Am I Enough?

Parenthood is often filled with feeling not good enough.  Pretty much all parents  I speak to who are honest enough to open up say that they feel they don't spend enough time with their kids, yell too much, don't play enough, aren't involved enough, etc.  Rarely (if ever) do I hear a parent say "I'm nailing this parenthood thing!"  We just don't ever remember that our OK-- and even our days where we barely show up -- is really OK.

That's why we have to pay attention to little moments when something good happens and use those as our barometer that we are doing fine. 

A week ago Aaron decided that he was going to draw a picture based on "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle".  He made copies of the picture and then he and (awesome dad) Derek drove around town putting up the posters to make sure people knew how to save the planet.  He did this on his own with no prompting from an adult.

Kids are inherently selfish.  I've read some articles explaining why that is so.  It's some sort of survival of the fittest remnant from our caveman days.  It takes time (oh so much time) for kids to see the big world that is just outside of themselves.  Seeing Aaron use his time and energy to do something for the planet was amazing.  More and more parents say that their goal isn't for their kids to be smart, popular, or class president -- it's to be kind.  Well, I got that.  Mission accomplished.

Jeff surprised me this week with his kindness, too.  He decided to make a present for Aaron.  Their birthday is coming up and Aaron loves Hatchimal toys.  Jeff is making a house for Aaron's Hatchimals out of cardboard, tape, and construction paper and wants some Model Magic to make furniture for the house.  This isn't a quick run-into-your-room-and-grab-a-toy-you-hate-and-give-it-to-your-brother kind of present.  Jeff is thinking this out and knows what Aaron would like. 

So I beat myself up many days out of the year, but today I'll say that Derek and I are doing a good job and turning these kids into kind, caring, compassionate humans.  We need that kind of people in this world and we just got two more.