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Archives For November 30, 1999

Listen up little dreamers

January 29, 2013

I’ve read various renditions of blogs written by someone older to someone younger. Some are written by parents to their children, while others are written by adults to their younger selves if only they could go back in time and instill advice to avoid the pitfalls of growing up. All give insightful glimpses into lessons learned.

One of the most recent and inspiring that I’ve read is called Letters to All the Beautiful Little Girls – Part 1.

Don't fence yourself in.

Dream big. Don’t fence yourself in.

I mainly blog at night, once my three kids are settled down to bed and my mind is freed up to think.

Tonight, I won’t promise to solve all their problems. I’ll simply offer up these words of wisdom.

To my daughter:

1. I wish for you the kind of love that Rapunzel finds with Eugene Fitzherbert in Tangled. But, even more than that, I wish for you to know the feeling of loving life.

2. Don’t waste a single breath complaining about your body. The boys and friends who only pay attention to you for it, and not your heart and mind, aren’t worth impressing. I know that is so much easier to preach than to practice. Mom needs a reminder herself every now and then.

3. Learn to love your crazy hair. Consider it an outward symbol of all the wild, rebellious ideas you’ve got floating around in that head of yours.

4. If wearing a dress and matching hair bows is what makes you happy, I’ll do my best to help out. Just know that your mom sucks at fashion and has a hard time understanding why people care so much about what covers their bodies. (On a related note: bras are dumb but you must wear one.)

5. Know that I love telling you that you are my favorite daughter and hearing you say that I am your favorite mom. I realize these words will undoubtedly run away during your hormonal years, but I have faith they will inevitably return.

To my sons:

1. Never underestimate the power of prayer…or deodorant.

2. You have no idea how lucky you are to share a bedroom together. I know it causes you much stress and angst now, but there will be a day when you look up and realize that your loud, obnoxious brother isn’t there. And the silence will be deafening.

3. Don’t fall for the girl who tells or shows you why you should like her. You are both smart. The best things in life are those you have to work for, including the attention of a female.

4. Know that you can remain within boundaries while helping to define them. You will face multiple paths in life. Do what feels right with the knowledge that you won’t choose right every time. Don’t be afraid to fail or you may never fully realize how far you can go.

choose your path wisely

choose your path wisely

5. When you screw up, seek out your father. When you are lauded for your accomplishments, thank your mom. Kidding…I’ve got your back no matter what.

Created by Heidi Woodard

In Family, Kids, Love, Memories, Reflection , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Miss me…miss me…now you gotta read me

January 14, 2013

Boy, it’s been way too long since we last connected.

Not only have I not written here as much as I would have liked, I am behind on following favorite bloggers like One Thousand Single Days, 365til30, Contemplative Fitness, and others. Sorry, random strangers that I now consider lifelong friends, I will try to catch up soon.

I recently stumbled upon something interesting about forcing yourself to suffer for 15 minutes each day on a process that feels seemingly insurmountable. The point of this advice was that people will inevitably procrastinate on doing things that they dislike or that consider impossible to achieve.

But if you manage to devote a minimal amount of uninterrupted time each day to the activity you want to conquer, you will amaze yourself with positive results.

Here’s my dilemma: I am currently overwhelmed with a boatload of activities that I thoroughly enjoy. (Don’t you feel so sorry for me?)

I’ve got the full-time job where I’m getting paid to live a more mission-driven life. I’ve got my weekly blogging for momaha.com and radio appearances on the Pat&JT Show, which both allow me to capture memories of my kids growing up.

Speaking of those kids, I have these three amazing people looking up to me for love and support.

my proudest accomplishments

my proudest accomplishments

I’m training for my third half marathon, partially for the physical benefits I’ll reap, but more so for the chance to beat my equally competitive cousin.

And, GET THIS, I started freelance writing for a new client and recently got contacted by another interested party. If I’m not genetically wired or young enough to be a collegiate sand volleyball player, at least I get to spend my free time doing what I really enjoy: expressing myself through words.

So I guess my biggest hurdle is that my free time is slowing slipping away.

It’s a pretty spectacular dilemma to have. Facebook can wait.

Created by Heidi Woodard

In Crazy, Family, Fitness, Kids, Love, Reflection, Running, Service , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Preserving the magic of childhood

December 27, 2012

I talked my husband into bringing back a fun family tradition that we haven’t done for over four years.

We’re taking our kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. This will be the first trip for our youngest and a much-needed return adventure for the rest of us.

Prior to Christmas, I asked my oldest, who will be turning 11 in January, what he thought his favorite vacation was of all time. He and his brother have seen moose and mountains in Estes Park and visited Water World outside of Denver. Their one and only plane trip thus far was to Chicago, where they got to ride the historic Navy Pier Ferris wheel and explore Millennium Park.

I’ve shared before on this blog how I can feel him moving away from his childhood and reliance on me and his dad.

You can imagine my surprise when he responded that Great Wold Lodge was his all-time favorite place to vacation.

The more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. The drive there is relatively short for us, and once there, we don’t have to leave the lodge for anything. We swim, eat, sleep, and repeat. It’s uninterrupted family time, something we don’t make nearly enough time for these days.

I captured the moment my kids learned that we are heading to Great Wolf again. You can’t quite see the expression on my oldest’s face, but our middle son’s reaction basically says enough for both of them.

The Great Wolf Lodge website shows a 17-second video of a family riding down a giant water slide together in a tube. The caption beneath the video reads, “Your kids’ childhood goes by just as fast.”

I couldn’t agree more.

First year at GWL

First year at GWL

Second year at GWL

Second year at GWL

Third year at GWL

Third year at GWL

My how fast time flies!

My how fast time flies!

Created by Heidi Woodard

In Family, Kids, Love, Memories, Reflection , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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