Moments when things slow down and you're really there, seeing...

Some days I feel that this blog is about whining. And maybe it is. It is easy to write about the mess ups, the aggravations, the lack of sleep, the frustrations, the days you want to take that one way flight to Burma. Burma? Well, sometimes it feels like anywhere would be better than here. Not that there's anything wrong with Burma.

So, how does one capture in writing the moments of ... joy? It is SO much MORE than mere joy. Ecstasy? Closer. Yes, being a parent - having that privilege, and it is a privilege, is not so easy to write about. Yet again, maybe it is.

Every parent has these small moments in time. Moments when things slow down and you're really there, seeing... These are a few of mine from this week:

Watching GIRL & BOY on the seesaw, GIRL's face alive with gleeful abandon as they go up and down and weave around in a circle, going faster & faster.

BOY reaching out to clasp GIRL'S hand and uttering "I'll take care of you GIRL," as I walk away from them on the playground at school. I turn back and see their little backs to me, holding hands tightly. They are so small.

GIRL very seriously disclosing, "BUZZ is his first name and LIGHTYEAR is his last name."

BOY saying, "That's so sad!", when I explain to him what it means for a person to be homeless, after we pass a man on the street pushing all of his worldly belongings in a grocery cart.

GIRL snuggling in my neck and whispering, "Mama, Mommy, Mama..." as I carry her small person, something happening less and less as she wants to be so independent.

The look of endless love in E's eyes as he watches the children...every day. It gets me every time. If love could be bottled it would look like this.

My children are my greatest gifts and I am truly blessed. They are extraordinary teachers and I am learning day by day. My children are my most challenging hurdles, sometimes I stumble, sometimes I make it over and sometimes I fly. My children are my heroes and they give me hope for the future. They have taught me about love and what that really means. Through loving them I feel the closest to GOD that I've ever felt. And I feel closer to my own parents and love them that much more. For they felt this way about me...and survived it.

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