Pictures at work

I have a new job.  I work for a local school district as a secretary with many hats and gears to switch between.  For the most part, I like my job.  I have my own office and have covered the wall next to my desk and the filing cabinet behind me with pictures of my kids (and a couple with my husband).  Like any job, some days are better than others.  Regardless of what kind of day it is, when I need a mental break from the spreadsheets, the forms, the computer screen, or even if I don't need a mental break, I look to my left and look through the pictures of my kids.  And I'm amazed.  How much they've grown.  How much they've changed.  How much I'VE changed and my husband too.  Not just in how we look, but who we are and have become since we became parents.  Everyday, we see our kids and we know they are growing and changing.  We witness their personalities evolving right before our very eyes!  But it's not until we look at a picture, watch a home video or measure them on the height chart that we realize how much they've changed in such a short amount of time.

I am a working mom.  I enjoy being a working mom.  I love my kids and they are part of the reason of why I work.  And why I need to see them while I'm at work.  To remind me to really look at them when I get home and see for myself, in the flesh who they are now, so I can remember when I look at their pictures tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.  1,000 words doesn't cover what I feel when I look at their pictures and look forward to getting home and holding them.

Our Children's Daily Bruises and Accomplishments

We equip our children to be the best they can be and then send them out into the world every morning, hoping we did our best.  When they come home physically or emotionally bruised from the day's adventures, it's our job, as parents, to hug them, make sure there's no major damage, and equip them to learn from the bruises.  When they come home excited and eager from their day's adventures, it is our job, as parents, to hug them, celebrate with them, and equip them to learn from their accomplishments.

Empathy. Compassion.  Kindness.  Thoughtfulness.  Strength.  Resiliency.  Courage.  The list is long. When our kids are little, we have to put these tools in their toolboxes for them.  We equip them.  They build with them.

Our job is not to do for them, it's to teach them to do for themselves.   Always hug.  Always build on experiences.

Pile 'O Popcorn

My son is a Cub Scout.  A Wolf, to be exact.  Last year, there was a changing of the guard, so to speak, in our Pack as the former treasurer was leaving to follow her son to the Boy Scouts.  Somehow, I accepted the title "Treasurer".  As many of you know, in the fall, Scouts across the country participate in the annual popcorn sales drive.  Well, when I became treasurer, as there were no other committee members yet, I also became the "Popcorn Kernal".  Yes, you read that correctly.  That's what us people who run the popcorn sales are called.  "Popcorn Kernals".  We set up "Show & Sells", where the boys sell popcorn that we have on hand.  We organize the "Take & Sell" orders, which are the orders the boys take by selling off of the popcorn flyers.  We manage online sales, money, prizes and yes, popcorn.  This is what part of my dining room has looked like since the end of September:



There's more to the left of the boxes stacked with Kiddo's bunny "Cubby" protecting them.  And there's more to come when I go to pick up the "Take & Sell" orders.  Fortunately, popcorn season is almost over, and I'll get my dining room back.  Don't get me wrong: our Pack did really well selling this year, really embodied the "Do your best" motto of the Cub Scouts, and there are packs out there that I'm sure could fill someone's basement with boxes of popcorn and sell it all.  But I'm looking forward to not looking at boxes of popcorn.  Until next September.