June-evening Mind Dump

Rich and I are taking a country dancing class. A few items to note regarding said class: Rich is a really good dancer (who knew?) and I am being completely honest when I tell you I am the worst one in the class. I am also being completely honest when I tell you that country dancing is the most fun I have had in......maybe forever. Even though I am really bad at it. I hope there is hope for me. I watched instructional videos today on youtube so I can be better  before our next class. I call it my homework. We did line dancing and partner dancing. I taught Cass the line dance and she was thrilled. We danced it like a million times today.

Summer is here--well, at least the children are out of school. This week I have enjoyed roller blading with Garrett, flying a kite with Cassidy, and playing tennis with all of them. I have not enjoyed having to make lunch for all of them. I'm sorry kids that our home menu does not include "a cookie and your choice of white or chocolate milk" each and every day, nor do we have sporks, so buck up and get used to it. I can try and order in some of those little ketchup packets if it makes you feel better.

We are trying to do a morning devotional each day at 9am, before we have family prayer. One of my children (who shall remain nameless) told me that "devotional" was a funny word and we needed to call it something else. So now each morning I invite the children at 9am to "that thing we used to call a devotional." My neighbor told me I could call it a "morning-side." What I really want to do is yell at the children to get their butts in the living room for scripture and prayer but that kind of ruins the spirit of the whole thing so I maybe I'll use morning-side....

I cannot keep my house clean. That same force that literally sucks the money out of your wallet as you enter a Costco is wreaking havoc in our home. At this very moment on my kitchen counter (where we sometimes eat and frequently prepare food) there is a bottle of nail polish, a bottle of Advil, an apple core, a potato masher, 4 cans of tuna, a gumball machine, a plant,  a tub of butter, scraps of paper that Sam tore up, and a half-eaten package of Ritz crackers. My kitchen could be re-named "the sticky shoe", only we are not showing movies or selling pop corn (but you could probably find some popcorn in the far recesses of the microwave or on the floor).

I love having my kids home. They are fun and funny. I'm re-reading a favorite parenting book of mine and I am reminded that:

• my kids make lot of mistakes, and that is ok
• there is not just ONE way to be a perfect parent, but there are THOUSANDS  of ways to be a really great parent every day
• all of us--parents and kids--are trying our best
• keep it small. keep it simple. give it time.
• my cat Tyler snores (okay that wasn't in the book, I am just listening to him snore as I type this)
• children are actually listening to you even when they act like they are not
• traditions and routines are important to children
• my children really want to please me and make me happy
• it's ok that our family is not perfect (I mean, we're close, but we're not there yet)

I should really go to bed now, but instead, I will probably read my book a little longer and then be super tired in the morning. Oh well, at least with the Ritz crackers and tub of butter on the counter I won't have to worry about making breakfast!