My OPINION

The older I get...
I HOPE the more open minded I become..
I realize My OPINION is only mine,
and there is a whole huge world out there with their own.
Including my beautiful, spunky,
fabulously fiery daughter.
I see her do and say lots of things
that I don't necessarily think
I might say or do...
But, I want her to feel
that she can always talk to me,
and we can just agree to disagree
with no hurt feelings,
or grudges about
who is right or wrong.
As I travel through age
I see that the open-minded ability to
actually talk about anything you want,
and to be able to say anything
that needs to be said
is a much greater treasure
than being RIGHT..

The Rainbow

What a wonderful quote I read today...

I LOVE things

that inspire me

to be a better person

& a better mother.

I could say a million things to go along with this quote....

But some things speak for themselves.

The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow;

but, the rainbow won't wait while you do the work.

Patricia Clafford

Some kind of LOVE

There are just no words that I have ever known

to describe the type of LOVE

a mother has for her children.

Brent, was the first person that I ever really

felt loved me for no reason at all.

I have always told him

that he taught me how to be human.

I am heading to Abilene to watch him play baseball tomorrow,

and already I have sparkles just at the thought of seeing his face.

He can light up my heart like to one else in all the world.

I have always had such a hard time realizing

the true LOVE of God.

I was taught to be afraid of how GOD would

punish you when you acted wrong. It kind of always felt

like he was up there with a big marker and tablet writing down

my zillions of screw ups. Then, after Brent came along, I realized! WOW....

If I love my child like this, just image how much God loves me.

I wouldn't dare ever remove my love from my kids when they make mistakes.

Some days along the way have had a few disappointments,

but never once have I thought my children were unworthy of LOVE.

No matter how old you are, it's never too late to be filled up with LOVE.

The kind that never goes away.

Make sure your children know that before they grow up.

It will change their lives forever.

Sometimes you gotta get DIRTY

Looking back to the early days of my "big" kids, I realize so many moments I squelched because I was ruling my life by TIME.

How much time something was going to take to clean up, how much time it was going to take us to reach a destination, how much time homework was going to take, how much time was left in my day to clean or sleep, and most sadly of all how much time until my kids were big enough to clean up their own messes.

WELL..... I can tell you I missed a million minutes while I watched "THE TIME"

Today, however, I didn't. Brady was playing in the front yard in the dirt, and climbed right up in the flower pot. He dug, threw, and sat in the dirt for almost an hour. He groaned, clapped, laughed, and poured dirt all over himself and my porch.

I must say my first thought was "What a mess this is going to make." But I stopped and watched him play. As I sat there I realized how precious TIME can be if you just watch it go by.

That moment could have so easily been missed.

Instead MY own words rang in my ears "to cherish the moments that pass by too quickly."

So, Brady got to play in the dirt, and I took the TIME to watch that precious little miracle be a part of my life.

Expanding on "I'm SORRY"

I've been thinking a lot about those 2 words today,

and how many times I've said them to my kids over the years.

Man... I've made so many mistakes -

in punishments I handed down

(too strong, but mostly not enough) ,

words I chose to say ,and things I did or didn't do along the way.

Recently Brook and I had a long heart-to-heart about responsibility.

I listened with an open mind, and actually learned a great deal from what she had to say. One thing that stuck out though in my mind is... she told me that she always knew I would never "make" her do anything for very long. She knew she would only be in trouble while I was upset, and then when I was over it, I always softened up WAY too much on what-ever our issue of the moment was.

WOW... now if that doesn't hit you.

So, right in the middle of my lecture about her room, grades, and general household responsibility....I stopped and said "I'm SORRY." It hit me like a punch to the chest that I was fussing at her for something that I had taught her. Children don't come out of the womb being responsible. She was right...

When I was over what ever I was so upset about,

I always quit with the punishment.

That's what caused my words to lose all their effect.

So, I told her that both she and I were both going to change in 2009.

It is never too late to be better and learn more.

I told her I was going to be firm, and for her to remember

that she was the one who suggested that I stick to what I say.

We cleaned her room for one whole 24 hour day.

We got rid of ANY clutter that was making it messy,

and from that moment on.....I expected it to be clean

or she wouldn't be leaving this house.

I'm proud to say I've backed that one up several times so far.

I told her it wasn't really so much about her room, but about self respect.

It shows up in her grades, the way she will take care of a car, and many other places later in life.

We also had a long talk about the 140 lb. dog of hers that lives in our house. One she never walked, or cleaned up hair after.

So, from that moment to this one.. We made a deal that we each were responsible to walk him every other day. I have Mon., Wed., and Fri. And Brook has Tues., Thurs., and Sat. We both get Sunday off. Well girls... I can tell you that we haven't missed a time except for the last 2 days when it was icy. I took him in the rain, and Brook has taken him when it was 24 degrees after a ball game when she just cheered. I wanted to tell her that she didn't have to, but her words came back in my ears, and my promise to her popped back into my head.

Responsibility is learned.

Sometimes even for the parents.

2 Little WORDS

Never under estimate the power of a few words.

IN fact........ Only 2

I'm SORRY, and Thank YOU.

One of the best gifts you can give your child is for them

to know that sometimes you can make mistakes too.

When we apologize it says I realize I was wrong.

It makes us all human, and in need of God's grace.

AND the power of a "thank you" that's heart-felt

gives every child a sense of

I was noticed and appreciated.

It's like magic from your mouth.