Prompted by MRF

Kids are awesome. There is nothing about the "having kids" situation that doesn't continue to amaze, frighten, delight, and astound me. My kidlets have reached the age where they don't much want to hug me in public and my affections result in eyerolls and tolerant sighs much of the time. This amuses me, as one of my life-goals is to live long enough to be an embarrassment to my grandkids. I figure I'm practicing for it now.

The kids themselves... well, they're human beings. Ups and downs, stresses and trials and tribulations mixed in with the celebrations and fantasticness. I love that my kids think up puns and jokes on their own and despair that they think up new ways to avoid doing homework. I am terrified of their teenager-hood as it barrels down on us, and sad that I can't easily pick them up and carry them to bed anymore. I want simultaneously to shield them from all the things of the world that cause them fear and pain and anxiety and want them to be able to take care of themselves. Sometimes I nearly vibrate from all the energy it takes to hold still.

I'm trying hard to give them the tips that I didn't get until much later in life, like "make new mistakes next time" and "don't start with 'I can't...'; start with 'what can I do that...'" I wonder if any of it will sink in. Probably not - I had to live a certain amount of life before I was ready to learn those things. I still check on them every night before I go to bed.

If you have someone awesome in your life I hope you'll find the time to write about it, too.