Don't Give Up

I love to watch the relationship between my husband and my daughter and how it unfolds each and every day in ways that are unique from any other relationship either of them have with anyone else. It is a special and beautiful bond.  I stand back in awe and watch the two of them talk to one another in their own love language. I love to watch how her eyes shine when he walks into the room. She demands his full attention and wants to make sure his eyes are always on her. When he thinks he is sneaking a kiss from me, she is quick to pop up from what seems out of nowhere and asks “where is my kiss daddy”.  She claims she is going to marry her daddy when she grows up. I love the innocent and pure love she has for him. This morning she woke up still exhausted from last night’s escapade.  We received a phone call at six o’clock last night asking if she would like to go see Disney’s Frozen on Ice. Her friend had an extra ticket and wanted to take Maggie along.  We decide...

Is it nature verses nurture?  I have no idea what it is but it is growing at an unparalleled speed in my children’s bathroom. It is green, furry and may have some sort of alien gene mixed in with it, because it may also have eyes. I did not want to get too close.  All of the children’s bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs. My bedroom and bathroom are downstairs. I rarely go upstairs. I go up in the morning to wake them up for school, and then again at night to tuck them in. I peek in their rooms to make sure they are tidy and that they have put their laundry away, but I only go in the bathroom about once a month to do a deep clean. They handle the cleaning the rest of the time. I feel this is fair, considering there is three of them.  I provide all of the supplies and then some to make sure they don’t have any excuses as to why they can’t do a decent job. Well guess what, that is all about to change! I will be checking it daily after what I discovered this morning. ...

So we have all heard the old saying, the dog ate my homework, right. Well, have you ever heard the one, the dog peed on my homework? That’s correct. The never failing drama that unfolds in the Samuel house on a daily basis, struck a little early this morning, or maybe it was late last night, and we just didn’t discover it until this morning. My oldest son went to retrieve his enormous binder that set us back about one hundred dollars, filled with his even day class assignments from the playroom, study room, junk room, whatever it is, this morning.  There it was, lying in a puddle of pee in the middle of the floor.  Now, I have seen a 13 year old mad before, but this morning wins the prize. He was angered to silence. A teenager silent; you know something is wrong.  He was so angry he couldn’t speak. His face was red, his mouth open wide with the only word he could say, “really”. He kept saying “really?” over and over again. Sometimes it would be followed by the assumed cu...

Why am I so emotional? I wear my feelings on my sleeve, no doubt about it. You never have to guess what I am thinking or feeling, because it is right out there in the open. I knew this day was coming. It has been coming for us every September, every year for the last nine years. I knew it was coming when we went back to school shopping and I sat there patiently while my teen and tween tried on more clothes than I have in my closet. I knew it was coming when we walked in the shoe store and the smell of fresh rubber mixed with sweaty feet filled my nose.   I knew it was coming when the shopping cart overflowed with pens and pencils and what seemed to be enough school supplies for the entire school.  I knew it was coming, but I was not prepared. Last night when I tucked my three heart strings into bed, said their prayers and kissed them good night, I knew what the morning would bring. I knew summer was finally over and our long days together were over too. I thought I wo...