Over the years it's been drilled into my head how much like me my daughters actually are. Their logical thought processes oftentimes bring questions to light that I asked myself at (or near) their ages. This is predominent in the topic of (you guessed it) volunteering. I see them want to support so many causes, the exact same way that I did when I was younger. Now I just have to figure out how to teach them to prioritize these things and find which ones mean the most to them. Despite our insanely hectic schedules, they don't get the concept of burnout just yet. I'm not looking forward to that time approaching, so I'm trying to teach them the prioritizing thing early on. They want to be involved in everything humanly possible, even learning about car engines, so I'm working to help them learn how to prioritize. This is something that spans both across our volunteer efforts (PADS, animal shelters, Great Western Trail Cleanup, etc.) to their extra-curricular activities. In fact, we have an insanely busy Sunday coming up next month involving a synchronized skating competition, a Girl Scout dude ranch sleepover, a close friend's son's baptism, and my annual birthday Blackhawks game. I think I'm still working on the prioritizing that one myself, lol.

My favorite lessons as a parent are the ones my daughter teaches me when she says what we all need to hear now and then. When I say I am busy if she wants to play or do something she says, mom what difference does 15 minutes make if you do that then. She is always right. I also like when she says I know your working mom, but can I just be in here too? Kids want to be with us. They don't need to go to the coolest place ever for tons of money. They just want to be with or near us.

My tale is more anecdotal than a lesson... but...you know it's time to potty train when..... I was racing around with my two and a half year old trying to frantically get him in a car after a nap for a scheduled appointment. He was screaming his little head off as I was buckling him in. I couldn't figure out why he was so upset and then I realized he had a dirty diaper and so I whisked him back into the house to change his diaper. As I was changing him, he said "whew! I was soooo frustrated!" I potty trained him the next weekend. I figured if he could articulate that he could be potty trained!

One of my favorite times to parent is when we go on vacation away from all the pressures and demands of our everyday life. I love the wonder in their eyes of new places and their willingness to learn about them. I love that without friends around, they get along so well. Once when we were staying in a little cabin, my youngest son said, "I'd give up all my toys if we could live here." I do have two funny stories to share that are along the same lines as Tammy's and they both have to do with religion. When my oldest son was almost three, I was showing him how to pray and we did the sign of the cross and I told him how we pray for people we love. After doing the sign of the cross, he said, "Please bless Mommy and Daddy. I love them so much. Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all." I really wanted to attend church as a family but with twins, it was always very hard to get out of the house in time. One time, when the twins were two, we were at church and to keep my daughter quiet, I had a bag of Fruit Loops. We were standing and I told her that when the priest stopped talking, she could have her snack. She started yelling at the top of her lungs, "Stop talking! You're taking too long! I want my Fwoot Loops!" Tammy, I used to ask my older son, when he was two and I wanted to start potty training, if he wanted to wear big boy underwear. I asked him every day. Finally, he said, "Mommy, someday I'll wear big boy underwear but not today."

Awesome! I love the "you're talking to long" comment. I know I felt that way when I was little in church!

Hahahaha, I completely agree with your daughter and the church thing....especially when you're a little kid, lol. Now I go and love it, but when I was a kid it was so boring and just droned on and on and on. Though not necessarily appropriate (and her being too young to understand that), I give her props for speaking her mind :D

Your son is hilarious, too. Those are the kinds of things that we need to write down. As funny as they are, we will forget many of them.

Being the parent of a unique child with some challenges in life has taught me patience and caring beyond belief. At the same time, he brings some comic relief to the family with just the funny stuff kids say.

Recently it was anti-bullying week at school. Lucas, who is 7 years old, told me that "bullies may hit, kick or even gospel." Too funny!

Lucas also has extraordinary insights and a enormous vocabulary. We watched "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas this year for the first time. At the end when they're all singing and crying tears of joy around the Christmas tree, Luke asked me how I was feeling. "I'm happy that George knows what a great life and family he has." When I asked Luke the same, he said "I'm not feeling catharsis. I was born without catharsis." Wow, how amazing is his vocabulary and understanding of the movie?!

Thanks for sharing Jamie! Those bullies sure like to Gospel! Also, It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite Christmas movie. Watching it with my parents was a Christmas tradition for many years!