Day 19

Lessons. We learn them daily. As parents we also hope our children learn them. Sometimes the lesson doesn't get learned the first time, or even the 47th time. We'll still try our best to teach them.

This morning I returned home from my daily stroll to the bus stops to find Kyle's lunch on the counter. I must admit I was giddy with excitement. Today, by golly, Kyle was going to learn a lesson. You see, this mom does not deliver lunches, coats, backpacks, or any other forgotten objects to anyone's school. You forget your lunch, then you eat hot lunch. Simple as that. Well, you can imagine my excitement when I asked Kyle how his lunch was today (with a hidden smirk). His response went something like this, "Oh, it was really good. I can't wait until we have it again." Huh? Well, that didn't go like I'd hoped. Crap.

Day 19 Life Lesson: I forgot my lesson at home.

Day 18

My dad's cousin and wife from California are here visiting for a week. The last time they came to
Winona Cooper was scooting around on his buns, ankles in hand. At 80+ years old cousin Lyle is a big kid at heart and the boys loved causing trouble with him. We are looking forward to having more fun with them before they leave next week.

It was a wild, weird, and incredibly wiiiiiindy day today. Rainy, then sunny, then rainy. This made for an unbelievably spectacular sky at dusk. While the boys and I were coming home tonight they got extremely annoyed with all the pit stops to take pictures. Simply amazing.

Day 18 Life Lesson: Look and be amazed.

Day 17

Cam thinks it's cool to walk around with a pen behind his ear. Why, you ask? Well, it's because Corey often comes home for lunch with one behind his ear. If you ask me it's disgusting. I mean really. That's gross. At least he's not carrying it around between his teeth. Yuck.

We celebrated Kyle's retirement from dancing tonight. He came, he danced, he's done. I don't believe we should make our kids do any extra-curricular activity they don't want to do. Except for piano, that is. But I am all for them trying things. He tried it and doesn't like it. No problem. Cam, on the other hand, loves to dance. Heel, ball, toe, shuffle.

Day 17 Life Lesson: Dance like nobody's watching.

Day 16

Day 16 Life Lesson: Hold on tight to the ones you love.

Day 15

It's hard to watch your kids fall flat on their face. I have to do this on a daily basis. Well, I don't have to and sometimes I don't but I think it's good to let your kids fail. At least that's what the experts say, and I would agree with them on this one. What the experts don't tell you is that it will be much more painful and inconvenient for you than it will be for your child. Case in point: Cooper the dawdler, I don't manage my time well, EVER, Hancock was allowed to fall on his face today. So, at 8:15 tonight when I wanted a quiet, peaceful, kid-free hour with Corey we were helping him finish his homework. Coop's brain shuts off about 6:30 at night. At 6:31 he cannot put a sentence together. This is a problem since every day he is required to write at least 5 sentences about a specific topic. Did he learn a lesson about time management? Probably not. Was it a pain in the butt for us? Yes. And so on we go.

Kyle is faking it. He is faking being sick so he can stay home from school. I am convinced. The real issue is not that he's faking it but WHY? The analyst, wanna-be child psychologist in me feels a need to figure it out. For now, I am a bit stumped but I will keep working on it.

Cameron is loving going to school. That feels so, so, so, so, good. Today I got to sub for Mrs Norton at preschool so we hung out together. He goes into helpless baby mode when I am there which makes me shun him. He doesn't care much for that. But all in all it was a good morning. I only got scolded once for being a bad influence on the kids. Hey, that's not bad when you consider the quality of the substitute.

Day 15 Life Lesson: Don't cry over spilled glue.

Fun Run Weekend

You don't expect to learn important life lessons from your 9 year-old son but sometimes he teaches me things I never could have learned on my own. This morning, Cooper ran in a fun run at SMU prior to the Jim Flim Cross Country Invitational. I cringed inside when he told me he wanted to do it. He had a big smile on his face and was very excited to participate. On the surface this may seem like a no-brainer but here in lies the dilemma. Do I let my son run a mile through the woods when I know he will finish in last place and not only in last place but waaaaay behind the other 4th through 6th graders? Do I set him up to fail? Do I want to intentionally put him through that? I mean, I have not experienced last place that often in my life. Not because I was really skilled but because I wouldn't try if I thought I would be last. I must have asked him 10 times in the past two days since the flyer came home if he still wanted to go. I kept asking and he kept saying yes. So, off we went, at 8:30 this morning.

As we walked to the starting line with about 20 other kids, I told him to do his best and take it slow. He told me he was going to run really fast because he wanted to beat his buddy Ryan. (Gulp) The gun rang out and off they went. It took about 4 seconds for everyone to pass him by. I cut through the woods to watch him and cheer him on. All the kids ran hard up the first hill but not one child was smiling... except Coop. His smile got bigger every time he heard the older kids cheering him on. He walked a little, he jogged a little, he sprinted a little and all the time with a big smile on his face. As the last racer went by all the kids and parents dispersed down to the finish line... except me. I knew one smiling runner was still making the turn and coming back through the woods. So I ran. I ran to meet my son, and I ran some more. Finally, I saw his big smile coming through the trees. We ran together for a while and then he took off without me. We met again at the finish line where he was still smiling. I told him I was so proud of him for finishing and doing his best. He reminded me that he came in last place. I put my arm around him and told him again how proud I was of him. No one on that brisk foggy morning would know that my son had just taught me a huge life lesson. All because one kid wanted to participate in a fun run.

Life Lessons Learned: Always do your best. Always smile while doing your best. Always finish. Just because it's difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. Finishing is a huge accomplishment. Never, ever give up.

Day 14

Kyle was home sick today. Cam took very good care of him. I love it when the boys look out for each other. It is very sweet to witness such a rare event.

Kyle laid on the couch all day. A fever lingered until late afternoon but the ibuprofen finally kicked in just before dinner. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. Let's hope it doesn't get shared with the rest of us.

Day 14 Life Lesson: Some things should not be shared with others.