Apparently, I didn’t learn much in kindergarten. Everything I know, I’ve learned from my kids. Or from being their mom. Or both

Everyday I learn something new.  And it’s not from reading it in a book (um, who has time to read anymore?!?) And it’s not from watching television (except I’m sure I could totally rock the whole Bering Sea crab fishing gig after I finish flipping cars in Texas), and it’s certainly not from checking Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (shocking, I know).  No, everything I have learned has been from watching my children.

The five of them combined are grace, truth, creativity, ingenuity, positivity, beauty, wisdom, wit and strength personified.  For the most part, they do not understand that if they want something that they cannot have it.  Because in their minds, they can have it, they just need to figure out how to get it.  (How many times have I wished I could believe this is true in my life? I’m getting closer to that belief watching my babes in action though).

Today is Miranda’s third birthday.  She is a delight and a demon (the answer will depend on who you ask and when) but when she smiles, my world ceases to have problems.  When she cries (her legitimate cry, not her boundary testing, patience-stretching three-year-old I’m-going-to-cry-until-your-ears-bleed-and-you-give-me-what-I-want cry), my heart aches in my chest for her.  I love watching her learn about her world, conquer her fears and worries and take control of her environment.  At three, she has not yet been told that it is not okay for a girl to speak her mind, so when she feels someone has crossed her line, she can often be heard saying things like “leave me alone!  Get your hands offa me! I’m mad at you!”  She doesn’t smile politely and take it.  And I admire that.  And I hope that as she grows and matures that she refines her delivery but does not soften her stance and start doubting her own right to 1) be heard and 2) be treated with respect.  She will learn compromise and communication techniques, give-and-take will come, but I hope that she never gives so much that she loses her beautiful, fiery spirit.  Happy Birthday, my Miranda.

So many lessons to learn and I so want to be open and available to learn them all.  I really need to figure out how to simplify my life to give myself time to not only learn the lessons my kids have to teach but to practice those lessons as well.  Stream of consciousness to do list: Lunches to make, dishes to wash, husband to kiss, carpets to vacuum, laundry to wash, hang, fold, dinners to cook, errands to run, showers to take, kids to cuddle, vitamins to take and distribute, sunscreen to apply, boo boo’s to kiss and family to cherish.  Not in that order, at all.