Ringing in the New Year... 2,3,4,5

2 different counties, 3 different schools, 4 different families, 5 different grades... yet all have one thing in common. 

It has always been my dream to have a home where all feel welcome and that they feel safe and loved for who they are. A place filled with laughter, yet sometimes tears as life's experiences are worked out, understanding happens and challenges grow us. 

I have always been a collector of people but especially kids, their childlike spirit and energy can sometimes be exhausting, yet they have not been completely changed by the world.  They are looking for the safety and security to be who they are while also trying to learn to "fit in" to the mold that the world tells them about.  Things like... you are to wear this, clothes have to match, your not allowed to play with that person, you are not allowed to play with that, girls wear pink, blue is a boys color, the right shoes, the right technology, rich people are like this, skinny people are this, overweight people are this and so on.  

If you really watch and listen to children as I have been for over a year, it is disturbing the things they have already picked up from other kids, technology, television and the adults around them.  However, today, the first day of the new year... I saw a dream come true... Kids being Kids.  It is not the first time I have seen it, but oh did it warm my heart to see what is possible from children when given the opportunity.  When given the right environment, kids always amaze me.  

Cooking, cleaning, organizing, work, taking care of the sick, rollerblading, swinging, building train tracks, football games (missed the final but I believe from my mom's reactions that Michigan State won).  I saw responsibility, kindness, laughter, big kids helping little ones, sharing and it brings me back to what I have been telling my children for quite sometime... I taught you right from wrong, respect, responsibility and now my job is simply to help you find those boundaries in new situations.  It is my goal as a parent to provide safety and security, food and shelter... but more importantly to let my children discover the "unique" individual that they were created to be.  To see and embrace life through their eyes and not mine.  To support the dreams that are growing in their heart so that when they get diverted (which they will... I can't pad their life) they can weather the storms continuing to focus in the right direction... up and forward.

In my current situation, it would be easy to get focused on all the "unfairness" or "negative" things around me and let it suck the life right out of me... but the gift I was given today causes me to remember that no matter the circumstances there is always much to be thankful for. 

Maybe your year didn't end the way you wanted or maybe your new year didn't start out as planned... neither of those matter as they are in the past.  However what you do have is this moment in time and the only thing necessary is to refocus yourself to absorb the moment you are in.  Learn to absorb moments and before you know it you will be living the life you have dreamed in your heart. 

Kids just wanna be Kids

Get started now and begin turning your dreams into reality!


Keep Believing!


Much Love & Hugs

Denise