Shut Up Stupidhead…

“Shut up” and “stupid” were real four letter words in our house when our kids were young. But when the fourth child, Travis, was born within roughly 5 years, he had other ideas. Cute little cherub that he was, Travis was also a wee bit of a troublemaker. He would spend all morning with me and when we went to pick up the oldest from half day kindergarten and the other 2 from pre-school, as soon as they stepped into the minivan, he would scream in their faces, “SHUT UP STUPIDHEAD!” Tears would start to flow and rather than feeling remorseful, he would double down and scream again, “SHUT UP STUPIDHEAD!” Travis’ tyranny had gone on for months and one day I was wearier than usual on the trek home from pickup. I was on a deadline to get home for a quick lunch and naps. I warned Travis as we drove that if he said it again, he would be in trouble. Of course, he blew right through that warning and joyfully screamed, “SHUT UP STUPIDHEAD!” I pulled the car over by the University of Richmond lake, got out, took him out of his car seat and explained the situation to him. He seemed contrite so I put him back in the carseat, got in the driver’s seat and put the car in drive.  As I am pulling back into the road I hear Travis’ tiny whisper from the backseat, “shut up stupidhead”. He was wise enough to know the sanctity of nap time would not be messed with and still proud enough to not change his wording no matter who threatened him. Chalk one up for determination! Travis-1, Mom-0

We are 20 years past “shut up” and “stupid” being the most colorful words in our vocabularies, but I have found myself saying “Shut up Stupidhead” to my internal musings lately and I am going with that. My internal dialog that tells me that I cannot start a blog or a podcast needs to shut up. And if I continue to listen to the naysayers in my brain, I deserve to be called a stupidhead. Harsh? Maybe, but I am taking a stand and diving in!

So, here I am, starting a blog called Random Dose of Robin. I would love for this to be a space in which I share things that make me happy. Many random things make me happy or give me pause to stop and count my blessings. Among those things are:

• Books! I have been a voracious reader for 50 years and will likely tell you about books I have loved or share what I have learned from them. I adore historical fiction and will probably have a heavy bias towards that. But I have also been reading exhaustively in the field of Positive Psychology, which is essentially the study of happiness. I feel a real need to share that information!
• Quotes! Not surprisingly since I love written word, I plan to have a favorite quote section and offer up some that you may not have seen before.
• Food! I love to cook and think it is super important for feeding your body but also for fostering connection with other people. So, I would love to share recipes.
• Family! My family is what grounds me and on alternating days, keeps me sane or makes me a crazy woman. I know there will be a strong current of family and family ideas, thoughts, general experience as I place a high value on familial connectedness.
• Art! Art makes me happy so I am likely to show you artists that are talented and can make your space happier and lovelier.

I realize I probably cannot do all of these things well and I am okay with seeing how this evolves and moving from there. I would love for you to ride shotgun with me on this journey so I am inviting you along and I promise not to scream, “Shut up Stupidhead” at you. Let’s play nice in the sandbox and learn along the way. And because we are on this journey together, I will need feedback from you if my posts are striking a chord, missed the mark or if you would like me to address an issue. If I think I can, I will do my best. I am looking forward to the journey!

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