I Am Grateful

I don’t want my blog to be a total bummer and I don’t want people to get the impression that I hate being a parent or my kids all the time. As the Holiday season begins and I am looking forward to spending time with my extended family I am reminded that there are many things that I do like and love about my kids and being a parent.

I have really enjoyed watching my girls grow and mature. It’s so much more fun to hang out with them when we can have a conversation. They ask good questions and it’s interesting to know what they are curious about. I love their little voices and how they mispronounce certain words. My younger daughter used to ask me to “hold you” when she wanted me to hold her. Then as she realized that the word that represented her was “me” she added it to the sentence and asked us to “hold you me”! It was super cute even when I was frustrated with her.

I have also been thankful for their strength, both physical and emotional. My older daughter can do the monkey bars and climb street sign poles to the top and can jump off of high things. While this all sounds dangerous, to me it represents the fact that she doesn’t see these things as hard. She has the courage to try and limited fear about getting hurt. Fear of getting hurt has been a huge limiting factor in my own life. I hate to do a lot of “fun” things because I’m scared to get hurt. My daughter falls off her bicycle and dusts off the dirt and gets back on and keeps going. We often talk about being ready to “try again”. I’m really thankful that she has the courage to try again and I’m thankful for her for teaching me how to have courage.

I am grateful for my parent friends and the school communities that my children belong to. I am so thankful that there are people near me who are experiencing the same struggles that I am. I wish it was easy and lovely all the time for everyone, but it’s not, and I’m grateful to everyone who shares with me all the good and bad stuff they deal with everyday. I’m grateful to all the parents and friends who listen to me talk about all the ups and downs too! Without your support and encouragement, I wouldn’t be able to do this parent thing.

I am thankful for old friends. Thank you to my friends who have continued to check in with me and continued to make a place for me in your life! I am not good at keeping in touch, and friendships seem to be hard to maintain when we don’t live near each other. But I am so thankful that I have friends who send me a text or email out of the blue just to tell me that they are thinking of me. It’s amazing how uplifting it is to know people are thinking of me.

I’m especially grateful to my family. My mom, sister and husband are the life net that keeps me from hitting the ground and breaking my neck! I know that my mom will always love me unconditionally. (I know my dad does too, but sadly he’s not around anymore to tell me). I know that my sister will always be on my side and that I’ll be on her’s. I also know that I can call her 24/7 and she’ll always be happy I called. I’m grateful to my husband because he will have the hard conversations with me even though it hurts, because we know it has to happen and we’ll be stronger when we’re done. He values our partnership above all else and loves and supports me through good and bad.

Some other little things I’m thankful for this time of year are shorter days and warmer blankets. I’m thankful for seeing my extended family and continuing Holiday traditions that we’ve had since I was a baby. I love to eat good food and watch the rain from the comfort of my living room window. I’m thankful for the opportunities to teach my girls our Holiday traditions and to create new ones. I am thankful for this internet platform to share my thoughts with the world and to those of you who have taken the time to read it. I am grateful that I can find healing and some moments of peace in this crazy journey.