Musical Mayhem Piece of the Pie

Most days, I forget I turned 40 just a few months ago. Most days, in fact, I still feel like a vibrant active teenager and I have to remind myself that I’m actually not one.

And then, there are those days...

When my daughters learned a few months back that the Jonas Brothers (You know, Nick, Joe, and Kevin — those HOT brothers who make all the tweens scream and are actually young enough to be my sons) were coming to St. Louis, they begged me to take them to the performance. Feeling generous at the time, I thought “What the heck! How bad could a kids’ concert be?” And I ordered three tickets.

Then, just a few nights ago, I lived to regret that decision.

I have never been a huge concert-goer. Yet, I’ve been to my fair share and I’m fully aware of the noise and chaos that are usually involved. Still, as my two girls and I entered the Scottrade Center on the night of the Jonas Brothers Concert, I was completely shell shocked by the sound of 20,000 young girls yelling and screaming and pledging their eternal love to the musical brothers at the top of their lungs.

The noise was so loud that I couldn’t understand one single word that was said or sung all evening and I could barely make out one note of any of the so called melodies that were played. Between the bad acoustics, the audience, and the obnoxious girl behind me who screamed in my ear every 30 seconds and then sang off key all night, all I heard was a bunch of noise. I found myself plugging my ears with my fingers during most of the songs and still had a headache on the drive home.

I just couldn’t get over how loud and annoying the concert was. Sure, my girls were singing and dancing along and fully enjoying themselves. But I just felt like a fish on dry land — dry land with a lot of ear piercing pandemonium. I also was fairly surprised at how forward the girls at the concert were. They were holding up signs professing their eternal love to the Jonas Bothers and telling the audience to scream if they loved Nick, Kevin and Joe. (As if the audience needed any reminders to yell at the top of their lungs!) Oh, and by the way, what kind of parent allows their daughter to hold up a sign that says, “The Jonas Brothers look so sexy in their tight pants?”

As I sat in my seat between my dancing daughters and the frantic teenagers next to us, I started to feel really old. When did I lose my sense of excitement, my zest for life, my love of partying to the fullest? Part of me wished that I could be enjoying the craziness as much as my children were. And part of me just wished that I was home in bed watching reruns of Will and Grace on the Lifetime Channel.

I guess the bottom line is, however, that I am not a teenager any longer, regardless of how young I sometimes feel. I simply look at situations much differently than I used to. I guess I’ve turned into my parents, despite every attempt to the contrary!

From now on, when my daughters ask me for concert tickets, I’m telling the “No!” no matter how hard they beg. My concert-going days are over and done with. Forever!

This growing older thing sure is interesting.

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by Sharon Dunski Vermont

A Hairy Situation Sharp objects and tired eyes aren’t a good combination

I am, sometimes, a real idiot. It’s not that I’m stupid. I did, after all, graduate from college and medical school. But sometimes, I do some pretty dumb things, and I just have to laugh at myself.

I’m the girl who has searched frantically for her sunglasses, only to find that I was wearing them on my head. I lose my keys a hundred times a week. And once, I found my cell phone in the refrigerator. And, no, the kids didn’t put it there!

Now, if you’re a patient of mine, you don’t need to worry! At work, I do everything slowly, meticulously and by the book. But in my personal life, I tend to be just a little bit scatterbrained, and I admit that freely.

After being away for two weeks, we returned from vacation three days ago. Prior to our getaway, I’d been the camp doctor at my daughters’ sleep-away camp for seven days. Thus, although I’d been having a fun summer, I hadn’t had much time to take care of myself, i.e., I needed to get my hair colored and have my eyebrows waxed –– badly!

Yesterday, I left my girls with their grandparents and spent a few solitary hours running errands and having “me” time. This, of course, included an eyebrow wax at the salon. (The hair color is a few days away.) I was so perfectly happy as the aesthetician patiently removed all the unwanted hair from my bushy brows. I just knew that I was going to be my gorgeous self once again.

And I was. As soon as the procedure was over, I stared in the salon mirror, a grin on my face, and felt that I could finally face the world with pride.
“Your eyebrows look pretty!” my daughters announced when I picked them up. I smiled, knowing they were right.

Then, we went home and reality set it. I made dinner, cleaned up around the house, intervened in arguments between my children and had my parents over for dessert. The day wasn’t terrible. Still, I found myself drifting off at the dinner table. So, I decided to shower and go to bed early.

Warning: Never use sharp devices when you’re tired!
In the shower, I decided to shave my legs. Pretty soon, I found myself getting carried away with the razor. The truth is, no one likes to be hairy, right? Then, razor in hand, I held my hand up to check if all the conditioner was out of my hair and –– boom –– the razor made contact with my face.
Figuring it couldn’t be that terrible, I slowly checked my razor and wondered why there were little dark hairs in the blade.

I hurried out of the shower, ran over to the mirror and immediately felt sick. Staring back at me was my reflection, minus half of my left eyebrow!

Had I been 25 years younger, I would have just sat down and cried. Instead, I decided that I would let Esteé Lauder be my hero and found my dark brown eyebrow pencil. Thank goodness for makeup, is all I have to say.

So now, I’m going around with a very careful cover-up job on my face … and a feeling of complete stupidity. But the hair will grow back and so will my dignity.

I only hope my hairdresser doesn’t reach for the pink when I see her in a few days.

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by Sharon Dunski Vermont

Yellowstone Lessons Life’s simple pleasures can be found just about anywhere

“When are you going to let me write?” I asked my 7-year-old daughter Jordyn.

“I’m letting you right now!” Jordyn announced happily as she kept chattering away, preventing any chance of me stringing a sentence together, much less an entire article.

“Want me to give you a topic?” Jordyn asked, hugging me as she glanced at my computer screen that had been completely blank for the past 15 minutes.

“Sure,” I answered, hugging her back. “What should I tell my readers this week?”

“I think you should write about the plane ride to Salt Lake City,” my daughter suggested.

Yeah … that’ll attract more readers!

“Or how about our car ride to Yellowstone?” she quickly shouted out.

Do people really want to hear about the six hours of fighting that occurred between my children as we tried to make our way through Wyoming?

“Oh! I know!” Jordyn suggested. “Why don’t you write about the squirrel we saw in our hotel this morning?”

I think my daughter is destined to be an author.

Then, without another word, Jordyn ran off toward a huge log that was begging for someone to play on it. And I watched with intrigue as she began to collect rocks and sticks and various other pieces of nature. I haven’t seen my daughter this happy our entire vacation. Yet, as she climbs over fallen logs, inspects bugs and leaves, and carries around branches in an attempt to build a fort, Jordyn is energized and excited.

We are currently at Yellowstone National Park, an incredibly untouched vast mass of land filled with beautiful wildlife, gorgeous trees and wildflowers, hot springs, erupting geysers and mountains. There are 1,000 miles of hiking trails, a lake that is several hundred square miles and the bluest of skies. And yet, my daughter prefers fallen logs and dirty rocks to any of the amazing attractions around us.

When my children were little, I often found myself wondering why I even bothered to buy them the newest and greatest toys when they seemed just as happy banging my pots and pans together and using the laundry basket as a boat. Today, as I watch my daughter excitedly drag around a six-foot-long stick that she has playfully named “Lola,” I find myself pondering the same question: Why do I feel the need to go a thousand miles from home with my family when my girls are just as happy to run around in our back yard?

Many of the other visitors to Yellowstone are sharing in my amusement as we all watch Jordyn playing without a care in the world. Many of us have come to Wyoming to relax and maybe even to escape. Yet, at the tender age of 7, my child can relax and enjoy herself just about anywhere.

I think there’s a lesson in all of this. I really do.

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by Sharon Dunski Vermont

Lessons from the LakeSharon roughs it on the road to happiness Piece of the Pie

When I received a call back in April from a summer camp in the Lake of the Ozarks asking if I would be their camp doctor for a week, I was a bit hesitant. I am, after all, a suburban woman with a love of good food, firm mattresses, and oh yeah... electricity! My idea of roughing it is a one-star hotel. I am very addicted to my blow dryer and I never go far without my makeup. It’s not that I’m materialistic. I’m just used to my comfortable ways and not very flexible. I sort of need to work on that.

But, when I discovered that my daughters could attend camp for free while I was there, I suddenly looked at the situation in an entirely different light. This was no longer about my need for looking beautiful. It was now totally and completely about the money! My girls could go to sleep away camp and it wasn’t going to cost me a dime!

So I agreed to the whole thing — secretly wondering if I could sneak in my hair straightener — and signed my girls and myself up for summer camp!

On June 30, my daughters and I began our journey. I kept reminding myself that I could do anything for six days and after a three hour drive, we arrived at camp. Slowly, all of my worries started to disappear. As I began to meet the campers and other staff members, I realized that summer camp was like a big family away from home. The kids were almost always happy, laughing and smiling and teasing each other. There was a lot of singing and hugging and hand holding between friends. I realized that without all of our extravagant possessions, we are able to get to know other people for who they really are. When we strip people of their fancy clothes and expensive toys, we are able to see who they are at the core. Camp sort of evens the score and turns everyone into real people with feelings and needs.

I suppose that’s why I felt such a connection with all of the kids I dealt with. Seeing patients while I was wearing ratty shorts and tank tops took away my “doctor” persona and put me on the same level as the campers, something I wish I could do more often. Because, truthfully, no matter what we do for a living, aren’t we really all just people? And don’t we all really need and want the same things?

During my seven days at camp (yes, I stayed an extra day because I loved it so much) I felt completely at peace. I spent my days not caring about anything except the children I was there to help, and my daughters spent their days making friends and having fun. I also came to realize how little I actually need to make me happy. That week, with only a few toiletries and some old clothes to my name, I was more content than I’d been in a long time. I discovered truth in something I had heard so many people say before: money and things don’t bring happiness. But, the human connection, now that’s what makes life worth living.

Funny how it took the outdoors and a few hundred children to teach me something I should have learned years ago. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still using my blow dryer on a daily basis. But, I’m much happier now when I’m using it!

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by Sharon Dumski Vermont

My 7-year-old hero Piece of the Pie

By Sharon Dunski Vermont

My job as a mother is twofold. First, I need to keep my daughters healthy and safe. That part is relatively simple. Then, I must try my hardest to help them grow up to be kind, compassionate, caring adults. Although I’m confident in my maternal skills, this job is a bit more complicated.

Yet, every so often, a situation occurs that reaffirms in my mind that my children truly will become wonderful women someday. Just yesterday, my 7-year-old daughter Jordyn came home from camp and announced, “Mommy! I stuck up for my friend today!”

I was immediately proud. Still, I wanted more details. Apparently there was a child at camp who is developmentally delayed and in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, several kids were making fun of him behind his back. My daughter, in her innocent second-grader fashion, told this group of kids that they were being mean. She then proceeded to explain that this little boy has a condition called cerebral palsy that is neither his fault nor a reason to ridicule him. Several of the girls then said, “Actually, I’m with Jordyn. We shouldn’t say those things.” With that, my brave child and her group of supporters walked away from the cruel kids. My daughter, in my eyes, was a hero.

It is never easy to stand up for what you believe in, especially when you’re only in elementary school. I remember times when I played with some handicapped children in my grade school, only to have other kids make fun of me for doing so. I felt good about what I had done, but sick inside at the teasing I received. Still, I have somehow, managed to help nurture my daughter’s sense of self esteem, enabling her to do what she believes is right, no matter what. Jordyn had no regrets about what she did at camp. Clearly, she’s learning the lessons I try to pass on to her.

Now, I’m certainly not naïve. I realize that, despite my daughters being kindhearted, sympathetic people, there may be times when they act quite the opposite. And I will certainly deal with that if and when it arises. But, apparently my children are basically loving human beings at the core. And for that, I will be eternally thankful.

Jordyn felt so proud about the events of yesterday. And the fact that several other girls banded together with her reinforced in her mind that she should always stand up for the good guy. I am fairly confident that she will carry this lesson with her throughout her life. And, I look forward to seeing the brave, wonderful things that she does when she is older.

It’s a sad fact that in the course of our lives, we will often be confronted with intolerant people. Luckily, there will always be those who are benevolent and kind-hearted to balance them out. It’s just too bad that the world doesn’t have more Jordyns in it. If we did, maybe we’d actually find world peace someday.