The Great Adventure

So I thought I had this automatic posting down.... NOT

I put the time and date on my post and when I turned the computer on this morning I was a little surprised to see my blog post was still in my Drafts. Well, that was the problem (I think). I should have hit publish after I put in the date and time I wanted it published. So, maybe I'll try it again sometime.

Without further adeau (what? that's not how it's spelled?? It looks so correct that way).....

Ok, without further ado (oh that spelling is so boring)......

Raising Kids

When I had my sons I thought I had to do everything right. I remember thinking, “I’ll not be like that mom and let my kids get away with this or that….”

Back then I always had this nagging thought, “What if my kids grew up just to go to jail, or turned out to be no-good bums?” Nosirree, I wasn’t going to let that happen to my kids.

So I nagged, cajoled, scripted, pushed, prodded, and blew out a lot of hot air. And it was hard work keeping those boys in line. In the end they did just what they wanted to do. And, in spite of me, they turned out to be great adults. They both have jobs and neither has been in jail (that I know of).

(Adam)

Now that we’re raising our second set of kids, the girls, life is much different. Its been 32 years since I had my first child, and 8 years since my younger son graduated from high school, but... only 8 years since my last child was born.

(Jered)

We still use discipline, and still have rules, but life is much different now.

The boys complain about this from time to time. “You would have freaked out if there was paint on the kitchen table when we were kids.” To which I respond, “It can be washed off (or chipped and scraped off). "But mom, you're so lenient! You were much stricter with us" (meaning the boys).

Now days, if the clothes aren’t folded directly after the dryer stops, well, a wet towel can be thrown in and the dryer can be re-started to get the wrinkles out….. the dishes can be done when I have time, the floors vacuumed when the dog hair shows.

I still like to be on time, but these days I don’t fall apart when I’m not. And I think one thing that age has taught me is to be happy to spend time with my kids, not just training them, but being with them. So while I’m still parenting youngsters I’m going to Be All I Can Be, and not sweat the small stuff. They aren’t just a job, they’re an adventure!