Sunday Surprises

This past Sunday as I walked into my church building with my family, a newlywed couple of just a few weeks also walked in. Levi and Cecil had gone ahead and hidden around the corner, and jumped out at us while saying "BOO!" Austin and I pretended to be surprised. It was pretty cute.

I could see that this newlywed couple LOVED it. I imagine they were thinking about how their family could have a moment like that one day. It really helped me to highlight that sweet moment. They happen all the time--especially with our fun-loving boys trying to scare us! Cecil regularly waits in the dark in the van to say "BOO!" to me when I put the younger kids in their car seats. It's so predictable that I think I would be more surprised if he didn't make a sudden loud noise when I open the door to the van!

That Sunday morning, I was stressed from the tension of getting 4 energetic young children ready for church and out the door, but this couple saw the adorable part. If it wasn't for them, I might not have seen it.

The whole time we walked down the long hallway to the chapel, our boys were being pretty cute just by being themselves, and it was wonderful to see it through fresh eyes. Lincoln stopped at the water fountain to ask for a drink (as he does) and Levi had to be told to walk in the church. All this could be seen as obstacles to getting to the chapel reverently and ready to worship, but seeing my family through the eyes of this couple gave me new appreciation for the enthusiasm and zest for life that children have.

Future plans for being the coolest mom EVER!

Levi is right at the cusp of being able to play games and put together puzzles. It's been really fun working on those with him over the past month or so. Doing those things with him really makes me look forward to working on more complex puzzles and more interesting games as he, Cecil, and my future children get older.

I have visions of us being gathered around a card table working on a puzzle.

I see us playing Skip-bo, Phase 10, Uno, and Go Fish over and over again.

I'll teach them to love playing strategy games like Dominion, Settlers of Catan, and others.

We'll even get some sightseeing in--I think it would be really cool to line up a really nice weather day with a no test day in school, sign them out and go on a hike, have a picnic, or visit a museum. Doesn't that sound like fun?

How do I help my children feel equally loved?

One thing that I want to do for my children is give them equal attention and love. I know this will be difficult, especially since I want more than two or three! I also know that I will not succeed 100% of the time, but that it's worth the effort.

This desire means several things need to happen.

This means keeping track of the developmental milestones for ALL of my children - at least to the extent that I did for Levi. This includes blog posts, Facebook posts, and especially pictures.

It also means spending individual time with each of them in addition to the time I'll spend with them together.

This also means getting to know each of them individually so that I will know when they are feeling left out or unloved.

This means making sure they will be comfortable telling me their concerns and their desires. How will I give my kids equal attention and love if I don't know their individual wants and needs?


These are just a few of my thoughts. What are some things that you can think of that are important for giving kids equal attention and love?

Middle child in a large family

It's generally understood that middle children get the short end of the stick when it comes to family life. However, I really enjoyed being a middle child in a large family, and I felt like there were a lot of positives that came from being in that position.

Of course, there were the usual cons to being a middle child. Some specific things that come to mind are--

-Very few baby pictures of me

-Not many people remember things I specifically did when I was little/a baby

-More restrictions based on mistakes my older siblings made (I'm not faulting my older siblings here)

The positives outweigh the cons, though.

-Having sibling friends both older and younger than me

-Middle was the spot for the "cool kids"

-Learning from the successes of my older siblings

-Learning from the mistakes of my older siblings

-Learning through having responsibility for my younger siblings

-Being able to boss around my younger siblings