Aftermath

One of the wondrous things about humanity, is how different we all are.

Take my kids for instance.  Our first is artsy, stubborn and likes being the leader (taking full advantage of her role as the oldest sister in both guiding and reprimanding her siblings).  Our second is almost polar opposite – more into dancing/singing, into sharing and emotionally volatile to the extremes (super loving and flipping crazy within seconds of each other).  So the third child should be like one or the other right?

Wrong.

He is even more opposite to either of them than I could have imagined.  His imagination is wild and hilarious, he takes whatever we thought we knew and throws it out the window.  It actually astounds me how they can all be so very different to each other.  If we had a fourth, well who even knows what would happen.

Speaking of fourth how hot does my husband look holding a little baby?

Sorry, I got distracted.

Uh, where was I?  Oh yes, we are all different.

That extends to me.  Specifically speaking, I want to chat about how I handle parties.

Now, there’s no defined reason why I feel like I need to justify myself.  I guess that comes with putting your life on the line (literally thanks to the internet) and getting feedback on what you’ve done – positive and negative.  But guys, before we form a troll mob and attack a person that might have left a comment about going over the top, let me just clarify that the person we would be looking for, lives inside my head.  Do you ever get that?  Where you crit yourself about how you think people will perceive you, even when that’s not at all what they think?

I do.  All the stinking time.   It’s tiring.

Anyway.

Somewhere out there lives someone who rolls their eyes at kids parties and what they are becoming.  In a way, I roll my eyes right on with you.

I get that children don’t need to have big, expensive parties in order to feel loved.  Presence counts more that presents.  Got it.

But when making a big deal out of special moments in life is how you try and express the love you feel for the recipient, then is it really so bad?  You don’t have to spend buckets of money to go to a little effort.  It’s the effort put in that speaks love.  Well for me anyway.

I’ve thought about this whole thing a lot.  And it boils down to the type of parent that I want to be and the kind of childhood I want my children to have.

Obviously there are many things that I want to accomplish as a parent.  I don’t want my kids to turn into bullies, brats or chops.  I want them to know Jesus as their saviour.  I want to have the kind of relationships with them where they feel comfortable asking me about anything – knowing that they’ll get the right answer, where they confide in me and we can easily spend an afternoon chatting away.  I want to create a treasure chest of fond memories for them to think back on when they’re older, where their parties combine with cuddles on the couch and family dance offs.

These things are important to me.

And so, little voice that lives in my head, I’m going to keep trying to create those moments to add to that treasure chest.  Of course that means a lot of trial and error which will hopefully results in a lot of laughs along the way, but it won’t stop me from savouring those moments that happen naturally too.

Like these ones.