Happy Birthday To Christopher!

Today is officially Christopher's 12th Birthday! Wow, my little boy is growing up! *sniffles* :) So let me tell you how there is nothing I hate more than adults who can't grow up. This morning I had an argument with a person that I have to have close contact with in my life who needs an attitude adjustment. She is such a horrible, difficult creature that it is unreal. I find that it takes more to get a drivers license in this country than to have children.

I am going to get on my soap box for just one minute and talk about parenting. Now I know that I can't say much because I am not a parent but I feel like I have some say in this because for all intensive purposes, I raise a child from Monday through Thursday. Most if not all of you know I am a live in nanny for a (TODAY) 12 year old boy. He is the apple of my eye. I adore Chris and all of the challenges and growing experiences that he brings. Along with Chris comes much responsibility and much heartache and more worry than I have ever known.

So, today I choose to write a few parenting things that I think are important in the span of raising a child. I was a child once and find my own scars in this too. I know that my knowledge will not be in a parenting book or even make any of you think "Man, she knows about parenting" but it's things I notice when dealing with Chris in a non-parenting mode. Here are my ten insights for today on parenting:

• Always know the kids in your child's class. They care about this and expect you to remember that Jeff is the cool mexican kid who can do the moonwalk.


• Play video games with your little boy. You hate them while he loves them. Show him you care about his desires and his interests.


• Fix your child's favorite meal once in a while. They feel special, even if it is as simple as hot dogs and mac & cheese


• Laugh while doing homework. Don't be all business. There is nothing sweeter than a laugh that makes you both fall in the floor while doing the book report


• Never make your child feel guilty for giving them the necessities of life. They should be able to count on you for anything and know that mom/dad is their best advocate in the world


• Support your child's extracirricular activities by going to watch, asking about them, helping them practice etc...you should know as much as they do!


• Laugh at your child's jokes. It fosters a lot of self-esteem. My mom always laughed at me and look at me! :)


• Bring cupcakes to their class when it's their birthday. (This should not happen in high school) It makes them the star for the day!


• Read to your child and while you are reading, don't be afraid to cuddle up. Chris loves this cuddle time for just him and I and he is a 12 year old boy. Kids still need affection.


• Compliment your child's appearance like "Your hair looks cool today" or something like that. They need to know they are attractive even early on.


• Do not use curse words on your child. These are toxic to a child and can really damage them later on.


• Never allow your children hear you talk bad about the other parent. This is dangerous to everything a child is. It's silly and immature. GROW UP ALREADY

Ok, those are my parenting tips. I hope they help. Anyway, my sub-goals are going ok for today but not perfect. Today has been taken up by having the handy man here to fix a few things. I hate this because are constantly answering questions, trying to check in on things, and still get things done. It's crazy!

Anyway, here are my learning and thankfulness for yesterday:

Learning February 16, 2005:

1. Dating isn't really the highest priority in my life right now but man it captivates my thoughts a lot.

2. I love alone time now. Thanks to Joel, I have learned how to be alone gracefully.

3. There is nothing better than scrapbooking to me right now. My scrapbook is the best!

4. I have been exhausted lately and I don't know why. I need to figure that out.

5. Richard and I make a great parenting team!!!

Thankfulness February 16, 2005:

I am thankful that I had a talk with my friend Ryan yesterday. Ryan is originally from Indiana like myself and lives out here now in Long Beach. It's always good to talk to a fellow Hoosier who understands what it is like to wake up in the morning and think "Why am I here?" It's the hardest thing I have ever done. Moving away is hard and teaches you so much but it presents its own set of challenges as well. TOUGH STUFF! Either way, I am happy I have Ryan as a sounding board. He is a precious thing to me and I am praying for the best over his life. Thank you Ryan and thank you God..for bringing Ryan.

~Shalom~