A little bit of pride...

I learned early on with Jaycee that kids are a source of great pride in a parent's life. When she was little, I was so proud that she was a happy girl and that she was being fed well and that she had everything she needed. As Jaycee and Jayden grow, I notice that the things I am proud of change.

I have noticed that when you have a baby in a stroller or cart, they are mostly invisible to people (except to baby lovers). As they gain communication skills, the invisible effect disappears. Today at Costco, Jaycee was standing at the check out with Jess and the checker struck up a conversation with her. I was so proud to watch her interact with an adult we identified as safe. She was very sure of herself. She stood tall with her hands on her hips in a confident way and looked him in the eyes as he asked questions. The conversation went like this:

Checker: What is your name?

Jaycee: My name is Jaycee

C: How old are you Jaycee?

J: Uhhh ( a slight pause as she situates her fingers to show only two) I'm two

C: You are a very smart little girl, aren't you?

J: Yes (hands on hips)

With that she said bye and was on her way. When I saw her standing there confident and sure of herself, I couldn't help but think we are doing something right. I don't mean that in a bragging way, but it was a real boost to my belief in our parenting methods. I always told Jess that I want to raise my kids to be confident, competent, and kind people. Today I saw two of those attributes displayed right in front of me. Now if we could just work on he kindness...

When life gives you lemons...

Ever have one of those months where everything seems to go wrong? Well I am experiencing one of those months. I prefer not to go into details, so you just have to take my word for it.

Let me put it like this, as the famous saying goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But what if life is giving you a truckload of lemons and when you start to make lemonade you realize that you are out of sugar so you get into the car to go to the store, but the car won't start and its leaking coolant from the water pump. Know what I mean? Anyway, I am posting now, because I am starting to think we are finally turning the corner on our stressful month.

For some reason I have this idea that officially stating in writing that our rough patch is done, it will be. Okay, enough of that, back to work...