. I personally think the citizens of Omaha give a collective sigh of relief when LSU makes it to the tournament because they seem to bring with them the same number of people who live in Rhode Island. I ain’t kidding about that. I am sure the economic impact on the city of Omaha is substantially higher when a big college team like that makes, as opposed to little Murray State, which probably brought 12 fans. I’m kidding, of course, but the charm and intrigue of the CWS cannot be described unless you actually get to go in person. We did that two summers in a row, when the travel ball Gods decided to get together with the CWS officials and host a travel ball tournament on the morning of each game day, to be concluded by noon, so all the young players would have just enough time to shower and get to the stadium. It is, in a word, extraordinary. Even if you don’t like baseball, the experience is somewhat surreal, with the size of the stadium and the CWS village with all the vendors and the food and the atmosphere…makes you believe in baseball, apple pie, and Chevrolet again. 

Speaking of believing it or not, we will officially be halfway through summer once this magazine hits your driveway. In fact, this writer is already looking at Christmas decorations on Pinterest. I’m just kidding, but one store that I frequent has already started putting out their decorations, and I am shocked and outraged. Not really, they do it every year, but the last time I was in there, I passed a little old lady who was giving the store manager the one-two about it not even being the 4th of July, and they were already putting out snowmen. Anywho, Christmas will get here soon enough, and for right now, I want to savor all things summer. Which typically includes visits from cousins, who are like my siblings really, and they are in town right now as we speak. I’m fortunate to have these sibling-like cousins and I really enjoy spending time with them. We sit around and laugh about our childhood and the super-secret club we had. You might be surprised to know that I was the president of our club, and my cousin, Jeff, was the vice-president, and did we ever have some strict rules for the younger members. For one, you had to eat dog food to be a member, and that was the deal breaker if you didn’t.  Of course, neither Jeff nor I had to eat the dog food, I mean, you think Queen Elizabeth eats beanie weenies? That’s a big no, the top of the food chain makes the rules, they don’t have to follow them. And that deal has really worked out well for the late Queen of England because she has a national holiday just in honor of her birthday. Far as I can tell, my reign as president of the “I Spy a Fly” club (we thought we were spies, of what, I am not entirely sure, maybe my grandmother watching her soap operas?) did not result in a national holiday in my honor but it was really fun bossing around the younger kids and making them be the “Kool-aid girls” to go fetch our drinks. 

Now, you might be wondering why I’m sharing cousin stories, and I might be wondering why you, readers, are not aware that July 24th is National Cousins Day. Don’t you feel a little out of touch? This national day of celebration got me to thinking about those good ole days, carefree…innocent…simple. I do that routinely, you know, long for simpler times, when life seems to be whizzing by on a jet plane and I’m at the boat dock. With that fine analogy in mind, I sometimes catch myself, when life is swallowing me up, longing for a just a moment, a minute, to sit on my back porch and watch my donkey (Glen, who incidentally, likes pancakes) and drink a tall glass of sweet tea…oh, and watch a little baseball. Or sit at the kitchen table and play dominoes. Or piddle in my herb garden. Wait, I don’t have an herb garden because I was too busy to plant one this year, except for my basil. See, that’s exactly my point…I was too busy to do something I ordinarily enjoy. So, what’s the secret to having and doing it all? I wish I knew, I wish someone could coach me into “finding the balance” because I truly want to just stop and smell the roses. National Simplicity Day is July 12th and I think it’s pretty cool to have a holiday (I use that word loosely because I’m quite sure I won’t be off work) that encourages people to simplify their lives, but is one day enough? Shouldn’t this be a mindset shift? I actually wrote a column about this very thing some time ago, but I obviously didn’t heed my own advice because here I am still on the Texas Giant roller coaster of life. I began to read about simplifying my life in researching this column and I was surprised at some things that I could be more proactive with that might just give me the jump start I need. For instance, and this is also a very good place to start with your children, but limiting my time on social media will certainly be a priority. I don’t know about you readers, but social media can sometimes make me feel really bad about myself. I love the aspect of staying in touch with family and friends, but some people really seem to have charmed lives, and well, sometimes I don’t. But besides the fact that I don’t get to take a vacation every month, shop to my heart’s content, and work out 23/24 hours a day, I just think there is a better use of my time, so I’m going to work at minimizing my time on these platforms.

Next, I started creating a list of priorities, things I want to accomplish this summer, like cleaning out my garage, except that may take several months. But for the sake of my marriage, I hope I get to that one pretty quickly. In that priority list is certainly spending more time with my family and friends. A few weeks ago, I planned a little homemade pizza night and invited a few friends over, and let me tell you, a good time was had by all. It was impromptu, super easy, and fun, and the food was delicious. Finally, I’m learning to say no. This has and will always be a problem for me. Like many of you, we get asked to do things that overextend us. I’m just going to be more mindful to “just say no” to some of these asks. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’m living my life; it feels like my life is living me. I know you must feel the same way, so buy into what I’m saying, readers, and jump on the simplicity wagon and let’s do this. But do the same for yourself. Plan some impromptu dinners. Carve out family time. Eat around your table with your tribe. It may seem like a daunting life to embrace, but think of the results, the peace of mind, you will get in return. Seems like a really good return on your investment to me and one that I look forward to with my whole heart.

Cindy G. Foust is a wife, mom, author and blogger. You can find her blog at the alphabetmom.com for weekly columns about home life,  parenting, small business stories and insight with a smidgen of literacy. Give her a like or follow on Facebook and Instagram.