P.S. - (On Traditions and Blogging)

I've been wanting to add a few thoughts about our Family Advent Night.

First: I didn't mention that our evening (from about 6-9) was not long enough to complete all of those activities all the way through. We wanted to experience all of the 3 new gifts, and basically followed the attention spans of the kids. Just didn't want anyone to set out for an 18-hour marathon familynight...... smiles

Second: The cookies were over-baked. The supper was simple. The dishes waited until the next morning. The packing wasn't finished. Didn't fuss over the girls' hair to impress anyone. I just let them be kids. No superwoman stuff involved. "Supermom" is a sure way to kill a family night.

I've just been thinking a lot about traditions and blogging and stuff. Sometimes, in my weaker moments, I become a little discouraged when I read blogs and start comparing. I start questioning myself, wondering if I'm really doing a good job and if I'm getting it together okay. And the absolute LAST thing I want to do is to make someone feel that way from reading one of our crazy traditions. But as I thought about it, I realized that this is just the way I do mommying. Some of our "traditions" fall flat on their faces or fizzle out and become "remember whens." That's okay. We do what we love. We figure out what sticks. We're having fun experimenting.

I absolutely love finding new resources and plans and books and ideas. But you know what? My mom was an incredible fly-by-the-seat-of-her-skirt parent. She had special devotion times and trips to the library, but she did it in a different way than I. And our family has memory cords that tie us forever together. My siblings are my best friends. My big strapping baby brother worries about me and takes care of me. Our faith runs deep and we are hungry for more. THAT'S what I want for my kids. And it's not because my mom was supermom. She just parented the way she did it best - what came natural to her. There's no mommy prize for "most activities in a year". It's about being together and being happy parents while we train our kids. (Dads - you're such a huge part of this! I'm so thankful for a husband who gets down on the floor and gets involved.)

Now I'm so excited about this idea, that we all bring the best of ourselves to our parenting. We all do it differently, and that's very good.