Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Who are these children?

I find myself asking this question frequently.

Like when I'm folding laundry at the kitchen table and all 4 of them are having a snack around the counter / highchair. (4pm = boys get off the bus, food everywhere for a good 15 minutes or so....)

I have a hard time understanding that all these little people with their amazingly different personalities came out of my body.

Last week was one of those weeks where I wondered if our parenting was making any difference in the lives of our children. It felt like we were walking through a battlefield, being ambushed by situations left and right.

And you're just trying to get through it as best you can...there are no recipes for success when it comes to raising kids. But, man, it sure would be easier if there were. It's cliche to repeat here, but PARENTING IS SOOO HARD.

We've really entered a different stage with Greg and Daniel as they are now bigger than ever -- 1st and 3rd grade -- and it's harder to find ways to simply connect with them since they don't need the same things little boys need.

On Labor Day this past summer -- did I already blog this?? -- I have no memory -- I took Greg and Daniel to the airport to drop off some friends, and then we hit the Mall of America, where we took in the Aquarium (still a rip-off with coupons, oh well) and LegoWorld. It was a day I'll never forget, especially with Daniel squeezing my middle and exclaiming, "You're the best Mom EVER!"

Bottom Line? Parenting can make you crazy, but it can also change and grow you in amazing ways.


Decisions, decisions...and trying to find something in Mom's budget...
This is a Star Wars Clone Tropper made out of legos, for those of you without boys in the house.

This is Sharky, the Aquarium mascot, so to speak. I was surprised my boys wanted their picture with him. Big outside, still kinda little inside :) OK by me.



1 comment:

Dan said...

Hey Jeannie! I just sent you a message through Facebook and thought I'd try to catch you here too. Somehow I lost your email address. :-(

You're going to think I'm crazy, but I have two extra REEEEEAAALLLY good tickets for the Phil Stacey, Matthew West, Michael W Smith concert this Saturday (the one where I'm leading the 1000 voice choir). The seats are 11th row on the floor ... if you and Aaron are interested in a little getaway, they're yours!

It would be GREAT to see you again ... let me know as soon as you can. Otherwise I'll try to find someone else who could use the tix.

YOU NEED TO COME. It's gonna be awesome. Let me know!