Silverwood

Thursday was our annual trip to Silverwood.  I usually let Rick chaperon this fun filled day, but I thought I had better take a turn.  He stayed home with the little guys, and I took Brooke, Bronwyn and Karsten up north. 

Martha is staying with friends this week so she missed it.  She actually considered staying home and going to Silverwood with us instead of staying with her friends.  This is such a huge change since last year.  Last year she wanted nothing to do with Silverwood.  This year she really wanted to be at the park with her friends.  I can't tell you how good that feels from a parenting perspective.  She is feeling like this is where she belongs, and she desires to spend time with us.  So much can change in one year!  Not only that, I wished she had been there, then I would have had someone to ride with.

I drove our fifteen passenger van up with a full load of kids.  They were pretty mellow on the ride up, which changed drastically on the ride home.  I really didn't know what to expect once I got there.  The last time I went to Silverwood was sometime in the early 1990's with a college friend.  I was hoping I would find a quiet corner to hole up in with the third book of Harry Potter.  Quiet corners do not exist at Silverwood, just for the record.  What I decided is that next year I will bring a friend, wear quick dry clothes, and secure a beach chair early.  I suspected that I would have kids around me most of the day.  I was totally wrong there.  As soon as they had their tickets, and knew where to meet at the end of the day they were long gone.  I was so thankful for texting, otherwise I would have lost them until 9.

I can see that they are preparing to leave the nest.  Karsten was the youngest one I had with me, and I did have to go look for him at one point, only because he had left everyone whose phone numbers I had.  In five short years Helen will be Karsten's age.  Five years isn't really very long in the grand scheme of things.  It was a thrilling thought, and sad at the same time.  This is what I have been raising them for.  I am seeing my little kids become adults right before my eyes.  The great thing is that I really like the people they are becoming.  I was sad that they wanted to hang out with their friends instead of me.  I understood of course, and I know they didn't see it that way, but it was a shift from where we have been for the last sixteen years.

It made me think about a lot of things.  I really need to be careful that I don't treat my big kids like little kids.  Sometimes I give group lectures that don't really apply to them.  I need to be sure that I praise them for all of the great things they do.  I need to remember how many things they still have to learn, mostly through experience.  I need to extended a lot of grace while they are learning how to take responsibility for things.  This is a sensitive time in their lives.  They seem to take my advice as criticism, actually they take most advice as criticism.  My words need to be gentle, concise, and gracious.  Overreacting just causes them to be defensive, so I need to remain calm.  I really need to work on keeping things light.  There are going to be lots of funny stories in the next few years.  They won't be funny at the time, but they will become funny with age.  I am really loving these years, when I stop to take a breath and enjoy the moment. 

#916-928

X-ray

Free breakfast

Teenage girls to watch siblings

Dinner at Nectar

Tough little boys

LAX games

Phone calls from kids that are not home

Parents cheering on children week after week

Calling on God when I can't find things, they always show up

Daughters starting to think about life after high school

Papa Murphy's

Strong personalities, the spice of life

Group discounts