Tag Archives: 6 kids

Milestones

by on 07. Oct, 2010 in Life, Raising Kidz

Markers in our life are funny.  Sometimes you know when they are coming, ie., when Anya turned 16 (followed by the dreaded get the drivers license marker, followed by the insurance premium doubling marker).

And then there was the other morning when I walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and caught a glimpse of my soon to be 14 year old son.  Suddenly I saw him in a different light.  Gone was my little innocent pre-teen child.  He’s a little mini adult!!  My daughter took a pic of him  with his “little brother” (for those of you who don’t know, Kieran has been off the size charts since the age of two) and both of these boys look like little men.

How and when did this happen?

Where was I?  (“On the road”…my wife chimes in, grumble, grumble)

For a few weeks my sons have been telling me that their feet are bigger than mine.  Sorry, there’s no way!  I wear a size 11 and you’re not gonna tell me that my 11 year old and my 13 year old have bigger feet than me.

So the other night they challenged me to a foot size contest.  Off came the shoes and socks and we sat on the floor, facing each other feet to feet.  OMG!  Both of the boys have bigger feet than me.  How?????   Taylor is size 12 and Kieran, MY 11 YEAR OLD!!!!, has a size 11 1/2 foot!!! Groan.  All I can think of is my food bill for the next 5 years!

Taylor and I comparing feet size

Milestones come in many shapes and forms.  The day I got my first song cut was a life changing milestone.  The day I realized that I was going to marry my wife, all hell broke loose, but that’s another story (preferably laying down on a couch in the psychiatrist office, but I digress). The day my daughter Anya was born, my life was forever changed.  The day my 6th child was born, my life was changed forever, but I was too in shock to realize it.

Some milestones we see coming, and some hit us like a bar room sucker punch. But they are like signs on the road of life that we are making turns, changing directions.  Changes are gonna come.  How we respond to them is the question.  Do we use them as a cornerstone of guilt and regret or do we learn from them and move on.  Do we see them as God telling us time to go through another door or do we stand at the closed one and bang harder?

Milestones are life markers that point to change. And life is change.

What are some of your current milestones?  I would love to hear!

As of right now, I’m considering investing in Nike stock!

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Stealing Moments and Making Magic

by on 10. Sep, 2010 in Life, Raising Kidz

taking the girls somewhere, so cool!

“Honey, I’ve got to run to the store.”  This line is usually followed by any one of the kids saying, “Papa, can I go with you?”  (Sometimes it’s all of them at once, like a thundering herd of buffalo, but that’s another blog). Obviously, if I’m in a hurry, I might say no, but I’ve really been trying to say yes more and more.  With 6 kids, it’s really hard to give each child individual attention.  If I did that, I’d have to quit work to schedule in time slots with each of these rugrats.

But alas, I give in, because I’m a softy!  So I’ll take Taylor to Lowes, or Lily to Lakeview market, or even Maggie to haul trash to the dump.  This gives me just a little time with each one of the kids, one on one, which they crave and I enjoy.

Now, my wife will be the first to tell you, I’m not a talker.  It’s not my gifting, and I’m not good at it.  But with kids, you really don’t need to go into a deep conversation to make a moment.  With Kieran, when we get in the car, we listen to Anberlin and scream out “to put my odds in fragile hands!!!!!!!” at the top of our lungs.  Which then makes him laugh like crazy!  To a kid, these are magic moments.  To an adult, I’m thinking that if I don’t take the kids to Disneyworld or out to get ice cream, then I can’t make a magic moment.  Or if I don’t take them to the Copeland concert, then I shouldn’t do anything at all.

The other day I was out on the road with my red headed bosslady, you know, and I was Skype-ing my fam.  My daughter got on the computer and lemme just tell you, sometimes it’s hard to get Anya to talk to me.  She’s 16 and full of one word answers.  Which to a non talker like myself, is just fine.  However, as a parent, I pressed in, and we started talking.  Then we started being silly.  Then, she showed me how to talk “inside my mouth” without opening my mouth.  Basically you sound like an oompa loompa throwing it’s voice.  We laughed for about 45 minutes.  It was a moment I’ll never forget.  It was magic!!

Lorrie has been very instrumental in drilling this into my thick skull.  You don’t always need the beach and Maggie Moos to create magic for a kid.  Small moments can be magic to a child.  I think maybe I’m finally learning this… (said without opening my mouth, in an oompa loompa voice!)

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