Hello First Day
The McNeill boys are ready. This Mama is ready.
As parents who work full time outside the home Summer is a logistical dance and a test of stamina. Will we make it these three months remembering where our children go every week? What time they get there? And, ahem, when we are supposed to pick them up. Seriously.
And yes, I have friend upon friend that rock a spreadsheet with all that information but truth be told that is so not me. Spreadsheets are the work me. Fly by the seat of my pants is the Mama me.
But I digress...
The McNeill boys are ready. They are ready for their teachers, they are ready for their friends, they are ready for new things and I think they might even be ready for routine.
The Boy
Hello to the boy who made me a Mama. This is it, the last year in junior high and by the end of this calendar year he will be fourteen. I can't handle it. This was the summer of testing the waters of independence and responsibility. Golf camp at Texas A&M, two consecutive weeks away from home between camp and a mission trip and towards the end of summer, being "paid" to babysit the Littles. Although he argues that $2 a child an hour is not being sufficiently paid. HA!
Going into this year he wants to focus as a family on spending our Sunday mornings at Church.
This first of our teenage years with him have actually been pretty great. I love seeing this bigger version of him and so far, I mean I know its coming, but so far, there has not been an unbearable amount of teenage angst.
The Littles
Hello built in best friends. No, not twins, is our answer to the question most asked but yes, definitely the best of friends. They are constant. I'm not exactly sure what one knows what to do without the other. I imagine them as a pair of slightly grumpy old men hanging out on the front porch somewhere.
The Middle
Hello to my rainbow baby. He is my heart walking around this earth. What I love most is his love for life and the pureness of his heart. Does he have his moments? Oh yeah he sure does, but his fiber is all love. He turned eight just before summer and thanks to camps that organized by age and not grade it clicked for him that he could be in 3rd grade, not 2nd grade. And so we spent the rest of the summer explaining the difference between being held back and starting school just a little bit later. A decision I will never regret because his sensitive little heart needed just a little more space to grow strong. I hope he never loses this heart.
Going into this year he wants to focus as a family on talking about our days at family dinner.
The Baby
Hello Mr. Incredible. He is all the wonderful things the youngest child is. I am fairly certain because WE are the most relaxed at this stage of parenting that he will be our most well rounded child. Funny what happens when we get out of our own way. Already I can see that he is going to be a diligent child in whatever it is that he does. He’s the one raising his hand, begging for coach to put him into the game. He’s the one who lays out his clothes the night before, without any urging or assistance from us. He’s the one wanting to make sure all his work is done and coins are earned. He’s the one that sets a goal of 20,000 steps for a day and begs me to take him and Ellie for a walk because he’s only 200 steps away. He’s the one that parents volunteer to take to whatever because he is just easy. Easy going, easy to get along with, easy to please unless it involves the middle, lol.
Going into this year he wants to focus as a family on being active and moving our bodies.
The Brothers
My favorite is when the boy rallies the brothers to go play football in the front yard. I have five years for these bigger versions of themselves to bond and I'll tell you this, I'm doing everything I can to create whitespace for them to have these moments. I’m doing my best this year to make building their lifetime relationship a priority over doing “it all” and the perception of missing out. In the end, what I hope will stand the test of time is their connection, not how full our google calendar was.
Hello to family dinner where I get to hear all about their adventures of the first day. Cannot wait.....
