First Hand: Being Here for My Kids

“I wanna live like there’s no tomorrow
Love, like I’m on borrowed time
It’s good to be alive”
Woke up singing Good to Be Alive this morning.

It is my son’s senior year. It has been tough turning down speaking for the rest of this year, but I want to live this year with no regrets.

My friends in New Jersey saw me watch my son sack the quarterback on the big screen after the local news carried it. This past Friday, as Kip and I ate dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco with FALL CUE the next day, I had the phone on the table getting score updates from the big game. There’s no place in the world I’d rather be than in the stands, at home, and at school watching this last year of my son’s high school and enjoying the time with him. My daughter’s a junior and I want to spend time with her while my youngest has his last year in elementary school.

Life is full of opportunities and wow, God has blessed me with so many. It is good to have choices to make. But it is important to remember that we ALL HAVE CHOICES.

I have NEVER regretted my 5 years as a stay at home Mom. Not one moment and having that experience, I’m not going to regret this either.

CHOICES
If you see time slipping away and those kids getting older, know that you too have choices. While sometimes you HAVE to go and HAVE to work – sometimes you can choose to not feed your own ego and pocketbook and instead, do what is most important and be there for your kids.

These three children of mine are a gift from God and I’m so grateful to be picked to be their Mom. I fall SO short in SO many ways but I am here, flaws and all to love and enjoy them.

So, if you don’t see me about on the speaker’s circuit so much this school year, I have been booking some for June and July and will likely just do 3-4 speeches next school year as well. If you want me, I’m here, just plan ahead and I will too. But there will be less of me “out there” so that all of me can be “over here” with my kids.

Now, I’ve got to run get dressed so I can see their One Act play performance of Hansel and Gretel – my daughter is “the mother” and my son is one of the 2 humorous “hobgoblins” belonging to the witch. I’ve heard they are great — but today, I get to see it with my own eyes. Some things are just too precious to get second hand.

– Written on my iPad using Blog Press by Vicki Davis, author, Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds