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Joys of Childhood

I spent my childhood outside playing in the woods, riding my bike with the neighbor kids, playing sports year round in the neighborhood and spending quality time with my family.  My childhood was fantastic and full of fond memories.  These memories are more meaningful now that I have children of my own.  I remember waking up early Christmas mornings with my brothers eagerly awaiting the opportunity to open our presents.  I loved Christmas as a kid, but as a parent Christmas is a million times better.

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The beauty of being a parent is the innocence we love when transitioning from child to adult is rediscovered through our children. The excitement of Christmas morning is now heard in their scampering about the house waiting for us to wake up.  A sense of wonderment and discovery is shared when our child sees or experiences something for the first time.  I’ll never forget their first trip to the zoo when they first saw a lion, tiger, giraffe and gorillas for the first time.  The sense of wonderment and excitement as they moved from animal to animal was palpable.

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Somewhere along our journey, we lose the wonderment and joy of childhood as we get lost in the minutia of everyday life.  We stop rolling down the hills and being silly instead opting to take ourselves too seriously.  We stop being curious.  There is a lot we can learn from our children as we guide them through life. We can learn to enjoy the small things in life, to not take ourselves too seriously and to approach life with a sense of wonderment and curiosity.

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My boys love exploring the outdoor and enjoy a healthy sense of adventure.  They’re minds are going a million times a minute.  When they see something they love, you can guarantee that they’ve already started scheming about how they’re going to get a boat, a chicken, a goat, a plane, etc.  Their mind and their dreams have no bounds.  Their joie de vivre is contagious and drives me a better mom, a better wife and a better person.  Inspiration doesn’t always come from big things or famous people sometimes it comes from our minis.

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Giving Your Guinea Pigs a Bath

Goalielocks and the Mayor present a tutorial on how to safely give you guinea pigs a bath.

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Sitting Shotgun

When we go somewhere as a family, my hubby drives the car and the kids and I get to relax.  I really don’t like driving, especially in S. Florida, so being a passenger is usually always okay with me.  Until it wasn’t….  My oldest got his learner’s permit at 15, which was mind boggling.  In a previous life, I worked auto claims, which makes me a nervous rider.  Couple that with my child driving me around and it was a recipe for an ulcer.

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We agreed early on that hubby would teach the boys to drive and I would watch from afar.  Frankly, I don’t have the nerves or the stomach for it and they need a calm teacher.  A nervous teacher would do nothing, but make them anxious.  I decided one night to let him try driving my car.  It was a short distance, less than .5 mile, from just inside our gate to our house, so I thought I could handle it.  I was wrong.

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Jake did great, but I was a wreck.  When we got to the road where he needed to make a right turn, I instructed him to slow down causing him to get a bit frazzled.  Consequently, he hit the gas instead of the brake causing a panic.  He asked frantically what he should do and my eloquent response was “hit the other pedal!”  He hit the brake and made the turn safely and the subsequent turns safely getting us home in one piece albeit with frayed nerves.

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Flash forward to March of 2016, Jake had his license for over 6 months and hubby was out of town with Goalielocks for hockey.  I was sick and had been horribly sick for several days.  I couldn’t keep any fluid or food down and knew that the only way to stop it would be to get some IV fluids.  The only way for me to get to the ER was Jake.  Jake drove me to the ER and he did a great job.

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After several hours of IV fluids, they released me from the ER and Jake picked me up.  He drove us to Target to fill my prescription and pick up Gingerale and saltine crackers.  This time I was feeling better, but I was still comfortable with his driving.  The Mayor meanwhile felt compelled to criticize every move Jacob made on the road, he was relentless.  Now almost two years after he got his license, I’m perfectly comfortable being a passenger in his car.

Now when he drives, it’s all about the music.