Happy Valentine's Day!
To celebrate this "day of romance" Bob and I gazed lovingly at each other this morning after hitting the snooze button, a white furry head between us, exchanged "HVD" greetings, and then agreed to try to find to time to have a dinner or something at a date to be determine later. I actually make it sound much worse than it is, given we are going on an adult-only vacation that starts next Friday! It's almost Buckeye Cruise time and I can't wait!!
So raising kids is challenging... right! I mean anyone who's been through this knows that there are a million things that I could talk about after an opening like that. We survived sleepless baby nights and terrible 2/3s. We have gotten 2 kids through the terrors of middle school. We've watched one kid drive away alone - and are currently gearing up to tackle that task again. We've listened to a million stories about Minecraft and now Fortnite. We've juggled finances and schedules and fretted over day care selection and summer camp plans. Kids are hard. No doubt!
But to me, one of the most challenging parts of raising these humans is trying to make sure that we're seeing the forest for the trees. I want my boys to be able to handle life someday - without (gasp) us around. It means I refuse to pave the road for them. It means making unpopular disciplinary choices. It means sometimes not being a "friend" because they really need a parent. It means sharing the ice cream... darn it!
And for me, it means modeling behavior that I want my kids to have. You all know the old "do as I say, not as I do" and that doesn't sit well with me. If I want my kids to be helpful, they need to see me being helpful. If I want them to be on time, I can't be late. If I want them to be kind, I need to be kind. If I want them to look across a fuzzy white head and say Happy Valentine's Day after 27 years with some other person, they have to see me love their dad. And if I want my kids to stretch themselves and push the envelope to reach the limits of their potential, then I can not be complacent. If I want my kids to push themselves, well... I'm pushing myself to show them how.
And the most recent example of this means I'm starting to plan a trip to Dubai for an elective for my MBA program. We just went through the process of selecting electives and a couple of my colleagues from the course suggested that we get out of the "comfort zone" of Glasgow Scotland and try to take one of the courses held in a different location. (Side note - how nuts is it that I consider Glasgow in my comfort zone???) We are going to be taking a course called "Games of Strategy" in Dubai in May. Cra-ZY! Crazy I tell you! And a perfect way for me to show my boys that "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" ~Neale Donald Walsh
Here's to stretching and growing and Living a "Do as I Do" kinda life!
Update on sports and activities and such...
- Spencer and Quinn were both eliminated from wrestling last weekend. We are all bummed that they didn't get to go to state with the rest of the team. Next year...
- Pretty much immediately after getting eliminated, Spencer started eating and hasn't stopped since. His goal is to put on about 30 pounds by August. (Send food...)
- Also as soon as they hung up the wrestling shoes, they grabbed their lacrosse sticks and cleats and hit the field. They had their first game on Tuesday night. They play again on Friday and Saturday. They are both on the JV team this year, which is kind of fun - and makes our schedule SO nice!
- Zane and Beck also started lacrosse this week and Bob is coaching them both. We are playing Beck "up" on the U9 team for 2 reasons - one is that he's been playing for 4 years and can't go back to little shooters (he would kill someone) and two is that with them together this also drastically simplifies our schedule. This may be the easiest spring I've had since Quinn was 5 and the easiest one I will have until Quinn graduates from high school. I'm gonna enjoy it!
- Zane and Beck are wrestling in "novice state" this weekend. It's their last wrestling event of the season too, but they will continue working on the mat through the spring. They are having a blast.
Have a happy week - and go be a role model for someone!
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