Welcome!

Welcome everyone!

I'm really not sure exactly WHAT my blog will be about . . . probably just ramblings of my thoughts. In reading other people's blogs, that is what I have found most interesting.

Now, "Why Sasa says" you are probably thinking - well, here's the story.

My background and education is in child development, early childhood education and child psychology. I spent over 10 years raising other people's children and never really got around to finding the "right" guy, getting married and having kids of my own. (I know, probably not politically correct to say, but I think that is the order in which things should be done.) Anyway, in one of the day care centers I worked in there was a little girl named Jennifer (Jenny). Jennifer was an absolute drama queen even as a toddler! She and I developed an especially close bond. One day I realized that she had come up with a name for me . . . "Mom-Mom." Very different from what she called her Mama and very specifically me! I kept trying to get her to say "Lisa" and she would smile, nod her cute little blond head and say "Mom-Mom." I was very distressed over this.

Fortunately, Jennifer's Mama thought it was wonderful. She did not feel it was an intrusion on her role as "Mama" - she believed it showed that Jennifer felt as safe and loved when she was with me as when she was with her Mama. But I kept trying to get Jennifer to change what she called me.

One day I was in another part of the day care, having music with the older kids, when all of a sudden I heard Jennifer calling out "Sasa! SASA!!!" I turned and she was peeking through the doorway yelling for me. "Sasa sing. Me sing too?" She wanted to come in and join the big kids in their music time; so with the kids' permission, Jennifer came and joined us for music that day, and I was Sasa from then on!

Now the background of this episode I found out from some of the other teachers later that day. The toddlers were all busy in our area when I left to do big kids music. Jennifer was standing at a table doing a puzzle when all of a sudden she stopped! Her head flew up, her eyes went wide, she cocked her head to the side, raised her hands in the air and proclaimed "Sasa SING!" At this point she went running to the doorway between the two areas and started calling to me.

I was thrilled with this new nickname. After I left that particular day care, however, no one called me that for years.

Now a little bit of family history. I am the youngest of three children . . . kinda of a last minute add on to the family actually. My brothers were 17 and 15 when I was born. I wasn't a mistake, just long awaited! So my brothers were both married and out of the house by the time I was 8 years old. In fact, my oldest niece was born when I was 8. The other two followed at two year intervals. So I was 8, 10, and 12 when "my girls" were born. Closer in age to them than either of my brothers, I was more of a big sister to them than really an Aunt.

When the girls starting having their families, I went to them and asked if they would mind if their children were to call me Sasa. After all, Great Aunt Lisa is just too hard to say. So I was able to once again be called Sasa!

I now have 6 wonderful great nieces and nephews and THAT is why I am "Sasa to 6" - even though there are a few others who also choose to call me Sasa. I told my great-nephew Noah that when he calls me Sasa I think of it as a secret way of him saying "I love you." He thought that was pretty cool; our own secret code.