My ear really hurts
So bad I can't sleep at night
Til my mommy comes
-----
Cough, sneeze, sniffle, wheeze
Call my mommy to my bed
Song, pat, head-rub, sleep
-----
We go to a show
So sick I can't stay awake
So I sleep on you
-----
I don't feel so good
So I whine and whine and whine
Please tolerate me
-----
:)
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Invisible Good Life
My kids are having a way better childhood than my brother and I had.
Before having children, I never fully realized just how depressing my own upbringing was. It wasn't all-trauma-all-the-time, but it wasn't a bed of roses either. There was very little consistency in pretty much every area. Let me paint a brief picture. My parents went through a bitter divorce when I was a toddler and my brother was a preschooler. We lived with my mother, who moved pretty often--every 2 years on average--because, as a single mom, she had a hard time keeping a job (so she was also often broke). We visited my father, who lived a few hours away, every few weeks and we spent summers with him. My parents did not get along. My dad was more financially stable than my mom, but he drank too much and, although he could be tremendous fun, he could also be like living with a volcano--his temper would erupt unexpectedly. Each of my parents has been married and divorced several times. I honestly believe that they did the best they could raising us. This is actually not saying much, though, since I also see them as having a pretty limited capacity. (Please pardon my judgmentalness.)
When I look at the life GEH and I have made for our kids, I am amazed. We've been married for 10 years. We have lived in the same house since I was pregnant with our first son. We have a steady income. We have a clear plan for educating our children at the same school, where they can stay from k through 12 because we don't plan to move. There is always good food in our house. They heat is always on in the winter. The electricity bill gets paid monthly. There is minimal fighting. The friendships my sons are forming could potentially last throughout their lifetimes.
I'm not about to say that our life is perfect. And I am certainly not ever going to even suggest that I am perfect (because I am so flawed that it is not even funny!)...but I do love to pause and to reflect on my children's life. Because their life is good.
Watching them thrive in the world GEH and I have made for them is deeply healing. It's like through them, I get a chance to repair some of my own wounds from childhood. I get to do it better than my parents could. And my boys reap the rewards. And they don't even know it. And that (THAT!) is what makes it incredible.
Their life is so good that they can take it for granted. A men to that.
Before having children, I never fully realized just how depressing my own upbringing was. It wasn't all-trauma-all-the-time, but it wasn't a bed of roses either. There was very little consistency in pretty much every area. Let me paint a brief picture. My parents went through a bitter divorce when I was a toddler and my brother was a preschooler. We lived with my mother, who moved pretty often--every 2 years on average--because, as a single mom, she had a hard time keeping a job (so she was also often broke). We visited my father, who lived a few hours away, every few weeks and we spent summers with him. My parents did not get along. My dad was more financially stable than my mom, but he drank too much and, although he could be tremendous fun, he could also be like living with a volcano--his temper would erupt unexpectedly. Each of my parents has been married and divorced several times. I honestly believe that they did the best they could raising us. This is actually not saying much, though, since I also see them as having a pretty limited capacity. (Please pardon my judgmentalness.)
When I look at the life GEH and I have made for our kids, I am amazed. We've been married for 10 years. We have lived in the same house since I was pregnant with our first son. We have a steady income. We have a clear plan for educating our children at the same school, where they can stay from k through 12 because we don't plan to move. There is always good food in our house. They heat is always on in the winter. The electricity bill gets paid monthly. There is minimal fighting. The friendships my sons are forming could potentially last throughout their lifetimes.
I'm not about to say that our life is perfect. And I am certainly not ever going to even suggest that I am perfect (because I am so flawed that it is not even funny!)...but I do love to pause and to reflect on my children's life. Because their life is good.
Watching them thrive in the world GEH and I have made for them is deeply healing. It's like through them, I get a chance to repair some of my own wounds from childhood. I get to do it better than my parents could. And my boys reap the rewards. And they don't even know it. And that (THAT!) is what makes it incredible.
Their life is so good that they can take it for granted. A men to that.
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