Good & Tough Week All in One

Our week started off with Larry heading out to CA to close out a project he's been working on. I was concerned whether or not the kids were going to have a good week or not. I'm pleased to say that it was a good & tough week all in one. Kalyn proved to herself that she can have a good day at school even if Daddy is not here. I'll be reminding her of that fact in the months to come. It's tough being in kindergarten but she does love it! She even likes being able to sit in the kitchen with Chase & do homework. So much so that I have to hide her homework packet so she does not try to do a whole weeks worth in one night. I'm sure it won't be too much longer and that will change.

Chase and I had many long conversations about perspective & consequences this week. It was great to see those "light bulb" moments during our talks. Chase has made so many strides this year academically & socially. Learning to work with his ADD instead of fighting it. We are so proud of him! The best part is to watch him get excited over school & to tell us all about it. He never wanted to talk about school before or much of anything else for that matter. Everything was always locked up in his head.

I started writing this entry before we left for school so now I have to tell you about this mornings conversation with Chase. He was telling me that at the last book fair a few of his classmates did not have any money to buy anything so Chase decided it would be a good thing to lend them money so they could buy something. He then said "and I didn't ask or want anything in return. I just felt good about it". Now, how cool is that? I told him that is was a wonderful thing he did and that I was very proud of him. However, I felt the need at that moment to talk with him about being careful and asking himself a few questions before doing something like that in the future. "Ask yourself Chase, is this a person who will truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and is honestly your friend or is this a person that is only being nice because they want something from you". Yes, I realize that this may be viewed as a cynical way of thinking but unfortunately this is how some people are. I've experienced it and at Chase's tender age of 11 has already experienced it as well.

After we talked about that for he bit he said to me " I don't know why but some people think that being able to buy lots of stuff is more important than other things. Having stuff is not more important than love, family or faith." Wow......I was floored! Then I replied "some people think that being able to buy lots of stuff or the most expensive stuff will make them happy and some (not all) of those people are the most sad" . To that Chase replies "now that's just wrong".

It was a tough week trying to figure out a new routine that will make things as easy as possible for when Larry heads back to Iraq. It may not have been the funniest or easiest week; but it was a good week. I saw my daughters' strength & determination to have a good week. I saw my sons' new found love for himself and understanding of others. So I think that is an amazing week!