Winning the Kid Lottery

So, we are taking a break from crazy every day life, and drove to PA to visit the 'rents. As I am typing, I sit at my parents' dining room table (which they have had as long as I can remember), looking out their beautiful windows (because I'm talented enough to type while not looking at the screen, don't you wish you were me) and enjoying wonderfully warm weather. Malcolm is playing with his Star Wars figures while Mom is warming up some dinner. Ah, the good life.

It was a pretty good trip out. Because of my prematurely-old hip problems, it wasn't quite comfortable being in the car for so long, but I have to be Mrs. Braggy Braggerstein again about my child and share that he was absolutely AMAZING in the car. I think he asked me a total of 3 times when we would "get there"...but other than that, he did not complain at all. He varied his time between playing his PSP, reading some books, and then just sitting quietly and starting out the window. Yes, seriously. No, I'm not making this up. And no - I did not drug him.

As I was hanging out with my friends Jess and Erik today, I was sharing this and other stories about Malcolm. Jess said to me, "You totally won the kid lottery with that one." Trust me, I definitely agree with her - I feel very fortunate to not have to deal with a lot of the things that other parents do - ranging from behavior issues to health problems to the rough ordeal of trying to even get pregnant in the first place. And sometimes, when I observe some particularly difficult children or hear parents' heartbreaking stories of their children's health problems, I say a silent prayer of thanks for my child.

However, I believe that we all - all parents, regardless of differing circumstances - could use those reminders here and there to be grateful for our children. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our child's particular issues that we start to be too hard on them, and we forget to be thankful for this wonderful gift, this little version of ourselves. We ignore the positive aspects of their behavior and focus on those that need work. I'm not saying that we shouldn't always be trying to help our children become better people...I'm just saying that we need to count our blessings, every day, and remember that we are blessed to have these wonderful little beings in our lives.

Happy Easter!