Fresh back from a five-day sojourn in Southern Florida, I’m listening to blizzard warnings on the television and searching my skin for any remaining evidence that I was recently near the equator.
I’m also trying to remember what it was like sweating in the sun just a few days ago. I can see myself lying in that lounge chair. If only the wind would quit howling I might be able to recapture the feeling too.
This was the first vacation without kids for my husband Mike and I since we gave birth to our first seven years ago. We daydreamed about these five carefree days for months. The righteous indignation of our kids made the anticipation even sweeter. How dare we travel to the beach without them. “NO FAIR,” they complained.
You’re right – it isn’t fair, we taunted back. Whoooo hooo!!!!
We left them in the capable hands of my 23-year-old niece Amy, and stocked her with four gallons of milk, 3 dozen eggs, 24 yogurts, a freezer full of meals, pre-arranged play dates and car pools, schedules, charts and phone numbers for reinforcements.
What she lacked in experience and parental wisdom she would certainly make up for in energy, we reasoned. She agreed to the job without negotiating her fee first. Take Away Lesson Number One for Amy.
When we called her from the Minneapolis airport on our flight out, she was trying to squash a meal-time rebellion. Take Away Lesson Number Two was taking root: Do not rush to have children.
This one meal probably delayed Amy’s childbearing days by about a decade. But she handled it like a real pro and did what any seasoned mom would do. She created a chart, titled it, “Report to Parents” and decorated it with sad faces.
Here’s how she described her first meal: “E got up from the table several times while eating to do karate and yell. All three kids yelling even when repeatedly asked to stop. E and N repeatedly putting faces into pizza and laughing when told to stop. The youngest gave me two thumbs down and said, ‘Amy, you’re this!’”
Her final remark: “Supper = disaster.”
On the other end of the phone in Minneapolis, I searched for some helpful tip to make things better, but my mind was already on the beach. “Show them who’s boss, Amy,” I encouraged before dashing onto the plane to Miami.
On the jet way I remembered Mike’s warning to her the day before. “Amy, you know how there are times in life where five days just flies by and you think to yourself, man where did that time go?” he said.
“Yeah,” she responded cheerfully.
“Well … this isn’t going to be one of those times. The days are going to go reeeeaaaaal slooooooow.”
For us, on the other hand, the days dissolved faster than a bite of cotton candy. What an escape from the responsibilities of work and family, from cold weather and daily routines. By the second day, everyone on the trip was holding hands and snuggling -- not necessarily something that happens spontaneously after wrestling with kids and work all day.
We talked without interruption and broke all the rules -- stayed up late, slept in, ordered adult food, drank Pina Coladas in the afternoon (I think it was after noon), and read chapter books of our own choice.
The sun and heat were great, but the biggest takeaway from the trip was remembering how much I like my husband.
With a benefit like that, we won’t wait seven years to arrange another “unfair” getaway, if only to Minot. That is if we can convince an unsuspecting babysitter like Amy to make it possible.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Simple Principles Keep ND Healthy
A few national reporters are looking curiously at North Dakota these days, wondering how this obscure, little state is avoiding the economic devastation that’s occurring from sea to shining sea.
“Maybe we could learn something from North Dakota?” they have asked.
As a matter of fact, they probably could.
While most states are trying to patch up their bleeding bodies with band aids of stimulus dollars, North Dakotans are debating ways to responsibly use or even save the millions in federal money that, frankly, we don’t need.
It’s easy to dismiss North Dakota’s success in one word: oil. But it isn’t that simple. If oil was the core of our success, our economy would have plummeted right along with oil prices in the last six months.
It hasn’t. So what’s going on here? High demand for energy, strong commodity prices, and a construction boom has certainly bolstered our economy. But two other major factors, fully within our control, are stabilizing North Dakota’s economy and they offer some timeless lessons for the rest of the nation.
First, North Dakota banks and financial institutions didn’t partake in the lending schemes that have destroyed housing markets and financial systems in nearly every other state. As one Bismarck car dealer told the New York Times in December, “We don’t do those goofy loans here.”
Our banks and consumers largely bypassed the tempting new products on the market, following instead traditional, proven lending methods. This has made an enormous difference in North Dakota.
By avoiding the mortgage disaster, our financial sector remains healthy and able to provide the stabile financial foundation that fuels our businesses and shoulders our economy.
The lesson is a simple one: If it seems too good to be true, it is. Home ownership is an awesome goal, but it can’t be achieved by simply lowering lending standards. Three cheers for North Dakota’s sensible, conservative bankers and home buyers.
Another key factor that is largely going unnoticed is the stability of our government. This isn’t just an accident or dumb luck. It’s the result of diligent elected leaders who have set priorities and made tough choices.
For years, we have elected people who have been good stewards of our resources, using economic growth to fuel government growth not the opposite.
Most importantly, our leaders have paid careful attention to funding government that is affordable not just in good times, but bad. In 2007, legislators rejected $550 million in new spending programs that would have further increased the baseline cost of government and devoured a bulk of today’s budget surplus.
They also returned millions back to taxpayers and saved millions more in a state “rainy day” fund.
This too is a simple lesson: live within your means. It’s a rule our elected leaders have followed that’s paying big dividends for all of us.
North Dakota citizens reflect this same principle every day. It’s why most people here don’t lease fancy cars they can’t afford just to make themselves look good. It’s why I’ve never seen a “foreclosed” sign on a house in my city.
It’s why twice in the last two weeks I’ve learned of friends who secured a second job to pay for a vacation or home improvements rather than going into debt.
North Dakota isn’t completely immune from the economic crisis, but the strength of our financial system, the stability of our government and the sensibility of our citizens give us a fighting chance to escape the worst of it.
“Maybe we could learn something from North Dakota?” they have asked.
As a matter of fact, they probably could.
While most states are trying to patch up their bleeding bodies with band aids of stimulus dollars, North Dakotans are debating ways to responsibly use or even save the millions in federal money that, frankly, we don’t need.
It’s easy to dismiss North Dakota’s success in one word: oil. But it isn’t that simple. If oil was the core of our success, our economy would have plummeted right along with oil prices in the last six months.
It hasn’t. So what’s going on here? High demand for energy, strong commodity prices, and a construction boom has certainly bolstered our economy. But two other major factors, fully within our control, are stabilizing North Dakota’s economy and they offer some timeless lessons for the rest of the nation.
First, North Dakota banks and financial institutions didn’t partake in the lending schemes that have destroyed housing markets and financial systems in nearly every other state. As one Bismarck car dealer told the New York Times in December, “We don’t do those goofy loans here.”
Our banks and consumers largely bypassed the tempting new products on the market, following instead traditional, proven lending methods. This has made an enormous difference in North Dakota.
By avoiding the mortgage disaster, our financial sector remains healthy and able to provide the stabile financial foundation that fuels our businesses and shoulders our economy.
The lesson is a simple one: If it seems too good to be true, it is. Home ownership is an awesome goal, but it can’t be achieved by simply lowering lending standards. Three cheers for North Dakota’s sensible, conservative bankers and home buyers.
Another key factor that is largely going unnoticed is the stability of our government. This isn’t just an accident or dumb luck. It’s the result of diligent elected leaders who have set priorities and made tough choices.
For years, we have elected people who have been good stewards of our resources, using economic growth to fuel government growth not the opposite.
Most importantly, our leaders have paid careful attention to funding government that is affordable not just in good times, but bad. In 2007, legislators rejected $550 million in new spending programs that would have further increased the baseline cost of government and devoured a bulk of today’s budget surplus.
They also returned millions back to taxpayers and saved millions more in a state “rainy day” fund.
This too is a simple lesson: live within your means. It’s a rule our elected leaders have followed that’s paying big dividends for all of us.
North Dakota citizens reflect this same principle every day. It’s why most people here don’t lease fancy cars they can’t afford just to make themselves look good. It’s why I’ve never seen a “foreclosed” sign on a house in my city.
It’s why twice in the last two weeks I’ve learned of friends who secured a second job to pay for a vacation or home improvements rather than going into debt.
North Dakota isn’t completely immune from the economic crisis, but the strength of our financial system, the stability of our government and the sensibility of our citizens give us a fighting chance to escape the worst of it.
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