Pixie

Rose was recently happy to serve as a model for a haircut how-to at a Relief Society activity. We checked out pixie cuts online with LaDonna just before so Rose knew what to expect. She had done most of the work herself, so LaDonna was just trimming it up for us, bless her.

It's a good thing Rose likes to wear girly dresses, because from the neck up she is the cutest boy you've ever seen.

The best part about short hair, apparently, is using mousse to make it "spiky like Sister Odahlen." And that's how she wore it last Sunday.

Inevitably I get asked how Rose gets her hands on scissors. The implied question is what kind of mother am I to let my four-year-old anywhere near scissors, and if she's done this before, why haven't I taken drastic measures to stop it? I gathered up all the scissors in the house and put them away so well that I don't even know where they are. You know the story of Sleeping Beauty? How they burned all the spindles and spinning wheels in the kingdom? And she still managed to prick her finger? That's Rose. Briar Rose.

She's looking forward to beauty school some day, but when I told her she has to be 18, her immediate frowny face response was, "18 is a long way from four."

Kindergarten graduation

I have really got to get a hold of my emotions here. I started tearing up just walking my kids to school on Wednesday, the last day of school. We hadn't even gotten to the Kindergarten graduation, which I find a little ridiculous in theory, but so sweet and cute as a parent in reality. We hadn't gotten to saying goodbye to our favorite two teachers, and to cleaning out back packs and lunch boxes.

Ellen begged me to make bread for her teacher, so I made two little loaves and let Ellen and Jack make thank you notes for their teachers and carry them to school that morning. I stopped by Ellen's class before going on to the cafetorium for the big Kinder program because the room moms had emailed that they were presenting Ellen's teacher with a gift from the class, and since I had contributed, I was interested to know what it was. 

Ellen's teacher was even more emotional as she repeated that she is really going to miss this class, and that they have been one of her best in all her years of teaching. As a mom, my only wish in sending my kids off to spend seven hours a day at school was that they would have teachers who would love them, and I feel very blessed in the teachers they've been spending all their time with for the past nine months.

At the kindergarten graduation, all the kids marched in in a little cap and gown. The kid next to Jack was standing right in front of him on the risers, so it was a little hard to see him, but then they closed the curtains, showed a slideshow of all the kids and their classes, and reopened the curtains to the kinder program "What Makes a Rainbow?" Then we couldn't see Jack at all, and I had to stand up and walk up the side to find him. I was very, very excited to see him sitting on the floor with three other kids, playing a xylophone. This was the accompaniment to the singing, in addition to the music teacher's keyboard. Playing instruments is something I want to encourage long-term in my kids. 

After each child had an individual curtain call and exit to the classroom, the parents were all released to the classrooms to pick up kids. We took Jack home, ran a few errands, ate lunch, and headed back to the school at noon to get Ellen. Her class spent their last day of school having their teacher spray paint their hair. Appropriately, Ellen's hair was rainbow colored.

Seeing Jack Jack on that stage that morning and feeling like if I blinked I'd be sitting at his high school graduation instead was a little unsettling. The good news is, I still have two more kindergarten graduations to sit through. The bad news is, my last K program will also be the year I have a daughter in middle school. I wonder if my mom ever felt like this... my kids are running on ahead of me, not even looking back to wave, and I can't keep up. Sigh.

Magic things happen in choir rooms.

So recently my dad mentioned to me that a young man in our ward had written a choral composition and was going to be performing it with the high school choir he was a member of, and did I want to go hear it, too, and by the way, the song is about my mom. Um, yes, yes I do want to be a part of that.

The young man has been my family's home teacher for the past two years or so. He is graduating and this performance was taking place during the last period of his last day as a high school student. He's going on a mission to Brazil in September. My younger brother used to babysit him, and my mom was his piano teacher when he was 8 or 9.

I met my dad at the high school, walked down to the choir room, where the choir director met us and chatted with us for a few minutes. Class started, and Mr. Rice gave a little introduction to the choir. "This is Mr. Jackson. He and his wife have eleven children; they all graduated from Midway High School, and they all sang in the choir. This is his daughter, the second of eleven. We are really privileged as a choir to be performing a song written by a member of our own choir, and Addison came to me and initiated this project. Mrs. Jackson was Addison's piano teacher, and she passed away almost two years ago. He wrote this song for her."

So then I was already emotional, and was immediately reminded of how I felt watching my mom at my youngest brother's last choir concert. Addison's song is beautiful and a sweet, sweet reminder of how we can connect and touch and serve and bless others just by sharing our gifts. In addition to teaching all eleven of her own children to love music, my mom had a hand in the musical education of just about every child Addison's age in our ward as a piano teacher, Primary music leader, and faithful member of the choir. When she knew families couldn't afford it, she offered free lessons or lessons in exchange for something other than money.

Addison is on the left end of the top row in the video.

The Gift She Gave Me
Dedicated to Ellen Jackson

by Addison Wilson


When I was only a child
I found a glorious thing
a gift I was giv'n
it was the gift she gave to me

You took me by the hand and
you showed me your true love
you taught me to sing and
gave me a gift sent from above

I remember how my heart clinched with pain
As I watched her slowly die
Oh what an awful day

I promised on that day
my songs shall be in her name
maybe deceased, but
her song still lives within me

She lives on through my song that is ringing
she can never die while my voice is singing
Though she is gone her mem'ry lives on

She lives within my heart that is beating strong
she lives on
she lives through my song which is ringing
she can never die while my voice is singing

she took my hand
she taught me to love
she lives through me
she gave me music

She cannot ever die while my voice is ringing
while my song rings through the sky
she cannot die