A new season of blogging…..

Well, the Christmas season is upon us and I am sure you barely have time to read some entry in a blog. But look, here you are. As I reflect on this year’s events and all the happenings in our busy little life I can’t help but think it’s all racing too fast. As you may expect I get lots of questions about life with four little people. It’s not like we are the family with 17 kids, but still the questions come. My husband and I embarked on our Christmas shopping Friday afternoon, Black Friday, with all the kiddos. Yes, you read right, all the crew. What struck me odd were all the comments. “Oh my!” “You’re brave!” For heaven’s sake! It’s not like they were running amuck. The kids were expressing a desire for everything they saw, in a very ‘can we have it someday’ mindset, but they were great.

 

The truth is I love this time of year the most when my whole family is with me, even in a crowded store. I love seeing their little faces get excited when they see the very tragically over done decorating. I love hearing them sing along to the Christmas songs they hear in the store. Mostly I love just enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season with them by my side. Christmas for me is way more fun when toting everyone along. When they are with me I can share with them the reason we are preparing for Christmas, versus just shopping to buy things. I am always inclined toward the experiences and the reasons behind doing what I do. Initially, I was begging for a babysitter so I could shop without them, as you can imagine they are much too old for me to be sneaky. As it was we almost bought some unintended items that were in the cart as camouflage for another gift. So here we are, December 1^st, starting another holiday rush. I hope along with me, you take your family on all your adventures. You might surprise yourself and never do it any other way!

what I know so far

So today Zion declared a dessert fast indefinitely. He has informed me of this all morning now. I am guessing he’s serious. His reasons? He wants to be able to lift the juice bottle over his head, basically meaning he wants to be big and strong. In our home nutrition is a big deal. Not really realizing how much preaching I have done and how much has stuck, this did come as a surprise to me. Especially since this kid lives for his dessert. He’d have it after every meal, much like his paternal grandmother. J Anyway, I was relaying the message to my husband, who then types back, “Perhaps we can assure Zion
that he can eat dessert and be big and strong…I think it would be good to
help him have realistic expectations so that he doesn’t set himself up for
failure, or maybe we just let it go and he’ll learn himself how to set expectations
and goals that are appropriate”. To which I replied” you are describing his mother!” I myself have been accused of setting unrealistic expectations for myself and unfortunately others. I happen to think setting high goals for yourself is the only way to go. If you are like me. If I set goals low, and reach them, what did that show? That I could reach a low goal. Whoopy!! Yea for me! If I set a goal that is out of reach, and don’t hit it, I can evaluate what went wrong and try again. Or perhaps the unthinkable, I may actually achieve my “unrealistic” goal. My whole life I have been told “you’ll never be able to do that” or, “ that’s not a good idea”. Thank God the one good trait I got from my Bio-dad is, to heck with all of you, I’ll show you! Well, maybe that’s not a good trait after all. It’s a toss up. In any case, setting goals is really a personal matter. I think even parents should stay out of the goal setting for the most part, even at the young age of 5. We can guide when it’s harmful, suggest if it comes up, but ultimately as parents we should take this opportunity to let our little chicks fly as high as they want, or as low. As for setting goals for others, (in our minds), not a good idea and just let people be people. Isn’t that what’s great about mankind? We are all so different.