Today's walk...puddles

We are having a super-warm day here today! It was 48 degrees when we went out this morning before school. It was wet from the rain and the girls held hands the whole way. I had to insist the girls didn't take a huge leap right into the biggest puddle, but Natalie was ready for school and so we couldn't just throw caution to the wind. I think we could go farther and do more, but I also think the key to the success is for me to know how quick and easy 20 minutes really is. And that in this case less is more. It leaves us wanting more...looking forward to tomorrow's walk, and itching to get out again.

Did you take a walk with your kids today?

A 20 minute walk every day

It's official. The girls and I are taking (at least) a 20 minute walk everyday -- as long as it is over 20 degrees. This brilliant idea was from Gracie's allergist. She's had ongoing tummy issues and he hoped that maybe this would help, and even if it doesn't it is still genius! I love walks...you get a chance to talk, no distractions. You get fresh air and well, you get to stretch your legs a bit. Gracie and I were walking to school back in the fall, but then it got cold, days get shorter, and well, things get busy.

But, I've decided if we're too busy for a 20 minute walk then something's gotta change. I think it is a great life's rule, don't you? I mean, really, you should never be so busy you can't take a 20 minute walk with your kids.

I've been back to Jazzercise since the new year and I love it. It makes me a better mom -- I get a great start to my day (hello, 5:40 AM!) and I am more calm, patient and peaceful all day long. So I am not looking for this walk to be my excercize, which is key. The only expectation is to move, just a little, and maybe I'll take my camera...just to capture the moment. Don't you think?

I am sort of inspired by this really simple idea, aren't you? Won't you take a walk with your kids today?

It's giving Tuesday.

Every year my kids Religous School does a marketplace of non-profit organizations on a Sunday morning in November. The agencies each set up a booth in the social hall and the children get to go to each table learning about the different non-profits and what they do. The kids are given play dollars to donate as they choose --  giving a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House, and maybe $2 or $3 to another agency, such as Safe Home or Operation Breakthrough. It's a simple yet brilliant concept.

There is only one problem: I cry. Every year, I cry. Not blubbering or anything, but at each of the booths, standing there with my two beautiful, healthy children, learning about kids at camp because of cancer, or children being abused by their own father, or hearing that children go hungry, I can't help it. How can I be so lucky? How are we so fortunate? And I hope no one will see, but I know Natalie notices I have a lump in my throat while trying to tell her what Safe Home is. How do you explain to a sweet 7 year old girl that some mommies aren't safe in their own home? That they might have to take their two precious kids and leave -- often with none of their belongings, possibly on a moment's notice, and believe that everything will be OK, somehow.

Or that Make a Wish provides these wonderful trips because it is likely that child's last? The smiles at Disney, or on the beach, that we see in the photos just might be all that mommy has now, in her album at home on her kitchen table, holding onto that one memory.

And I'm conflicted: I don't want their fragile innocence broken. I don't want them to know that children die. That daddies hurt mommies, or that children go hungry. But I want them to know how fortunate they are...how much they have to live for, and to have the greatest perspective on life: we are grateful. So, we go, and we give our dollars, and I cry. I hope these small and gentle introductions will help them understand a little about the world without breaking their spirit.

This year I am donating my fabric flower brooches to Safe Home for their Holiday Store. I will take their girls with me to deliver them and hope it'll be another teaching opportunity. Are you doing a holiday giving project with your children? I would love to hear about it.

Keep them little.

I turned 40 this year. And that can only mean one thing: if I'm getting older, my kids are too. So in my new decade here's how I hope to slow down time just a little bit.

I've always had a little joke with the girls about staying little. It started when Natalie (my older daughter) was 4. I love age 4. Gracie is 4 now, and it has been amazing to see that, yep, right on time at exactly 4.5 years of ages I am ready for her to stay little. So, I will say, "girls, can you stay 4 & 7 and never get any older?!" And they'll say back, "But, mommmmy we caaaan't! We have to get older!" And I'll say, "OK, you can turn 5 & 8, but THEN will you stay there!?" And they giggle and we go over each year for like 10 years until Natalie's 17 and I am ready to cry.

I have to be honest, I was not one of those sappy baby moms drooling over every birthday and boohooing that maybe I should have another. I am not much of a baby mama. My babies didn't sleep, my hormones didn't agree with labor and delivery, and while I cherished all of the neat milestones that happen so quickly at that age, I never had any desire to go back.

Until age 4. Kids at about 4.5 (let's let the old tantrums wear off first) are like a pint-size present all wrapped up with a cherry red bow. And as they days and months pass we moms get to open them slowly, revealing the little people they are going to be. And if that's not enough there's the practical side.

Let's be honest, they are fun to hang out with now! We can take long walks without a stroller. We've ditched the diaper bag! They can buckle themselves up in the car, and we're off! Ready for any adventure (and for kids even the smallest thing can be made into an adventure!) and I do not want to miss a day of it.

So, I'm thinking I'll just adopt my silly joke into my new parenting mantra: keep them little. Here is how I plan to do that:

See them -- really see them. Everyday. You know how when you got married someone told you to step back at your wedding and actually watch it, for a few minutes, as an outsider. So that you would be able to rememer it? And enjoy it, without getting swept up in the business of it? I am going to do that here. Once a day. So that I am sure to remember these moments. I want to take snapshots (with my camera and with my mind) of the mundane: the girls swinging and holding hands walking to school, Gracie's serious look when she's drawing and her silly look when she's performing. Natalie with her nose in a book. The splash of the bathtub and the snuggle with daddy after work at night.

Be grateful & share my gratitude. I've been taking a picture each day of what I'm grateful for. I plan to show the photos to the girls, and discuss with them why I am so grateful for my life. And I'll share special details about why I am so grateful for them. Like, Gracie's hard working way she loves to tidy up. And how Natalie comes over and kisses my arm and says "mama" so sweetly.

See the world through their eyes. Put myself in their shoes, looking at school, homework, friends, the world, as they would and making decisions while always taking into account their perspective. For example, if something simple seems hard or something easy seems scary, I am going to see them in that place and listen to them fully.

Keep it simple. I know overscheduling is a hot topic in parenting, and I am not here to say my kids are bucking the trend to becoming over-involved. In fact, I love to learn, and I love to see my girls learning something new. So, we have a healthy dose of ballet, gymnastics, Brownies & religious school on our schedule. But I do see the pure joy of a wide-open afternoon with nothing to do but play imaginary fairies or horses in the wide-open prairie (er, backyard) with her sister. Also, I plan to offer up simple activities that re-center the girls after a busy school week.

Shower them with affection. Hugs, kisses, sitting on laps, and rocking with a book might be little kid things, but I am going to hop in and cherish them for as long as possible.

Read together. For Gracie, her beginning days of reading are all still so fun and exciting. For Natalie, her learning to read days are a distant memory. I have actually been missing sharing her books with her. So recently we decided to read the first Harry Potter book together. It's great because she reads and I close my eyes and listen. I hear the story, but I also hear her voice and I know that no matter how old she gets she'll always be my little girl.