Tag / Parenting

by Greg

House Cleaning Fairy

Recently we’ve been—ok, I’ve been—more bothered than usual with both the amount of stuff we have in our house; AND (perhaps more) how often way too much of it is left out all over our floors!

So I told the kids this past weekend—in no uncertain terms—that at 6:30am or so every morning when I get up, I was going to pick up anything that was on the floor, not in its place, and just throw it away. Yes, I know… there are poorer people than we who would love to have such things… I shouldn’t just throw them away. But we’ve tried everything we can think of … and now we’re trying just discarding. (Although, I did add the disclaimer that if I found something of greater value that I would either keep it for myself or sell it on ebay…) 🙂

“I will be like … the House Cleaning Fairy!” said I, “Who will come in while you’re sleeping, without you noticing, and get rid of all the extra stuff!” The big smile on my face didn’t quite match the smiles on their faces, but… well… I did just call myself the “House Cleaning Fairy”…

So, we’ll see how it goes. I have collected a little bit so far, but thankfully, not a lot! The kids have done a good job cleaning up just before they go to bed. What we’re really hoping for, though, is that they will learn to put things in the right place before they move on the next thing in their day. Then less stuff would be lost, more stuff would be easily found, and our floors would be much less cluttered!!!

Till then, the House Cleaning Fairy visits us early every morning…

by Greg

Desegmentation

Have you noticed how compartmentalized we tend to view life? While there certainly is truth to the “time and a place for everything” there is also the truth to “in everything moderation.” But for whatever reason (honestly, I would like to investigate this further and discover the root cause or causes) there is a very strong tendency to separate, categorize, and otherwise segment our lives.

Think about it. The “separation of church and state” immediately comes to mind. It is proclaimed frequently as the bedrock of our society in political circles, the two shall never cross. (It’s really misinterpreted as well, but that’s for another day.)

As a home schooling family, we’ve seen many families who adhere to a more strict schooling schedule: a certain time of day, certain days of the week, and certain months of the year, like the public school system.

We also keep our spiritual life nicely bottled up for our more spiritual moments. Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, small groups, youth groups, mens groups, ladies groups, personal devotion times, and all sorts of “spiritual times.” (Check out this super-old post for more thoughts on this.)

What I’m noticing lately is that when we do compartmentalize and segment our lives so, we tend to imagine that we are somehow able to be different things at different times. That when we are in a spiritual place or time, then we are a spiritual being. When it is time for school, then we are learning.

To a degree, that is most certainly understandable. We do have different roles within our day. Just by our birth, we have different relationships with some people. But does that translate well to other times? When I am with my wife, I am married. When I am with my kids, I am a dad. Not really. We wouldn’t ever say those relationships cease when we are not in a physical time and space where they are evident. We may focus our energy at times on something else (for instance, a job) but we are still a spouse, and a parent, and a child of God.

Life with God is not about a time and place. I’ve said that for so many years here, so I won’t expound there. (If you want to read more, get my book … it’s a good read.) 😉 In our segmented way of thinking, there is a danger of compartmentalizing God that way; putting him in a box.

Same goes with parenting. Whether I am actively caring for and leading my children, or not, I am still a parent. And really, everything I do is part of that. When I am working, I am helping earn money to keep us under a roof and fed. When I am reading or writing, I am thinking about life and processing those thoughts and attempting to understand more of life that I can later pass along to them.

This can also be better applied to our education. As mentioned previously, we’ve been thinking about education a lot lately. One thing that I have always felt that we home schoolers miss out on is the complete integration of our education with our whole lives. Most of us get it on some level, but I’d say not many really live it out. Rather than setting aside a time for “school” there can be such freedom—and perhaps even more learning?—in seeing all of the opportunities to learn (and teach) in the course of “everyday life.” Everywhere we go, everything we do often has teachable moments, whether merely practical (preparing meals, maintaining a home, etc) or moral lessons stemming from interaction with siblings, parents, and friends.

The “lessons” also integrate with what a more structured school might categorize as math, science, english, or any of the other subjects. We use all of those things every day in so many ways, when we are thinking about it, and looking for teachable moments, they are easy to spot and pass along. And in the regular course of life, they are very readily accepted. Then, when there is a spark in the mind and eyes of your child for some particular topic, delve further into it. The library is your friend!

It’s fun to learn. All the time. From waking up, to bedding down. There is so much to learn, and I think from the moment we are born we are keen to it. It’s fun to see our 9-month-old learning about his world. He is so curious about everything! It’s just in us. We want to know more, and yet, when we’re forced to sit and learn at a specific time… it often forces the love of learning right out of us.

How sad.

So we here at the GregsHead.net world headquarters are trying to live a more integrated life. We never turn anything “off” (except, I suppose I do intentionally take breaks from my work … though somewhat difficult being the owner of (at least) two businesses…) instead we are always learning, loving, and listening. We don’t limit our life in God to spiritual events and times. We don’t limit our learning and education to “school” times. We are all of who we are at all times in all ways.

Said that way, it seems a monumental task. But there is such freedom in just being. Give it a try, if you are able… Just be.

by Greg

Genius

Greatness isn’t the work of a few geniuses, it is the purpose of each of us. It is why we were born. Every person you have ever met is a genius. Every one. Some of us have chosen not to develop it, but it’s there. It is in us. All of us. It is in your spouse. It is in all of your children. You live in a world of geniuses. How can we settle for anything less than the best education? How can we tell our children that mediocre education will do, when greatness is available?

The above quote (with my emphases added) is from A Thomas Jefferson Education, by Oliver DeMille. Jen has read through it, and some companion books, and I have become familiar with it via an audio CD we have that presents some of the principles from this “leadership education” philosophy.

We really like it, and I really liked that paragraph you just read above.

I think this all the time, and it’s why we home school. That doesn’t mean we school at home. We don’t. It means that born into everyone—which includes all of my children—is the unbounded potential for greatness. All we have to do is love, observe, and help steer toward that greatness. Some think that approach to be idealistic, and perhaps too simplistic. But it seems to be working so far.

My goal as Ian, Alex, Kirsten, Julia, Emma and Cameron’s Dad is to help them see their greatness (AND the greatness of everyone else around them) and to help them know the foundational truths of life, the most important things which will be their character, their anchor… then the rest is up to them realizing the greatness that God has built into each of them. The “sky” is truly the limit.

(Although, that may be too limiting…)

Looking forward to finishing this book, and sharing more thoughts from Mr. DeMille.

by Greg

Dealing With Frustrations In Kid Training

As I went downstairs to help catch up on our family’s laundry backlog today, I was shocked (and yet, not surprised at all) to find it in complete disarray. Various articles of clothing strewn everywhere from the steps to the washer and dryer, and then all around both of those.

“Alex!!” I thought to myself, angered and frustrated… and exasperated.

Alex is our now 8-year-old laundry helper. For some reason when he was about 5 years old he volunteered for laundry duty, and so, Mom was happy to employ his services! But, also for some reason—believe me, we’ve asked, but without success thus far—he can not do some very simple parts of it (even with clear instruction).

Now, there are many more important things we want Alex to learn. To consider others better than himself. To know that he is loved more than he can imagine by his Creator. To know that Creator. And plenty of other things we are building into his character, as with all our kids.

But at what point is this a character issue? My dad always taught me, “Do it right the first time!” I still remember it today, and I think I live it. So, I’ve been saying that with Alex on this, too, since we have had to re-wash loads of laundry more times than I can count.

The real character issue is that he seems to try to cover up his “forgetfulness” (when he doesn’t do what he tells Mom that he did do). When is it just a tiny eight-year-old boy learning to do a job that may be beyond his physical abilities right now, and when is it an issue of disobedience and even lying to cover up the disobedience. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.

Anyone reading this have any similar experience, and perhaps a solution or two that worked for you? Everyone is different, so who knows if it would work for Alex, but so far, we have not found any method of correction that has. And at this point the frustration is not just Mom & Dad’s, but also little Alex’s, too. And that’s no good.

So we keep plugging away at this parenting thing. Sometimes we learn a lesson from parents who’ve gone before us. Sometimes we learn from how our Father teaches and trains us. Sometimes we just learn “by accident”. 🙂 (We have a lot of practice!) But, we keep going, because even through any frustrations, there are not any cooler people on the planet than these six that God has entrusted to our care.

(Probably a slightly biased view, but 100% true from my vantage point.) 🙂

by Greg

Reflecting on My Two Weeks as "The Mom"

The four oldest Campbell kiddos

For the past two weeks I have assumed the role of main caregiver for our five oldest kids, and main caretaker of our household stuff. It’s something I’ve done following the birth of each of the past four kids (pretty sure it started with our daughter, Kirsten) and something I always really look forward to.

This time was no different. Just even more fun!

I am definitely a very “hands-on” Dad, even when I am filling the perhaps more “traditional” role of main bread-winner. I am often the one preparing meals, involved in many aspects of the kids days (usually do bath and bedtime stuff) and I love my days off when I get to be with the kids the whole day. (Oh, I even like house work… which is probably kind of odd…)

What I love so much about the post-baby “vacations” is that I really get to fully enjoy my time with all of the kids. It’s not after I’ve already spent a lot of myself on work or other people or whatever… it’s all of me from the start of my day to the finish. It’s definitely a different dynamic for me when I can do that, and I’d imagine it is for the kiddos.

Grateful

As I reflect on the past couple weeks, one thing that keeps coming to the forefront is the help and kindness of friends and family who have been around the past couple weeks. From friends bringing and making meals for us, to our two Dads fixing, building, and installing lots of great things … we’ve enjoyed all of the ways the people we love have loved us.

The Dads? Built and installed a gate for the kids on our deck, purchased and installed a new faucet for our kitchen sink, purchased and installed a new ceiling fan for our dining room, fixed the dishwasher, washing machine, bedroom air conditioner, removed weeds from around our house, fixed the vacuum cleaner and I bet there are a few things I’m forgetting! They were busy!!

We’ve had lots of visits with friends who came to see Cameron, but also just to enjoy a day of life together. It’s nice to have good friends who don’t really need a reason to hang out, just enjoy being together.

We even got a visit from my sister! (She doesn’t like to leave her house…) 🙂

So, beyond the time with my kiddos, I am also very grateful for all of the relationships God has reminded me that we are blessed to have.

My Reward

You’ll recall that this past week I posted some thoughts on Psalm 127, which was a nice reminder to me of how God has blessed me (us) with this amazing group of small people who call me Dad. One of the best parts of this time with them has been to get to know them better. When we spend all day doing life together, I really get to see more and more the very cool people God has made them to be!

Ian
Ian, our oldest, is a very sensitive fellow. He cares a lot about what people think about him. I believe it is an extension of his compassionate heart. Unfortunately, in a not-compassionate world, he has also learned to guard that tender heart by striking first. He often is the one making fun of, or pointing out flaws: things that when done in reverse are the most painful to him. This has also in recent months spilled over into his relationship with Mom & Dad. He has had a hard time receiving instruction. Over the past two weeks he and I have had many opportunities to work through that together, reading from the Bible and other smart books that remind young peoples that there is no greater source of wisdom than your father’s instruction and your mother’s teaching. Not sure what all has gone into it, but I definitely see a much more receptive heart, and a much softer attitude and greater perception of how his words and actions might make others feel. He is such a smart, perceptive boy… so nice to see his heart learning to beat for other people, too. So cool.

Alex
Alex has the passion in our family. Everything he does, he does! That can work against him in that he often erupts in quick outbursts of anger. Sometimes it turns inward, too, and he just sheds tears of frustration, not knowing what to do with all this emotion. Over the past couple weeks we’ve worked on being able to recognize and have self-discipline to stop the instant reactions, and consider the situations from the other person’s (usually big brother Ian’s) perspective. He’s doing so great with it, and I love seeing his little heart want to live in healthy relationships. God made him so relational. He loves, loves, LOVES people. Totally. He is the most generous, friendly, people-conscious of all of our kiddos. Love to see how he can direct the inborn passion for the good of his siblings, his family, and really anyone God puts in front of him!

Kirsten
Kirstie is a sweetie! She’s so tender-hearted and just a lover. LOVES to hug and be hugged. She’s packed full of compassionate emotion and definitely understands the concept of relational harmony. If it’s not there, she’s troubled – until she can help fix it. Kirstie is five, though, and so there are a great many conflicts with her next oldest and next youngest siblings throughout any given day. I’d say besides just having lots of fun picking out clothes each day and reading library books together and all the other fun stuff a day has to offer, we probably most worked on just thinking about other people … treating them the way you want to be treated. It’s so cool to see her beginning to grasp that. She’s a great helper, and I love, love, LOVE to get hugs from her!

Julia
Since she is only three years old, you may think it’s hard to know who Julia is, but strangely, she is the most amazing kid of all! (Yes, the others know we think that…) 🙂 Somehow God seems to have packed into her the best qualities of both her Mom and her Dad! She is so kind hearted (like you wouldn’t believe) and yet she is so bluntly open and honest about whatever she is thinking. She is not affected (much) by the opinion of others, or what they might think. That gives her great freedom to say what needs to be said. And yes, she can and does! (Even though she’s only three.)

When she was two years old, she was being watched by a church nursery helper who asked how old she was. She replied that she was two. “No, you can’t be two… you talk so well!” Julia answered, again, matter-of-factly, “Yes, I am two, and I can talk well.” 🙂

Julia has been a great help (LOVES to help Dad with laundry, dishes, and anything really) and is the most caring member of our family. She recognizes when hurtful words have been spoken or actions have been taken and helps to remedy the situation. Again, I so love to see how our kids are grasping that. It’s so important. To be honest about how you feel, and forthcoming about it, all toward the goal of resolving conflict … treating others the way you would want to be treated. She’s so great at it! It’s really unbelievable!

Emma
Of all the five kids that I had charge of for the past weeks, Emma had been the least known to me and has been the most fun to get to know. She’s only 17 months old, so she’s still “coming into her own” … but I got to know her so well over these two weeks. I know what she means when she lets out her little “words” (that are not words!) and I know how to read her, and I can see the precious heart that God has placed in her. She is very deliberate, determined, and knows what she likes and doesn’t like. But she is as loving and caring as her brothers and sisters.

Jen was particularly tired this previous pregnancy – which was a lot of Emma’s most formative months – and so baby Emma was not very responsive to any instruction. We had some pretty intense confrontations in the first day or two of my full-time care of her, but my loving firmness (and God’s help, I’m convinced) turned around her sweet heart in literally only a few days. She is now so good at submitting to Dad & Mom’s instruction (simple things like, “come here”, and “bring me a diaper”, and even using sign language (“please”, “all done”, and “more”), which she did not do before.

Despite her “tough” exterior, she is a lover, too. When I get her from naps, or when we’re going upstairs to lay down she will rest her head on my shoulder and just enjoy the closeness with Dad. I love it! It’s been so, so great to see her develop an even deeper understanding of my love for her and a greater trust in me (and my instruction). She’s so great!!

Going Forward

For the time being, God is providing for our family through the talents and abilities that I have. I am so blessed to be able to work from home for a large number of very varied clients in web and graphic design work. He has given me the work and it continues to come in, so I will faithfully (and gratefully) continue to do that as long as he continues to provide it. We are so thankful for the ways he has provided. Gives me great flexibility to still be greatly involved in parenting our kiddos.

I do hope for more. I hope that some day there will be a way that I can do more of what I was able to over the past two weeks (and not just at the expense of my sleep or energy in general). We’re not sure what that would look like, but think that perhaps God will provide such an opportunity in the (near?) future. That would be super amazing and awesome.

For now, I am so, SO grateful for the past two weeks and can’t wait for the next baby to come along! 🙂

Whatever comes next, I could not be more thankful for the life God has given me and the people he has placed under my care, and the beautiful wife he has given me to raise those people with. I’ll be asking God to allow her to see and enjoy the greatness he has packed into all six of our kids as she takes on the greater portion of the load of kid care and house care.

It’s quite a job! A wonderful job.

by Greg

My Quiver is Full

This morning I had a little quiet time before the children woke up (because I got up early to see our friends off on their journey home) and I decided to pick up my Bible and read something random. I’ve been reading through Genesis, love to read the Gospels, recently read the book of Amos, been reading Proverbs with the kiddos, and the book of Galatians is always an interesting destination to me.

But today I just flipped the pages and ended up in the Psalm one hundreds.

I spied Psalm 127 and decided to start reading.

Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.

That seemed familiar enough, and a cool reminder that life works best when God starts it (remember?)

As I kept reading, I noticed that I should make a plaque with Psalm 127 on it and hang it prominently on the front of our house! 🙂 This whole, short psalm seems to be my life in a nutshell. (There’s more in Psalm 128, too!) God has definitely blessed us, and we love living a life of complete trust in his provision (and protection of that provision). We’re learning to trust him more every day.

I’ll leave you with the psalms … enjoy!

Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Psalm 128
1 How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
all who follow his ways!
2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
4 That is the Lord’s blessing
for those who fear him.
5 May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!

by Greg

ParentalRights.org – Time To Stand Up

ParentalRights.orgI’m really not much of an activist. I’m really not an activist at all. I love the freedom that we have in the United States (or, at least, should have) to be diverse. To be different. I don’t need to convince you to see and do it “my way” in any area of life. We can discuss our opinions and beliefs, even passionately. But in the end, we all get to choose.

Today I was referred to a site representing a group that is trying to defend our rights in this country to parent our children best we know how. ParentalRights.org lays out the threats to that freedom, namely the UNCRC (The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) which the Obama administration is attempting to ratify. In short, ratification of this treaty would allow the government to decide what is “best” for a child, without any proof of wrong doing by the parents. It also would allow international law and UN policies to supersede the rights granted by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Really? Really??

It’s getting ridiculous. We won’t be able to recover from the decades and decades of out of control spending by so many politicians in Washington. I can’t imagine how we won’t eventually succumb to our insane national debt. (And maybe sooner than later?) But, can’t we at least hold on to what makes us Americans?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The quote above is from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Independence declared from an oppressive government that had trampled on people’s liberty for too long. Theoretically, we still have a representative government that listens to the people. But perhaps it is time to once again do as Jefferson penned in that paragraph a few sentences later:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

It’s pretty crazy times we are in, folks.

Click through to the website for more, but if you are so inclined, call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111 and leave a message there, voicing your opinion. There are a few other things mentioned at this recent news post.

Be heard.

NOTE: The White House comment line is apparently not a place you can leave a message. Their outgoing message says you can call anytime 9:00am ET till 5:00pm ET Monday through Friday.

by Greg

The Timeline

This morning I happened to catch a glimpse of a cute photo of our daughter, Julia. It was taken when she was two years old (she’s standing next to a gigantic number 2). She’s now three, and just as cute. Maybe cuter.

For some reason, when I saw the photo, I thought how it would probably make the wedding rehearsal slideshow for her someday. (If we’re still doing those with two dimensional photos…) I quickly followed that thought with, “That day better be really far off!” And I was satisfied with knowing that it is. When our baby Julia is getting married, “That will be so crazy!”

(What? Don’t you carry on conversations with yourself in your head?)

It seems like when our fourth child is of an age to be married, then we will be really old. How could life move along so far? How could we ever get there?

But then I remembered other milestones I thought were so far in the future we’d “never” get there. I thought it would be officially crazy when we had an eight year old. Don’t know why really… just thought that meant our kids were past the point of tiny. Well… we are nearly to our second eight year old, and seems pretty normal from here.

I turned 26 in the year 2000. I remember thinking (many years ago!) that would be really crazy, both being 26 and the year 2000. We’re at 34 and 2009 now and, again, all seems normal from here.

What about turning 30? That milestone came and went. Now I suppose looking ahead… 40 and 50 are coming in the not too far off.

These markers along the timeline are interesting, and fun to track… but it is crazy how life moves just slowly enough that once you get there, all seems about the same. Just, normal. I’m guessing once we get to seeing our kids marrying and starting their own families, it will be much the same. Not that there won’t be moments of reflection, and a few, “Wow, I can’t believe we’re really here!” But I imagine overall – as it has been so far – it will just be the normal timeline of life. All of the events that will lead up to that will bring us there together, and it will seem just… “right”.

So that day will come. As did 2000, and 30, and 8 almost twice. I’ll enjoy those when I get there. For now, we’re going to enjoy our three-year-old Julia. 🙂

by Greg

Cooperation

Yesterday the kids were all having trouble coexisting, and it was driving a very tired Mommy crazy! So, after they made peace with Mom, (and on a bit of a whim on my part) I gave them an assignment. All four of them were to work together to create a story – typed up on one of their computers – to present at dinner time. I gave them an outline of four things that they could decide that would help them craft the story, and I insisted that each of them had to have contributed a part to the story.

When it seemed they understood, I left them to their task (and that left Mom a couple hours by herself while the baby was sleeping!)

I stopped by a while later to see how it was going, and they were working beautifully together! They all had little chairs set up around one computer where the biggest brother was doing the typing. They all seemed engaged, and the best part was… it was working! They were each being considerate of the other, welcoming and accepting each other’s ideas. They were just being nice!

I actually couldn’t wait to hear the story they were producing, too! 🙂

Just before lunch time (probably a couple hours later), Ian came up and announced that they had finished, and asked if they could read it at lunch, instead of dinner. I smiled and agreed. Really, all that I had wanted to happen had already happened… the fun story was the “icing on the cake”. Still, I was quite interested to hear what they had come up with, all from their own little brains!

I think I’ll post it here, exactly as Ian typed it. The title is, “Picnic Mystery,” … enjoy.

Picnic Mystery

There once was a family who’s name was the Schroders. The kids names were : 1. Aaron age 17

2. Scott age 15 3. Victoria (Vicky for short) age 14 4. stephanie age 12 5. antonio age 10 (tony for short) and then there is Momma,Pop. Now lets start the story!

We begin in Idaho the Schroders (who lived on a farm)were going on a picnic. They were bringing balogna sandwiches,a ceaser salad,apples and bananas,and ice cold lemonade,and last but not least Momma had baked a blueberry pie. Aaron and Scott were helping Pop in the fields. Vicky and Steph were helping Momma pack the food and other things that you bring on a picnic. Antonio went to tell the other boys to come in and wash up.
They started off, they were going to the park that was about half a mile away. They had cleared a nice path that they liked to walk through every once in a while. When they got to the park they decided to play a game of softball and then they would eat after the softball game. Momma did not want to play so she was the ump. They chose Aaron and pop as the team captains. Tony and Vicky were on Pop’s team. Scott and Steph were on Aaron’s team. They started the game and the first team to bat was Aaron’s team and he was first to bat. He it a triple and Scott hit a homer and they both scored. Then they struck out. So it was Pop’s teams turn Pop hit a single then Vicky hit double and Tony hit a triple and then he tried to score but he got tagged. There was no more scoring so they called a tie and ate. When it was time to eat the pie was missing! They looked everywhere but they couldn’t find it and momma said she would make another so they started to go home when suddenly Antonio shoutd “Hey look up there the squirrels have our pie”. SPLAT!! The squirels droped the pie on Atonio. They went home and Antonio cleand up.And Momma made another pie and enjoyed withOUT any squirrels.

Made on a mac

Written by Ian,Alex,Kirsten and julia

by Greg

Made Me Smile…

Kirstie's Signature
On a lighter note, on my way home to my family yesterday afternoon (from my work that morning) I spotted a piece of paper with some drawings our five-year-old had made sometime earlier that week. I smiled at their amorphous cuteness. Fun to see what her mind and tiny hands had created.

But then I spotted her signature. Somehow, my heart welled with emotion and my smile got even bigger. (It is again as I type this.) There was something about the little dot over the “i”, and the backwards letters. The determination and pride with which they were applied to her creation, yet the beautiful, innocent simplicity in them. It was just perfect and made me so love that I get to be her Daddy. 🙂

Made me wonder if that’s how our Daddy feels when he sees our creations? Does he love to see the creations of his creations? They aren’t always spectacular, but they are unique and a piece of who we are. Doesn’t have to be art… can be anything we do or say perhaps. But is bears our signature.

And I just bet it does make him smile.