Lessons Learned (and/or learning)

After 35 years of life, 17 years of school, 8 years of marriage and 7 years of mothering I have come to realize that life is all about the lessons I am learning. Some lessons are profound others are simple but they all help me to be a better person (eventually.)

This morning I was thinking about some of these lessons and I've decided that this will be a recurring post on my blog. Something for me to look back on and see where I've come from and how far I've gotten. Hopefully it will inspire me to keep learning and surely it will remind me of lessons that I thought I had learned but still need some work.

So after a fun (crazy) summer and 3 road trips with my 4 beautiful energetic children here are a few of the "lessons I've learned":

1. If I don't get it done while the baby is sleeping it will inevitably take twice as long and be done with one hand and/or while listening to crying.






2. If McDonald's forgets to give me caramel with the kids' apple dippers... DO NOT go back for it. The whining is much easier to listen to than the mess is to clean up! (especially in 100 degree weather)






3. I can be both elated and sad about my kids going back to school.






4. Elation tends to last longer than sadness.






5. Having half as many kids at home means things get done twice as fast and I have to redo those things half as often.






6. When picking my battles with our children it's just as important to consider the when and where as it is the what. (ie. the beginning of a 4 hour car ride after a very crazy 2 days is not the right time to teach my 7 year old to "buck up and quit crying." Loving her and worrying about that lesson later is a much better idea.)






7. No matter how many times I see my husband finish a race (1/2 marathon this past weekend) I will always cry. The first race I watched Seth run was the Ogden Marathon the week before we got married and I just figured it was fatigue and hormones that caused the tears but I've cried at every race since then so unless I'm chronically fatigued and hormonal it must be more about being a proud wife.


8. The junk drawer is not the best place to keep a rotary cutter that doesn't stay closed. Ouch.
   
   

I could go on and on but I currently have only half my kids home so it's time to get some stuff done.