I joined Mamasource...

I was invited to join Mamasource.com but didn't know anything about it. Turns out it's a cool website for moms. I wish I had access to this when I was a mom of young kids. Basically it's a website for moms to get info and advice about being a mom. If you have time check it out...it's free.

One of the questions I answered in my profile was: The Hardest Thing For Me About Being A Mom Is... (I thought it was a good question and a good answer :0), so I included it here):

What's not hard? Like marriage, children are work. But I believe some work is enjoyable, like raising my kids. I have always tried to view my role as a mom as one who is preparing my kids for life as adults. It's a scary world out there and if I don't prepare them to go out into that scary world, then all I will do is worry and they will not be prepared to live.
Instead, I have talked to and taught my kids about the world they would someday be thrust into. I've given them learning experiences and opportunities for failure, so that they can learn, at a small cost, the importance of self awareness and responsibility. I've taught them life skills at an early age so that they could practice and sharpen these skills now, so that when they are alone, these things will come easy and they can focus on those things which are difficult.
Letting my fourth-grade son go without lunch because he left his lunch bag sitting on the counter-that's hard. Or letting my 10th-grade daughter worry about a poor grade because she is too afraid or shy to talk to the teacher about a missing assignmnet that she already turned in-that's hard. Sending my 16-year old twins on a church mission trip to Mexico-that's hard. But if I remember that these children do not belong to me, but to God, and my job is to teach them to live, then it's a lot easier. And if I know I've done my job when they are toddlers and small children, I am more confident they will know what to do in the world without me. (Live)

Embarrasing My Kids

I had the privilege of hanging out with my teenage daughters, Ashley and Nicole, this weekend at The Revolve Tour - http://revolvetour.com/ (a Christian conference for teen girls). Speakers talked to the girls about topics relative to their lives and bands rocked the house. LOUD NOISES!

My girls were very excited to see Hawk Nelson in concert, along with some other bands. One of those bands was KJ-52 ...Christian rappers! (I'll get to them in a minute.) Of course I had no idea who any of these bands were, except for Hawk Nelson who I've heard only because I'm a good mom and let my kids choose the radio station in the car...oh, and my daughter, Nicole, has a t-shirt that says "Hawk Nelson is my best friend"....which confused me and made me think Hawk was a guy not a band. Evs.

So back to KJ-52, the rappers. I had no idea what any of the words were in any of the songs that they sang. Not that I didn't know the vocab, my ears just could not make out any of the words they were singing. So they taught some rapper moves, which I tried. I was trying to be a "good" mom and pretend that the music wasn't too loud...because if it's too loud, you're too old...so, I'm cool and I learned the moves, all the while they snickered at me. So far they were not too embarrassed. Afterall, we were in a suite at the Rose Garden and there were only three other's there besides us and Michelle (who gave us the tickets..thanks Michelle).

Okay, so the weekend went well. I got to spend time with my girls (and my friend). They got to hear some great advise from the speakers, hear/see some "great" bands, and even get autographs from all four of the guys in Hawk Nelson. (Even though I may have been the oldest one in the room, I too got a photo autographed for my son, Brandon...how cool am I?)

Sunday comes and I'm hanging out with some college students at church (okay, not really hanging out, just standing near them) when I tell them about the cool new moves I learned from KJ-52 (I was name-dropping), and then I demonstrate the moves...and from across the room I feel waves of embarrassment. I look over and sure enough, my daughters are watching me, no, more like glaring at me. They don't think I'm cool. They think I'm old. And I don't really know how to do the moves. And I should never do that again...especially in front of them. And if they could make me disappear, they would. Now, they didn't have to say a word. It was the looks on their faces that revealed their thoughts. I smiled and waved at them, content in the fact that they were sufficiently embarrassed.

Hand Hugs! (Laugh)