This Week

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.

-- William D. Tammeus

…Over the summer, when Makayla would ride rides at the fair, Six Flags, or any other event with rides, we would exchange waves every time she came around and we would both squeal out with laughter. It definitely ranks up there with one of those things that fill your body with excitement and electricity.

So, anyway, what’s been going on this week?

Kevin had his typical two night trip to Peoria, teaching classes at ICC.
Kevin and I got to sneak away to a movie (and eat really buttery popcorn).
I got to take another trip out to our new ALMH!
Makayla has been in bed by 8:30 the past two nights!
Mason slept in until 9am on Tuesday morning…a morning I won’t soon forget!

The above mentioned are the highlights of our week. While we weren’t ’busy’ with our schedule, we were still ’busy’ raising our kids.

Being a parent is like working and being on-call 24 hours a day - non stop - for the rest of your life. It’s an adventure. It can be exhausting and some days I feel inadequate and wonder how I will survive until my kids are grown. Some days, I beg for a break, for a tiny rest on the couch. Some days, I realize how little I really know once Makayla starts asking questions (anybody who has been around kids knows how many questions they ask)! It’s a challenge everyday…but a rewarding challenge.

When we choose to be parents, we accept another human being as part of ourselves, and a large part of our emotional selves will stay with that person as long as we live. From that time on, there will be another person on this earth whose orbit around us will affect us as surely as the moon affects the tides, and affect us in some ways more deeply than anyone else can. Our children are extensions of ourselves.
-- Fred Rogers

But, oh my goodness!! - Despite those few ‘hard days’ that I think all parents can relate to, children keep our hearts from hardening and they ensure that we never lose our drive to make our world a better place. I never lose site of what I want for my children.

I want them to feel love and know love. I want them to be happy. Simple.