First of all... it is pretty sad when you log into your blog & don't even recognize it!! Tells me I have been gone WAY TO long!!! I don't know where or when the fall leaves appeared... but just in time for fall (FUNNY... I seriously don't remember the last time I checked in & did I change it? Maybe my kids have figured it out & are helping me??? :) )
Second - I am so sad I have fallen so far behind on blogging!! The kids got really sick at the beginning of summer, then we were traveling weekly & I barely had time to sit at the computer for more than 15 - 2o minutes & I used that time doing e-mail or checking in on Facebook (which is an amazing thing to me still that we can all be in touch with people from our past!! I have found or reconnected with 858 friends as of today!! A good 150 of them are probably family, then about 200 of them are from High School & then from the many places we have lived, wards we have served in etc. I LOVE IT!!!)
Anyway.... I got a sweet e-mail from a friend of mine who has moved away asking if I was O.k.? Cause I hadn't blogged in so long?? WHAT I actually have a Reader or a "Follower"? Well then... if someone else is actually reading my blog - I better get back to it!! RIGHT Bon!! :) So today I am getting back into my blog (hope to catch up too - I'll do it by date backwards so you will have to look at older posts in a bit to read about our summer & beginning of school.) So if I have any other readers - great to have you all back too!! :)
O.k. onto my post for today!! I LOVE BEING A MOM!!
WHY? Cause I have the best kids... (Disclaimer: no they aren't perfect, neither am I & life is still tough a lot of the time... but I do have the best kids ever - for me!!!)
So this morning I woke everyone up & I knew it was going to be a light day (as I only have 1 little one to tend every other Friday) so I was rocking Madison - getting her ready to wake up as the boys have to be up & out the door 1 hour before her. So as the boys were making their lunch I mentioned "I will have a lighter work day... if anyone would want, I could probably make it out to Lunch with someone".... (You should have seen Tyler's eyes.... total HORROR!!!) Garrett Jumped all over it & of course Madison starts raising her Hand... "Choose me, Choose me"... Well I told Madi - since I went to lunch with her last month, I would go with Garrett this month & then I'd see who wanted me to meet up with them in a couple weeks when I have another day free.... (Giving Tyler time to think about it!) :)
So I told Garrett to take his drink, snack, etc. (my kids take cold lunch, then they can pack all they want to fill them up + they don't have to wait in long lines either).... Then, I'd pick us up burgers or something & meet him for lunch with the 2 little kids!
Later during the morning as I was cleaning - I got the idea to go through my coupons (got to love them!) Found a 3 for $5 coupon at Dominoes - called & ordered 4 pizzas (I know boys & how they are!! Can't just take it for 1 kid, right?) SO as I am on the phone... I get the impression to have my friend (thanks Candice) cut the slices in 1/2, one more time so there would be more to go around - knowing all the kids (besides Garrett) would all have their own lunches & then they could have a slice for fun!!
So we get there & he is so excited - saves us a table, gets the chairs all lined up, invites all his friends to join us - his friends were loving it!! (They are the coolest)... to my surprise... they sit with girls now!!! (aaah!) We are eating pizza & having a great time.. some of the kids being a little shy! (Of course friends walking by "Hey Garrett - did you bring me a piece?" Of course!!!) The young lady next to me - all she had was a granola bar & a cup of water... oh the days of middle school!! Finally after much insistence... she started eating some pizza!!
Then a moment to make a mom proud - I noticed Garrett (as he was sitting across the table from me) kept watching a friend from football, a boy/family we have known for years, a couple tables away & then he said to me "I don't think "he" has anything for lunch"... the boy kept getting up & walking around & then he'd just go sit down... I started piling the pizza all into one box so he could just take it around & give it to anyone who wanted some... when before I said anything - he got up & took some pizza over to this friend & asked him if he'd like some pizza & this young man looked up at Garrett & said "this is the best Birthday present ever, Thanks." ... Garrett came right back over to me to tell me - I almost wanted to cry! Who would have known? It was his birthday & he didn't have food for lunch!! (I was so proud & felt honored as I cleaned up... Garrett in front of all his friends came up & gave me a huge hug & said "Thanks mom, I love you"... let me tell you my 14 year old baby is now an inch taller than me & I don't even hesitate to say he is a bit bigger than me too... so it is a bear hug - I loved it!!)
It does make me so proud, to see my baby growing up & being such a gentle giant!! I am so grateful for his ability to look for others who might need a friend & have the courage to step up & be that friend! It is very real to me that I only have about 5 more years till he leaves home!! (That makes me cry... as I am so going to miss him a lot when he is gone!! How time has flown!! I love being a mom & I don't want to waste a single day of it!! I know it is going to be over in a flash & I only get this chance, this phase of life once & I have vowed to myself to enjoy it the best I can... as I don't want to have any regrets!!!
As this unfolded in the lunchroom today - it made me think back to many other times I have been so proud of my kids. I love when they come home from school & tell me of their awesome experiences as they step outside of themselves to be friends with others.
This has been one of the biggest things I have wanted to impress on my kids mind's & in their hearts, as they have grown up... is about how they treat others!! (Doesn't always come into play at home for them I find!!) But I am glad to see that things I have taught do come into play in their lives out in the "world". I am grateful for all the experiences I have had in my life that have taught me how important this is to be kind... (even though some of them have been very hard.)
I absolutely cringe when I hear of children who won't be friends with someone who doesn't wear the right jeans or shoes, doesn't have the nicest backpack, isn't the skinniest, for any reason at all.... Life is hard enough - why add that pettiness to it?
I talk to my kids a lot, I tell them my feelings, I tell them of experiences I have had, We talk a lot about what their friends do, what they see, how they feel.... & like I tell my kids ... (there is a great quote I read one day & I can't find it now... but it went something like this:) We are all here on the same journey in life (taking a test/ fighting the battle), we can make it tougher for those around us, which will only bring us down... or we can help & lift others... where soon we find we help others to higher ground... we too will have made it! (That isn't the exact quote... but the idea!)
I feel it is more important to look for someone without a friend & to be their friend, or to find someone who looks sad & give them a hug, or to invite the knew person to sit by us so they aren't alone.... than to be so "into" ourselves we can't serve another. When are we the most happy? I believe it is when we are in the service of our Heavenly Father & our fellow men. I truly believe we can be angels in the lives of others here on earth. I have seen this & experienced it many times in my life, when I have been willing to serve. Now I see it too in my kid's lives & love knowing that they are learning & experiencing something that is so close to my heart!!
Another one of my favorite memories, that comes to mind today ... is when Garrett was in the 5th grade, this is when all 3 elementary schools send their kids to one intermediate school & all the kids now have to "mesh." It was the 1st day of school & Garrett was so scared to go to his new class, teachers, etc... He worried a lot about friends, who would he meet, & would people be nice, etc... He wanted so bad to be "accepted." I remember as he left for school - encouraging him to look for someone at lunch that didn't look like they had a friend & to sit by them....
When he got home he reported "Mom, today was great... our teacher told us at the very start of class we needed to decide who we were going to be locker partners with... I decided to sit back & let everyone choose their partners ... as I had many friends in the class & I really wanted to be partners with Anthony.... but then, I realized Kyle (a little friend from Elementary school, who Garrett had watched out for on many occasions as he is mentally handicapped) wasn't being chosen by anyone. So instead of waiting for him to feel left out as nobody was going to choose him, I let all my other friends pair up & I went & asked Kyle if he'd be my locker partner!!! Mom - HE WAS SO HAPPY!!"
As a mother, I realized ... this was a year long commitment, I knew that many of Garrett's friends could have possibly made fun of him, could have treated him differently... but I knew in his heart he knew it was a wonderful thing he had done - that no matter what others thought or did - He was being an example to everyone around him!! I knew that he made a huge difference in this young man's life. It made my heart so full!! He could have given into peer pressure to be "liked" & be with the best friends... but he didn't, he did an amazing thing!!
I like to remind my kids often.... we might never know how these acts of kindness affect someone's life.... a friendly smile, a kind word, or a nice gesture - just might change/save someone's life. We don't know how hard another person's battle is... but we might be able to be that angel they need to help them through a tough day!! (I know the Lord sends those angels into our lives as we need them also!! & I am grateful for all the angels I've had in my life ~ As they have saved me some days!!!)
O.k.... now that I am in tears, I better go get some work done!! Maybe this is why I have fallen behind , cause I cry, then I have to take my contacts out & reapply my make up??? :) smiling :) ... It does my heart good to reflect & contemplate about life!!!
So.... as I have time, I'll surely try to back track & catch up from this summer!! Off to a windy, rainy, Wyoming Weekend!! :) HUGS to all (especially if I do have some followers!)
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing!!! Love ya.
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