just passed my very sweaty 16 year old son post work -out in the hall on his way back up to his room…
protein shake in one hand and 2 bags of doritos in the other. not sure if he is trying to gain muscle or confuse it.
*smh*
~ teenagers…
It’s difficult , sometimes, living in this house of amazingly fit super successful athletes. My son is a baseball player ( guess you figured that out from the photos) . My beautiful daughter is a competitive gymnast since the age of 6 , now a Level 7 for USA Gymnastics and also a recent addition to the world of HS Cheerleading.
Nick is now 16 and Natalia is 14. and I’ve been “differently abled” since falling down the steps when Natalia was just 2 and he only 4. Spending 2 of their toddler years on crutches being shuffled from dr to dr to seek the most current form of treatment for a then little known disease called “RSD” aka Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. At the time of my injury, I worked full time at a large local Hospital in Human Resources in a job I was certain I would retire from.
Housewife/stay at home mom is a role I never wanted yet somehow found and embraced nonetheless. When I was forced to give up the career I loved more than anything, I made the decision that I would put all the energy and passion I had for my job into my new role. I decided that my new “job” would become being the best Mom that I was capable of being. Remember, my children were 2 and 4 at the time. Staying home seemed the scariest option in the world to me. How could days filled with messy, loud kids possibly be as fulfilling the place where I went to to escape this loud, messy, chaotic home? In a blink my life went from working 45 hours a week,- power meetings with CEO’s and the like, teaching Sunday school, and starting a business to cooking, baking cleaning and coloring. It was a huge adjustment and one I never thought I’d have to make. At first it was difficult. I missed grown ups. I missed the fast paced, packed calendar I kept at the Hospital. But slowly strange things started to happen. My children started to teach me how to live. I learned the beauty of a butterfly, of a fall leaf, or the amazement a cracked sidewalk held. I learned the joy of a bottle of bubbles. I took an interest in cooking and began to delight in the responses I received when I got it just right. I discovered parts of Hope I never knew existed. My children have slowly begun to teach me who Hope is.
allsortsofhope 
Although I don’t have kids, I have discovered a similar love for staying home since I’ve HAD to stay home. My best friend recently reminded me of the complete 180 we’ve both done since we met. I was always out and about and working and was appalled that she could stay home all the time to take care of her sick grandmother. Now, she’s the career girl and I’m at home all the time! And I will never be bored!
Didn’t Pete Seeger put it best (Parenthood) “was the hardest job with the highest wages” Can’t remember the name of the song (could it be ticky-tacky????) but it still rings true. I didn’t stay at home with my two – financially it just wasn’t possible, but you’re absolutely right when you say that we learn from kids all the time. And now I have the smartest, cutest granddaughter to learn from.
Like te hair by the way – seriously good colour!