One of THOSE Moms

One of THOSE Moms

So here I am! I’m back. This month has been the longest, and hardest, of my life. I will never again complain about being stressed out and busy in life, unless I really am in one of these situations again. God willing, I won't be. In reality….it’s something to prepare for.

I heard once that people who struggle with stress, anxiety and worry should ask themselves this question:

Is this going to matter in five years?

If the answer is “yes” then one can feel justified in allowing these emotions to consume them. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but it has crossed my mind in the last month.

I have so many things to work through with what we have been through, and don’t think the blog is the best place to do so, at least not right now. I will give this update though:

Joseph is doing well and seems to have recovered well from his surgery and set back. The process is taking much longer than it did three years ago when he had heart surgery, but the doctors say that is to be expected with having to go into the chest a second time. His spirits are high, and his doctors have said if he feels able, he should be able to resume his graduate program in September! Thank you all for your prayers and messages, they really meant so much to me and I will get around to addressing them. This brings me to a question for my fellow writers out there:

I’ve been writing a lot lately, big life events tend to do that to a writer. I’m using some of these things for some pieces I will be submitting, so I don’t know how much to share on the blog—thoughts—rules of the writing/blogging game? I would love to hear about how the rest of you wordsmiths deal with this.

Now, onto more important things – my children, and the reason for the title of this entry.
I always told myself I won’t be “one of THOSE moms.” I said this in reference to many things. One of these things has to do with art projects and general creative F-U-N. It is so very important to Joseph and I to nurture and affirm the creative development of our children. In doing so, I don’t mean that I want to “do” their projects for them, like SOME moms. I really want to provide them with the opportunity to be creative and to teach them, form a very young age, to create. I know some of my friends and family think I'm nuts for giving art projects to 6 month old babies, but I don’t want then to ever remember a time when they didn’t create! So, we WILL do projects in this home, and I WON’T be one of THOSE moms who directs/does the work for the child. They don’t need me, they are brilliant just being themselves.

Anna seems to take to the painting much more than Tessa. I remember doing projects with Tessa when she was Anna’s age and she tended to like taking apart and putting together the materials more than she liked actually using them. She also would rather play in the water bowl that I always have on hand for a project. We are realizing how very much she LOVES anything that has anything to do with water. She even talks to water, when she sees it and when she is laying in her bed at night talking to herself—it is all about water. She loves to swim and even goes under the water already. Joseph (a swimmer himself) is so very proud!

Anna LOVED the painting. She seemed to like how it felt on her hands and enjoyed moving it around on the paper. Like all things Anna does, she was very focused and pleased with having a task at hand—while Tessa screamed and danced and splashed in the “WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHYAAAAAARRRRRR”

Aunt Karyi and Daddy were here for the memory making day. It was very close to a perfect weekend! It was the first time, in a long time, we have felt semi-normal – like a family – not a “sick” family.

It was so needed.