The Saturday Post: Shake it out edition

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I love this woman's voice. After the hot and rough week that it was, I especially love this acoustic version of one of her most popular songs.

"It's hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off."

Want to see the original version? Click the link for Florence and the Machine doing Shake it Out.

Shake it out today, my friends! Happy Saturday!

Friday field trip: Play Area at Focus on the Family Welcome Center

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I'm not a follower or affiliate of Focus on the Family. Fortunately, you need not be either of those to enjoy the free kid's play area in the ministry's Welcome Center in Colorado Springs. Everyone is welcome, regardless of one's religious or spiritual beliefs—and there's no proselytizing of even the slightest degree. Here, the focus really is on fun, and it's a great way for kids to burn off some energy in a clean, cool environment.

On Bubby and Mac's most recent stay with Gramma, they got to visit the play area not just once, but twice, thanks to a playdate there with Megan's long-time friend Amy just a couple days after they spent an afternoon there with Gramma, PawDad and Aunt B.

The list of things to do at the Welcome Center's play area is long (see below). For Bubby, though, the fun typically begins with a climb aboard the airplane.  

Mac likes to stay busy crawling through the numerous tunnels throughout the place. 

There's a Narnia Adventure room to explore—with the entrance being, naturally, through a wardrobe.

Refreshment from the Whit's End Soda Shoppe capped off our recent afternoon adventure.

In between the airplane and the ice cream, there was no shortage of fun for Bubby and Mac.

At ages one and four, my grandsons most enjoy the colorful Camp-What-A-Nut room, designed with safety in mind and specifically for kids through age four. There are plenty of options, though, for kids of all ages, including:

• Kid's Korner climbing structure featuring the A-Bend-A-Go three-story corkscrew slide. Riders must be at least 43 ½ inches tall and no taller than 5'9" so Bubby has yet to try this one. We begged but the ride operator stood firm in adhering to the policy.

• The Discovery Emporium, featuring a puppet stage and reading area.

• Two birthday party rooms with bright murals painted on the walls. The room with the firetruck and more on the walls was empty when we visited, so Mac and Bubby enjoyed some free roaming and dancing in the festive space.

• The KYDS Radio room where kids can record their own voices on an Adventures in Odyssey episode and take home the complimentary CD.

Interested in visiting the Play Area at Focus on the Family? Find details here:

Focus on the Family Welcome Center • 8685 Explorer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Today's question:

What fun do you have planned for the weekend?

5 places I'd rather not be

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I shy away from frequenting sites where the blogger complains day in and day out about his or her lot in life. Yeah, life kinda sucks at times, but <cussing> and moaning about it doesn't make things any more enjoyable. For anyone.

Because I feel that way about reading such blogs, I do my best to not be a big ol' complainer here on Grandma's Briefs.

Except today.

Accuse me of being a crab, of having a double standard, but today I must <cuss> and I must moan. Because I've had enough. I simply cannot take it any longer. At least not quietly.

I'm talking about the heat.

I seriously cannot take the dreadful heat of this summer not one second longer. I. Have. Had. Enough. Truly enough. More than enough. I've had it up to here with the heat and have been racking my brain to come up with somewhere to run, somewhere to go to escape the crazy high temps that are making me crabby.

Being the Negative Nancy I am, though—because of the <cussing> heat!—I can't come up with any place cool to go. I can only come up with worse places, places I'd rather not be.

From the Debbie Downer depths where I currently dwell, here are those places:

Five places I'd rather not be

1. I'd rather not be, believe it or not, visiting my grandsons. It's even hotter in their hometown than it is mine. The photo Megan texted me yesterday of the guage on her car dashboard proves it: 

2. I'd rather not be anywhere east of Colorado. Crossing the border into Kansas and beyond means there's humidity—for which even the presence of ever-so-lovely, ever-so-coveted lightning bugs isn't adequate consolation.

3. I'd rather not be working in an office with air conditioning. What? Who wouldn't want to be paid and cooled all at the same time? Meh... Getting a regular paycheck is overrated, I say—especially if you have to wear panty hose and closed-toe shoes while earning it.

4. I'd rather not be in Afghanistan. Or Syria. Or anywhere in the Middle East.

5. I'd rather not be on the west side either. The west side of my own city, that is, in the part of town where many folks who once did have air-conditioning now don't even have a home, thanks to the Waldo Canyon fire.

I'll stop there. No need to continue. I feel better now. I'm definitely not any cooler, but I do feel better.

How could I not? For things could be worse. Far worse. And are. For too many.

Enough said.

photo: stock.xchng

Today's question:

Where would you rather be...or not be...in hopes of escaping the crazy heat?

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work she'll go

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My daughter Megan, mother to my grandsons, is going back to work. She was and is an early childhood educator. After taking one year off of work to try her hand at being a stay-at-home mother to Bubby and Mac, she's decided to go back to work. Full time.

I'm not thrilled.

But I support her.

One hundred percent.

Megan needs to work. Not because her household needs the money, but because Megan needs to do and be what she is. And what she is is the very most awesome teacher of young ones. A very most awesome teacher who, in order to be the very most awesome of mothers, too, needs to do what she—without a doubt—has been called to do.

This wasn't an easy decision for Megan. She wanted desperately to be the kind of mom who stays at home with her sons, who does crafts and activities and outings with them. And is content with that. She tried her hardest—her busy calendar and plethora of Pinterest projects around the house and put into use for parties in the past year prove it.

But she wasn't content. And that's understandable. Squishing yourself into a box in which others want you to fit makes for a most uncomfortable position. And a most unhappy mommy.

By going back to work as a teacher, Megan will be a better mommy. A content mommy. As her mother, I want Megan to be content. A content mommy, a content teacher. Thankfully Preston agrees, supports her return to work and the extra work that might make for him, too.

So why am I not thrilled?

Well, I must be honest: It's because I want my grandsons to be with their mother. At least most of the time. Most of Megan's time come August 1, though, will be dedicated to full-time teacher mode, as no part-time first-grade teaching opportunities currently exist in her town.

A part-time teaching position would be best for all concerned, Megan and I both agree. But this full-time opportunity, despite the challenges that will accompany it, will be far better for her, her kids, her household than the full-time mommy gig she worked—and really did often enjoy, I must add—this past year.

The full-time mommy gig is hard. It can be frustrating, endless, monotonous, thankless. Most importantly, it's not for everyone. I'm glad Megan realizes that, accepts that instead of trying to be someone she's not. (As well as someone who's not putting to use that expensive private-school education many of us are still paying on, if you'd like to know another brutal truth.)

Yes, part-time work might provide a little more balance in Megan's wants and needs, but a full-time position as a first-grade teacher is what she has to work with. And she will indeed make it work—while making sure things work for my grandsons, too.

Bubby managed to survive and thrive with Mommy working part-time during his first couple of years. This won't be all that different for Mac, as his hours beyond those Megan worked as a part-timer with Bubby will be spent napping at a well-researched and thoroughly vetted daycare center. As long as the bed's comfy and cool, Mac likely won't give a hoot if it's Mommy or daycare personnel twiddling their thumbs in the next room while he sleeps the entire afternoon, as he's wont to do. I have no doubt Mac will survive and thrive, too. Probably even better than he might have if Mommy didn't work, thanks to the social interaction he'll get with kiddos his own age at the daycare center.

And Bubby? Well, Bubby will be delighted to see Mommy off and on throughout the day as he will attend preschool at the very same school where his Mommy's working. When Megan gave him the news she was returning to teaching, a big ol' smile spread across Bubby's face, she reported, as he expressed genuine pleasure at hearing Mommy's good news.

Bubby's reaction to the news of Megan returning to her true calling is admirable. And it's how all of her family, friends, fans should be responding—by being genuinely supportive. A mommy's got to do what a mommy's got to do. And what Megan Mommy's got to do is get into the classroom and be awesome with other kids. So she can be awesome at home with her own kids, my grandkids.

What more could a mother want for her daughter?

What more could a grandma want for her grandsons?

Congratulations, Megan! I applaud you. I support you. One hundred percent.

Today's question:

Removing the child factor and what you did/do as a working or stay-at-home mom, would you rather work outside the home full time, part time, or not at all?