Category Archives: children

A Letter to My Children

children, family, life

To my beautiful brown children:

I love you. 

From the moment I saw the two pink lines, I have loved you. Watching you grow, has given joy. Protecting you, has given me purpose. You are my world. I want the world for you and your children and your children’s children. 

My prayer, my wish, my hope is that this world sustains itself long enough for you to fulfill your dreams and desires. I am sorry for the people who judge you based on the color of your skin. I am sorry for the people who mistreat you because of your background and ethnicity. 

I know you are wonderfully made. I know you are intelligent. I know you have a purpose. I believe in you. 

Don’t ever forget that your mommy and daddy are always in your corner…no matter us near or far or gone forever from this earth. 

You are our beautiful brown children. We love you. 

Just Send Me a Postcard Already

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So. Over. Winter.

We’ve only been in the Winter season officially for 2 weeks. 2 weeks! That’s it. Yes, I’m already over it. Maybe my disdain for this season has a little something to do with my day.

I was totally prepared for the frigid cold temperature this morning. I made sure to lay out heavy coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. I even thought ahead…I went to start the car and get it warmed (mostly so I wouldn’t have to deal with kiddie complaints of a cold car). I took the house key off the ring, and went out to start the car. Goal accomplished: Complaints were non-existent as we drove to daycare (yay mommie).

Fast forward 10 hours. Everyone told me about the fantastic day they’ve had on the ride home. Moods were pleasant. I was happy.

At home. As I attempted to unlock the door, I realized the house key was missing. Insert frustration and anxiety. Rewinding the day, I remembered I took the key off the ring to start the car.

I left 1 Jelly and the Bean at the door, while I ran (as fast as I could over the snow and ice) to get the key from the car (all while holding Jelly 2, my purse, and my teacher bag). Got to the car. No key. Insert expletives. As my fingers began to burn and baby Jelly’s nose started to run, I thought “Oh crap” I need to get the others. It was disrespectfully frigid outside. During the 15 minutes it took to rummage through the car, I decided that I’m totally over Winter. I think Bean is too. He asked if God could bring back summer. We finally found the key and went in the house to defrost.

With all of the school non-closings in my area and accident reports as a result, I just think Winter looks better on a postcard. As a child growing up in Atlanta, I dreamed of snow days and winter white holidays. It was my dream to make snow angels, build a snowman, and have snow ball fights. Some of those dreams became a reality. However, it wasn’t until I moved to the northern East Coast that I really became acquainted with snow. The first few Winters here, I made snow angels and had snow ball fights. After falling and spraining my neck, slipping and bruising my tailbone, and shoveling my car from underneath mounds of snow — I can say the dream of blissful snow days has faded. The idea of staying home on a snow day sounds fun, but the reality of all that has to take place after the snow day negates the fun. Seriously, I’d rather “experience” Winter on a postcard.

I know we have many more weeks to deal with this whole Winter thing, all I can do is hope for the best. Good luck to all of you dealing with Winter too!

Sshhh, it’s quiet…

children, family, life, motherhood, ,

…Said no mother ever! In a home with children (I’m convinced of any age) there is ALWAYS noise. Before I had children I’d like to believe my hearing was pristine. Insert nearly 5 years, and hello hearing aides (not literally but at this rate, who knows what the future holds). I love my 3 children dearly. They are all unique and have something both simple and complex to bring to the family table. However, spending every waking moment with them over the last 2 weeks of winter break has been a test that I clearly did not study for. This test mostly consisted of days of fighting, whining, crying, and begging with a few minutes of laughter, smiling, singing, and gratitude. You’d think with my 10 years of teaching experience, I’d be used to all that encompasses childhood drama, BUT it’s something very different when it comes to your own children. It’s like they were born knowing the exact cord to pick to strum your guitar.

Today marks the last day of our precious extended mommy and kid time together (until Spring Break). While most teachers are dreading the wake up call back to reality tomorrow; I couldn’t be happier about returning to work. I’ve gained some true pearls of wisdom during this time. Most importantly, I am NOT cut out to be a stay-at-home-mom. No offense to SAHM’s — you have entered into a new level of awesomeness in my book! I’ve also learned that I do not want to add anymore children to our family (I don’t even want a pet right now). Thankfully, my husband made that a permanent solution a few months ago. However, if there was any doubt that we weren’t finished yet…now we are. Lastly, I’ve realized that this stage in my children’s life is by far the most precious. Even in midst of the noise, I will attempt to cherish every moment.

P.S. As I wrote this post I fed the kids breakfast, changed a diaper, and patched up a boo-boo all to the background noise of crying, fighting, and screaming. I’m reveling in the joys of motherhood!