Service

Ready for some honesty? Here it goes:

My children have been a little (ie: a lot) ungrateful lately.

With Spring Break they've had a ton of fun--pool, beach, play dates, ice cream outings, picnics at the park, hot tub with Mom trips....with very little (ie: never) "Thank you Mommy" heard after said outings....and an increase in fighting and arguing with siblings.

Well, enough was enough.

So I looked for ways I could stop the chaos and an opportunity to serve presented itself.

This week we took a sick friend & her family dinner. I asked the children to help me plan the meal and dessert, we took a trip to the store to buy some things and then later drove with me to drop off the prepared meal. It was great fun, and I made a mental note to do this more often.

Later on in the week, we needed a refresher course on our blessings (ie: their super fun Mom who does so many fun things for them with no apparent appreciation) so we looked for another opportunity to serve and in turn recognize our own blessings. This time it was through a care package for cousin Carter.

Carter (in Utah) is scheduled to have surgery this next week. Poor 6 year old kid has to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. Life is so unfair. I've had this particular surgery before (it's killer) but we know he'll feel much better once this is all over---and no more strep throat or extended hospital stays for Carter after this is all behind him. His Mom will really appreciate that.

So onto our care package.

We each designed our own personal card

Chase's card says: "I wanna come to Utah and shake your hand"


Leda's reads: "Carter, I hope you feel better tomorrow or today. I might think you are gonna be fine up there in Utah. I love you Carter"


Spencer (not thrilled for this photo-op) created a book complete with a front cover, inside and back:



"Dear Carter, Get well soon, I will see you in a cupil weeks"

"Love, Spencer"




then we picked out some unopened art stuff from our art cupboard to donate to Carter. (I won't lie, some tears were shed not wanting to part with MY ART STUFF...but he (Chase) got over it)




Then it was off to McDonald's to pick up a gift card so Carter could have ice cream on demand during recovery and then we trekked it on over to the mail center to send it off.



The kids were so excited and it felt REAL good to do some things for others this week.

And while this is still an honest post and I'm feeling chatty: When these kiddos of mine were little (babies) I was so focused on getting through the day and meeting their physical needs---it was of course exhausting. I used to think it would get easier once they grew up a bit. On some level it has of course, but now that my children are growing older, I'm realizing more and more that while they don't need me to meet as many of their physical needs day to day (changing, feeding, constant supervising), they need me way more now on an emotional & spiritual level and every day is a teaching opportunity because we struggle. Some days it's hard to remember that they are still little people learning and growing and that their actions or words are not meant to insult or hurt me. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, I'm grateful for these experiences this week and hope it helps their attitude some...fingers crossed.