Well, here I go again. To be completely honest, this isn’t the first blog I’ve started. I think it’s number three or four. Some I’ve kept completely private — my own little experiments in, Can I do this thing called blogging? And I still don’t have an answer. My blogs have ended up much like the many half-filled journals that can be found on various bookshelves throughout my house. I always have sparkling intentions of filling their pages with thoughts, ideas, dreams, profound conclusions, even mundane life-events that no one cares about except me. But somewhere between the intentions and the daily discipline, I lose steam.
I’ve been like that with blogging, too. I lack the discipline to do it regularly. Or I start feeling like I really, truly have nothing to say that anyone cares about, so instead of typing out my thoughts, I simply talk to myself on the way home from the bus stop, and get all my thinking-out-loud work done then. I don’t say that to be all woe-is-me, but just to state one of my ‘issues’ (and I have many of those…). I get too worked up over the quality of what I want to say, and the quantity dribbles off to approximately nothing.
But, I’m trying again. Primarily because I can’t not think about things, and because I order and understand my world through words, all those thoughts have to come out somewhere. I could continue to talk to myself, and probably will, but I’d like to get some of these thoughts down in a concrete way. I could keep a journal – and I do, half-heartedly – but it’s just as easy (and faster) to type my ramblings. And…why not post them for all the world (or more likely, 1-2 people) to see?
I can’t promise that I’ll post daily, or even weekly. I can’t promise that in six months, I won’t decide to quit blogging. But I’ll start, and we’ll see where it goes.
So, why “Callapidder Days?” When my seven-year-old son, C., was learning to talk, he had his own language, to a large degree. We worked to patiently and gently help him arrive at correct words (“car” instead of “mmmm,” for instance). But as he got older, I started feeling a little nostalgic, and I wanted to hold on to a few of his cute-isms. One such word was “callapidder” – caterpillar, for you laymen. I never corrected him when he said callapidder, hoping it would last indefinitely, but sadly, he eventually figured out on his own that the correct pronunciation was caterpillar. However, every once in a while, he still *almost* says callapidder, and it makes me smile.
So – now you know the origin of callapidder, but why use it in my blog? A caterpillar always reminds me of change. He hasn’t changed yet, but he’s going to, and he’s always working toward that end. Eventually, he will create his chrysalis and buckle down to metamorphose into something new. And me – I feel like that too. As if I’m always working toward, moving toward a change. I see so much in myself that needs work, that calls for transformation. And I hope that the things I do are preparing me for the changes – little and big – that God has in store for me. So, every day… is a Callapidder Day… working toward change, [hopefully] ready for and open to change, growing into something new.
Welcome. And thanks for reading.
I LOVE it! Callapidder. Please keep that name. And, now you need a callapidder at the top of your blog.
This was nice to know how you started and how you got your name. I posted on this on July 3 on my blog. I love “callipidder”. So cute! And you do need one at the top of your blog!
I love it. My little girl, now 25 with 3 babies of her own, said “callapidder”, too. It gave me such a warm rush to see that strange and unique variation actually written down.
One of the little boys in my book To Grace Surrendered uses the word “callipitter.”
I heard one of the little girls at my church use the word back in 1995 and thought it was so cute I HAD to use it.
Love your blog name – really creative. And I like the green!!! Gosh! I love this layout – where did you get it from?
Hi…just found you from Big Mama’s. Your blog is really cute!
I am glad to have found you, I am also a journaler/writer/blogger that starts with the best intentions but also looses steam. It is nice to know I am not alone!
Take Care,
Lisa
i found your from a fall into reading button on someone else’s blog. i think that’s a great idea. and i love callapidder. my son used to call marshmallows “delicious” and the first time he asked me for a marshmallow, i was quite sad – and very mad at my dad who forced him by withholding marshmallows until he used the right word. i still would love to hear him say, “can i have two delicious?”
I can totally relate to your start/stop writing. No matter how many times I abandon my blog, I always return to it because there is some drive in me to write.
That is very sweet. My 8 yr old still asks for Lemolade, and I never correct her.. I just ask if she wants pink or yellow.
Ok…because I needed one more blog to read every day…because I needed one more excuse not to do housework!
Why do you have to be so smart and funny? Why can’t your blog be boring and forgettable? Sigh…well I guess one more blogger to love won’t hurt!
Did I mention I love your blog? I just subscribed
My two little boys, ages 3 and 4, currently call caterpillars “padderkillers”! It cracks me up and is oh-so-cute. Can’t beat sweet little ones when it comes to the smiles.
Bless you!
oh memories of words misprounced. some from our family:
meena (banana)
bintie (binkie)
duh-ty (duckie)
bowl-za-dor (bulldozer)
guck (truck)
neen (our dog Quinn)
then we have a bit of trouble with L’s… so we have words like:
strow-yo (stroller)
er-ye-yer (earlier)
yook (look)
simply adorable! i can’t wait for son #2 to start talking so we get more of these in our vocabulary.