My Kids Inspire Me

Of course we all love our children. And, I am sure each of us has moments when we say, “what did I do to deserve this?” too. I seem to recall my mother saying “just wait until you have kids of your own…”.

Well, I do have kids of my own now. Four of them actually. And, although with each one comes many gray hairs, each one brings me so much joy as well.

What is fun for me is enjoying the journey, although at times it can be hair-rippingly frustrating. It is just incredible how much I learn from my kids each and every day. They are each at different places in their lives, so I get to wear many different “mom” hats. Mom of preschooler (almost kindergartener). Mom of 8 year old girl. Mom of 11 year old boy. Mom of teenager (almost high-schooler, gah!). Hard to believe just 14 years ago I was starting out as a mom-to-be.

My mom-joy is different as I cherish their unique personalities, accomplishments, drive, successes, challenges, failures and struggles. For example, when my almost 5 year-old picked up the hoola hoop and started to wiggle – it was incredible to watch her master this talent. It was so cool to encourage her to keep challenging herself to up her level of mastery (watch this video to get an idea of what I am talking about). As my husband, her siblings and I encouraged her, the smile and sense of accomplishment on her face was PRICELESS.

My 8 year-old daughter has a spunky personality and recently decided she wanted to make some t-shirts to inspire GIRLS to be themselves. We are working on a plan to help her design and build a small business inspiring girls to embrace who they are.

Spunky Lucy

For my 11 year-old’s recent birthday he decided he wanted to forgo a party and instead purchased a road bike. He’d like to start doing triathlons. The Monday morning after he got his bike, he set his alarm clock and woke up at 5:30am to start to accomplish his goal. That morning he and his dad went for a 13 mile bike ride. He came home from the ride, showered and went to school. Now… THAT is determination and dedication!

Charlie on his bike

My soon-to-be 14 year-old has been committed to sports for as long as I can remember. I never hear “mom I don’t want to go to practice” or “do I really have to wake up THAT early?”. He does what he needs to and then some, to be the best he can be and keep improving. This season he is committed to both his middle school football team and a club soccer team. That means 3 days a week he wakes up at 5:15am and headw to football practice, then attends school all day, comes home, does a bit of homework and then gears up for an intense 2 hour soccer practice. After all that, he has to come home and finish his nightly homework. Talk about INSPIRING!

Jack Playing Soccer

What I have learned from my kids is:

• Set BIG goals (if you can dream it, you can do it)
• Work hard every day – those goals aren’t going to achieve themselves
• Follow your dreams – it’s your life, so live it!

What have you learned from your kiddos? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.