Toddlers and teenagers post 1 of many

Ok, I have seriously debated about changing the name of this blog to "toddlers and teenagers".  But that name could only be temporary, because a few years from now, there will not be any more toddlers.  And a few years beyond that, there won't even be any more teenagers.  And my heart is already afraid of the emptiness those days might bring (although the peace and quiet doesn't sound all bad).  I am getting to be such a sentimental mommy, holding a young baby as I watch my 16 year old walk in the door after high school sometimes makes me tear up as it vividly reminds me how fast the time has flown by, how quickly they're all growing, and I just wish I could get it to slow down a little.

This is a post I shared on Facebook a few weeks back, as I'm trying to balance it all, and continue to focus on blessings, not burdens.

  "One of the great struggles in any life, but I’m especially feeling it with a large family that includes teenagers & an infant, is balancing my time. Today I went to my son’s jr. high to try and get his schedule changed. A few classes he currently has got switched and we hoped he could switch back to keep his schedule more like what he has, except there’s a kid in a few classes currently who has become a pest especially to this son of mine. Those we hoped to switch so he wouldn’t have so many together (currently they share 4/8 classes.) We discussed things, we tried juggling changes, and we just couldn’t figure a way to shift things perfectly, so we agreed to leave his schedule “as is”. As I was leaving with my 2 little girls, the secretary apologized that it had taken my time and no changes were made. But I’ve thought about it since she said that, and I don’t think it was wasted time. My son and a counselor and I discussed options, explored possible solutions, and weighed outcomes and then left his schedule alone. He knows I care, he knows his counselors care, he knows that sometimes we can’t get everything we want in our schedule (if that’s not real life, what is?!) and he made some hard decisions. And he hadn’t told me about this problem boy until we discussed changing his schedule two days ago. It was time well spent. That has me wondering to myself: How often do I think that I wasted time, when it really was well spent? Time reading with kids, time helping them organize, time snuggling, time enjoying a movie with my husband...I beat myself up about “wasted” time way too often and I need to change how I see things. This is just one more “blessings, not burdens” shifts of mind I need to make."

Having toddlers and teenagers can make it feel ridiculous to balance life, fun, and family time.  Sort of like many of the meals around here, it's hard to find things that everybody loves.  Sometimes what might be fun or exciting for a few is not fun or exciting for all, and that's OK too.  There are all kinds of different needs and interests to try and encourage and balance.  But I do love the moments when we find things we ALL love.  Everyone enjoys watching the baby laugh.  We all enjoy nature, so many trips to national parks and national monuments and beautiful places are on the horizon.  We all enjoy laughing, so we can pull up family friendly comedy and everybody has a good time together.  And we all enjoy science, so my older kids still look forward to visiting places like the Natural History Museum of Utah, which is where we went 2 weeks ago on a Wednesday evening.  I am so happy that my bigger kids still look forward to going places with everyone in our family (not every place, mind you, but I'll take any enthusiasm from the teenage crowd and be grateful for it.)  I feel blessed by my family, they challenge me regularly, but I have learned so much about humanity, about triumph, about love and life from them, and I continue to learn on this crazy journey.