Friendship during trials

All the hard times in life are made easier by having a friend close by. It was always better to start a new school year when you knew you had a friend in the class or a friend who saved you a seat on the bus. Getting older, it was nice to have a friend by you when you went to talk to the boy you had a crush on for the first time or when you had your first break up. Some people are lucky to have those life long friends from the sand box days, but most of us develope new friends for each stage of our lives. I remeber reading a story in a parenting magazine about how these two women became best friends when they were pregnant. They had all their birthing classes together, delivered their babies within a cuple days of each other and spent several days a week together before the kids started school. Then whent he kids were gone off to school, the women grew apart. They didn't have as much to talk about anymore and had very different opinions on how to handle certian issues with their kids. I though it was so wierd to her that two people so close could just lose their friendship. I have never been one of those people lucky enough to live in oneplace long enugh to have a best friend that I spent every waking moment with. But I have been lucky enough to have many great frinds who have been there for me and have done more for me then I could ever repay them for. I have also had periods of time where my closest friend was just my husband. And although I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful man he is, I havemissed having someone to have girl time with. Someone who understands what PMS really is, who wants to go get there nails done, or can eat chocolate with me on a bad day. They were periods of time when my life was changing so much and I experienced those same feelings that the woman from the magazine had spoken of. I grew apart from friends and when I was going through some hard moments, I didn't feel that they would understand how I felt. The hardest was when I had my miscarriage. It is so hard to explain to someone who has never had a child, how important the one that you lost was. How can they understand why it is something that you never really get over and why it will change you forever. It was at the moment that I realized I had noone to call who would understand how much I hurt that I realized the one person who would. I knew then that I married my best friend. He knew the pain, he cried with me, he knew what I was feeling without me having to say anything. One morning right after I woke-up to find the other half of my bed empty. When I went downstairs to find him, I saw John out back with a beautiful tree in a pot. He bought the tree as a our little reminder of the life we lost. There are so many different types of friendship and they are all so important to getting us through this life. I am so thankful for all the friends that passed through my life.

No more cartoons

I know at 25 i should already feel like a grown up and the little things shouldn't surprise me anymore. This morning started earlier then i prefer and when the sprout channel came on at 6, the bad mood started. I really don't like cartoons anymore. I can remember as a kid watching my shows and when an adult would come in and turn my cartoons off i would think," when I grow up I am never gonna watch these kinds of shows. Why do grown-ups like the news so much?" And now i look at the cartoons and think how can my kids go into such a trance watching something so pointless? I mean, I can't complain to much because they provide a welcome reprieve from chasing the kid, but I swear my cartoons were so much better. Whatever happened to "Fraggle Rock", or the good version of "My Little Ponies", or even the "Gummies". Instead they have "The Wiggles"? How creepy are those guys? At least Sesame Street isn't going anywhere.

Christmas

This year Christmas was amazing. My parents decided to adopt a family of 12 for the holidays. The father had been laid off not long after suffering from severe health issues that left the family with huge medical bills. I was not raised in a large family, had a very small amount of extended family, and never really understood the workings of a big family. Besides getting reminded of what the season is all about my parents generosity, I also got reminded of the importance of family. It was quite amazing to see how the family all watched over each other. The older kids helped the younger ones, the younger kids were eager to show the siblings their new toys, and all but two children out of ten slept in the same room on two twin beds at my parents house... and liked it! I even found out that although they have a five bedroom house, they choose to use only three bedrooms. The family loves to be together. Maybe it was because of their situation or maybe becasue of how the family is inside, you could see their thankfullness for evey gift they recieved. I have always been judgemental of large families. They are not what I am used to and I truelly did not understand them. I guess I had a childish point of view and felt bad for the older kids who truelly do have to help raise the younger children. As a parent, I now get to see what a blessing that is instead of a curse. To see a teenage boy pick up his one year old baby sister, cradle her and take her to find some toys and play with her, stole my heart. What a wonderful father he will make some day not to mention the help he will give his wife. When I had my first, I remeber the nurse handing me the baby after she was all cleaned up and as she was lowered into my arms, I realized I had no idea what to do with a baby. I didn't know how to hold, talk to, bath, or care for a child. I am not even sure that I had held a baby since I was very little. As my daughter grew it was constant not knowing what to do. The kids of the family that I mentioned will all know what to do. What a head start into parenting that will be for them. Not to mention what a wonderful gift they have that each child has at least nine friends to be there for them. I realized this christmas that the greatest gift I have given my kids is each other. They will have the support of each other to make it through life. To cheer each other on. And isn't that christmas? The gift of life, love, and family. The true gifts.