Hold my hand

Got busy making Father's Day pancakes and forgot to post last nights blogpost! Here it is... Elaina: "Mom, I'm going to hold your hand forever." When she's 16yrs old and driving away from me instead of 6yrs old watching The Incredibles with me, I'm going to remind her that she said this. When she's 26yrs old and running her own life instead of asking me "can I?" before every move she makes, I'm going to remind her that she said this. My husband talks of "enabling the kids to go to far off colleges, and helping them be able to study abroad some day." I realize these are great opportunities... for other people's children. Its just that with my kiddos at 11, 9, 6, 4 and 2, I can't imagine them ever being very far out of my reach, let alone that far out of my sight, touch, and general area. They are so vulnerable now, so affected. Ben was scared to watch The Incredibles and had to sit on Dad's lap. Even Scotty (11) was inching so close to me while watching the movie that I accidentally knocked him in the head. They love their parents right now a lot and they say it a lot right now too. I tend to think it is because WE say it a lot to THEM. It is reciprocal. So, if that truly is the case, then what my husband and I need to do is to make sure we keep saying it a lot even to the big boys. But as we watched this movie all together and I looked at each one of my kids, I could see how very different they all are. How they each have their own special gifts and talents that I'm sure one day will take each of them to either a distant college for study, or a far off jungle for veterinary medicine, or a who knows...Hollywood to be a star... So, as I watch Mrs. Incredible encourage her kids to be brave and use their special super powers, I realize I probably can't realistically hold my kids' hands forever and still be able to encourage them to use their gifts to their potential. But I'm going to hold their hands as long as I can, and hopefully when they come home and we watch a movie together they will still sit so close that I can accidentally knock them in the head. Because I will be holding their hearts forever. also I don't want to forget: -ok, this stage that Charlie is going through is hilarious and terrifying at the same time. He loves to pretend to be a monster. He growls almost continually and says, "I a moster!" And then he pretends to eat us; we are all so afraid he will bite us. But its so cute we can't stop him. -kids were so proud of cleaning up the garage for daddy for Father's Day. -Ben is still wearing the Cardinals hat, I think we are on at least day 4. -watching Ben and Elaina do Wu Shu ( a type of Kung Fu class) may be the cutest thing in the world.