So, we're down to our last few weeks of summer vacation and what do we have to show for it? Well, let's see.............. sleeping in, no driving into town approx. 7-8 times a week, only having to fill up my car with gas less than once a week, catching up on phone calls with friends, napping on the couch in the afternoon, getting together with our friends several times, going to movies, watching movies at home after dinner, still avoiding laundry, etc...
With gas prices the way they are and with no real vacation this summer the kids and I have been home a lot. They might disagree with me but it's been quite productive as far as relationships go. Remember Dr. Laura? She used to have (maybe she still does) a radio talk show about values, family, relationships, etc. I used to listen to her back in 1995, when I drove Lauren to The Westview School (about 6 blocks from Lauren's school now) every day, both ways, for 3 years, with Josh as a toddler. Dr. Laura was my salvation, my bit of sanity in our new world in Holland. I know that Dr. Laura rubbed people the wrong way a lot of times but her message was pure and simple - love your children, spouse, and others in your life, show them respect, act like a responsible human being and do the right thing, no matter what. I guess that stuck with me and that's what I strive for each day. Dr. Laura's sign-on and sign-off was "I'm Dr. Laura and I'm my kid's mom".
Being home this past year and this summer has really given me an opportunity to be my kids' mom more than ever before and it's been wonderful (well, most of the time). I'm so glad I have a husband who realizes how important it is for me to be at home and not worn down with my teaching career. We have suffered financially by only having 1 income but we're fighting for our kids' future here so our finances right now are just the price we have to pay. If Lauren or Josh had some terrible, life-threatening disease, we'd spend every penny we had to save them, and that's exactly how Rick and I see the task we have in front of us. We only have a handful of years left before our kids head off to college and there's a lot more that needs to be done. Trust me!!!
Today was a pretty good day. Mid morning my dad called and said he was coming over for a visit. That's great, because it's usually us going to see them each time. However, let's just say that our house was a bit of a disaster. I wouldn't have worried too much about Dad seeing our messy house but the lady who drives him would be here too, so that put us into full alert mode. In about 45 minutes, the kids and I picked up, cleaned, vacuumed, dusted, washed and fluffed until the downstairs was in great shape. The upstairs, well... that's another story! But the important thing here is that Lauren and Josh are doing so well with chores lately and today proved it. For so long the kids didn't have many chores to do because we were working on other behaviors and life skills. Now that they're doing better we can expect more of them and they have risen to the challenge. They vacuumed and cleaned like champs, doing a thorough job on each task. That's a big deal for them and I'm proud of them. We're working on them cleaning their own bathrooms now, but need a bit more time to become proficient!
This summer's down time has also allowed for me to help them with their relationship with each other. If you've been around us for more than 2 minutes then you know that Lauren has a temper and is prone to lash out at Josh. Josh, in turn, teases Lauren and tries to push her buttons, which makes her lash out, which makes Josh angry so he teases her, and so on, and so on........
Today, we had a break-through. Lauren is really trying to repair her relationship with Josh and change her ways of lashing out at Josh. They had a bit of an impass, but with time, no distractions and me facilitating, they got through it and said some really mature and caring things to each other. It was great to see. Now, will they remember it tomorrow, in the heat of a battle over the computer, ummmm, NO! But we're not sprinting for the finish line here, we're in a marathon and it takes a while to get to the finish line. I just hope I'm not eligible for AARP when they cross it.
There's no better job for me in the whole world than being my kids' mom.
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