Spring Break

Well, we boring Tysons didn't do anything for Spring Break. We decided to have ourselves a Staycation! We got some deep cleaning done the first part of the week and the traditional trip to the dentist in, but all-in-all, we were lazy. And I LOVED every minute of it.

That's right! We were lazy. No "activities" from Pinterest were planned, no special meals were cooked, we were just a family. No stress, no planning, just spur of the moment decisions. I've caught flack before for not planning things with my kids. My children don't have to be entertained every minute of the day! We do things together, sure, but my job is not to make sure my children have every waking minute planned for them. They have learned to entertain themselves (AND NOT WITH VIDEO GAMES AND TV)! Ben and Haddie love to play with Legos, so there was a lot of time building. There were NERF wars, there were board games played, and Tinker Toys! They still love Tinker Toys!!!

Don't get me wrong, if you are the planning parent that is great, but please don't judge me because I choose to throw my kids outside with nothing planned at all except them being outside! I want my kids to continue to use their imaginations. I want them to learn to entertain themselves in constructive ways, and in my opinion, telling them what those ways are going to be defeats the purpose! We spend a lot of time together as a family, but my kids love to play with their toys by themselves. They don't have to have a device or a TV or a video game to keep them entertained.

Here's just a glimpse of our Staycation! Always remember to take time and enjoy the Simple Things in Life!

Haddie and I went to a beautiful wedding for a sweet sweet girl!

Ben working on his marksmanship.

Never to be outdone by Brother! She loves her Daisy!!

Add in a hoof pickin' lesson.

"Hey, Dad! I got this!!"

Honey Badger and Whoop Ass!

One of the things I struggle with most as a mom is not butting in to all of my kids' problems. Believe me, when my little guy came home angry and upset today because two kids have been talking about him behind his back, it was all I could do not to come uncorked. My knee jerk reaction was to go all honey badger on the kids and their parents. Now, is that a good resolution to the problem? Probably not, but that doesn't mean I don't want to open a can of whoop ass.

So, after I calmed down we talked about what he could learn from this. I really wanted him to work through the problem. As much as I want to, I WILL NOT be the helicopter parent that solves all my kids' problems for them. We walked through the issue. He explained that anyone who talks about him behind his back isn't really a friend. We discussed that most people behave this way because they feel badly about themselves, and making others miserable is just their way of making them feel better about themselves. He asked if it was ok to just walk away and not talk to the boys at all. Of course that's OK!

I decided to take it a step further and ask him what he's learned from this experience. He said, "Mom, I am going to make sure that if any of my friends talk about someone that I'm going to ask them to stop. That's just not right." What a kid I've got.

We've had our ups and downs with Ben. He is different than your average kid, and he is starting to realize it. We constantly talk to Ben and Haddie about accepting others for their differences. When Ben doesn't receive that same acceptance he wants to know why. That's a hard answer. Again, my horrible voice in my head responds with, "Because their parents are douche canoes", but that really isn't going to get us anywhere. In fact, I'm sure it would raise more questions than answers!!! Instead we reinforce that God makes all people different, and that God made him perfectly in His own image. What others say doesn't matter because the Creator of All loves him and accepts him for who he is.

Being different sucks. There's no way around that. But I pray that I can teach him to embrace his differences and use those differences to make a change in the world. He is who he is because the Great I Am created him uniquely, and it is my duty to foster his growth and love for his God and himself. I just pray Jesus would help me reign in the honey badger!!!