Kid Lessons 101

by
Patti Dickinson

Here's what I have learned from my kids ---

How to do a perfectly executed time-out,

That scoring the "middle" piece of the gooey butter cake is considered a personal victory in a big family,

That they are a fascinating mix of smart, practical, artistic, athletic, independent, gentle, spunky, hilarious and sensitive (you know who you are),

That they led me through a series of skinned knees, dented fenders, lost retainers, carpools, speeding tickets, broken collarbones, detentions, the throwing up kind of flu and a few squirming-in-my-seat teacher conferences,

That the menagerie of pets that came through the front door -- the cats, Griggsby and Grumbles, the bunnies, Dot and Thumper, the turtle, Squirt and the hermit crabs, in quick succession, Sheldon, Hermanopolis, Shelly and Hermie, added to the chaos but taught us about "all creatures great and small",

That they have had some poignant questions --" Why does God like burglars?" and some downright smart aleck answers,

That they will never know what those quiet moments on the couch, in the middle of the night, feeding a sleepy baby, meant to me.

That they have humbled me (and you DO know who you are) and made my hair stand on end when I braved going upstairs to see the train wreck that you all call your room,

THat we have searched for a litany of stuffed animals and dolls -- Snuffles, Cricket, Delver, Skippy, Oatmeal, Baby Owlie, Marshmello and Abby, that comforted you while you slept, and some that we went through heroic measures to find when they inadvertenly got left in airports, grocery carts, stores (back up three levels on the escalator), playgrounds, and baseball stadiums,

That I have sat on the bleachers or stood on the sidelines for eight high school sports (soccer, basketball, cross country, track, tennis, volleyball, wrestling and swimming) in the rain, sleet, snow, frigid temperatures, and in the blistering heat, smeared with sunscreen

That we stick together, we do. That when one of us hurts, we all hurt. That when we are hurting, when we've disappointed ourselves or each other, we stay the course.

That we have endured, and we are stronger than the sum of our parts.