When I was growing up I always pictured my future self as the cool mom in the kool-aid commercials. All the neighborhood kids were going to want to be at my house and I was going to spend my days playing with them and making them awesome meals and snacks and, of course, always have pitchers of kool-aid cold and icy from the fridge that they would all come running for when they saw me step outside with it.
Well, as I had kids and they started getting old enough to play with friends I had a stark realization...I didn't like other people's kids as much as I thought I would. Haha In the kool-aid commercials it didn't show the kids saying mean things to each other, all the tears that ensue, the kids "helping themselves" to things out of my pantry and sticking them in their socks to sneak the food out of our house (yep that really happened on more than one occasion) and all the chaos that happens when you have all those 5-7 year olds running in and out of your house! In our old neighborhood we had 35 kids in our cul de sac alone so we did have many, many children over at our house constantly...I just didn't have the "kool aid" mom attitude about it everyday...only some days. :)
But as my kids have grown, I do look back on those crazy days with fondness. I actually miss the craziness of all those kids and as I see the kids from the old neighborhood grow up I laugh when I think of the ones that stuck food in their socks or the boys that had a peeing contest with Bryson on our front sidewalk. When your kids are young the days seem long but the years go by fast and before you know it, they're teenagers.
Of course we've all heard the dreaded "teenager" stories and yes, you certainly deal with stronger opinions and more emotions but I'm finding myself enjoying the kids having their friends over more these days. (Maybe it's because I just appreciate the times that they're home because they're gone so much...either with activities or friends.) One of the things I'm most thankful for is that Nick and Hailey both care about getting good grades. Nick has somehow managed to have friends that also care about getting good grades and getting their homework done each night. When I went downstairs a few weeks ago, I found 4 or 5 friends with Nick in his room all laying around on the floor doing their homework. Nick told me they like to do homework at our house because it's quieter...everyone else has a lot younger siblings. So I decided to make a designated homework area that would be more comfortable than laying on the floor...it's not fancy by any means, but it gets the job done! Nick and I moved the long table downstairs in the unfinished kitchen area and now there are two tables along with school supplies and some goldfish crackers so they have a quiet, productive place!
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