Christmas, Coats of Arms, and Nerves

Christmas

I love watching younger kids at Christmas. To me they are an amazing reminder of what this holiday—indeed the whole holiday season regardless of the religion or holiday you choose—is all about. The sheer joy they show throughout all their activities and gatherings is so cool. They are the ultimate demonstration of love unconditional and enthusiastic generosity. Wouldn’t the world be a more beautiful place if we could all be as loving and open and excited as these little kids? I don’t know about you, but I know that’s my goal for 2019—to be a little more like these kids all year round.

Coats of Arms

We are working on an interesting project at our house. My son is in Cub Scouts and for one of his beltloops we need to draw a coat of arms. So, I went online and found a template to use. I figured it would be easier for a six-year-old to start with a template rather than a blank piece of paper. He’s still working to understand the concept of a coat of arms. The template he picked out among those I found has six rectangles dividing up the shield shape. The idea is to draw in each of those six rectangles to create the coat of arms. But now the question is—what do we put on it? I mean, traditionally a coat of arms tells about a family’s position in society, deeds, rank, and more. Obviously, there’s not a ton of that a six-year-old would have to put on one. Sheesh. I’m not sure what I would put on a coat of arms for myself. This is why this should be an interesting project to finish. I’ll show you what we come up with when he gets it done. In the meantime, what would you put on a coat of arms for yourself?

Nerves

I heard something funny this week. My cubital tunnel syndrome (think carpal tunnel only in the elbow instead of the wrist) flared up again. So, my orthopedic doc sent me to physical therapy. The only other option to fix this is surgery, so while I’m a bit grudging about it, I’ll take it. I’m not always a fan of physical therapy mostly because I pay a copay every time I go, which gets expensive fast. But I’m going and it’s a comment my physical therapist made that cracked me up. He was going through the usual spiel about if it hurts don’t push so hard, etc. then he made a comment about how nerves are like two-year-old children. You can be careful and do everything right and they still may throw a fit. Depends on that five minutes. Don’t worry if that happens. The comment made my day.