Step Three: Accountability

We all need it. Accountability is what keeps us moving forward and not stagnating in one place. For many having children is enough. After having children you are accountable to them for teaching them and providing them the appropriate life experiences. For others, perhaps a little more external influence is needed. Because of our circumstances, in the early years occasionally my husband and I would decide that it's just too much trouble to go to church on Sunday morning, or to a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, or to the school social on Monday night. We may have been justified in that decision, but we were also depriving our children of much needed life experiences. So, our solution to this was to start volunteering for things. My husband is the Sunday School Director at church, and I, until this year, was a Sunday School teacher. By volunteering for these positions we gained accountability. We no longer had the option of staying home when we just didn't feel like going. We were required to be there and no matter what, we were going! This is not necessarily the solution for everyone, but my main point is that your children need the exposure to the outside world, and even though it is difficult at times, you need to get them out in it. If you are like us and require a little extra help in motivating you to get out there, then be a volunteer and gain that external accountability.

Life happens

I blinked my eyes and realized it has been over a month since my last post. Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday that my children were tiny boys and now I find myself buying them clothes that seem way too big but always fit when we try them on. The jeans I bought them last fall are already starting to look short in the inseam and the shirts are all starting to take on the 3/4 sleeve look. They spent several days a couple of weeks ago at their grandmother's house with their cousins and had so much fun. I was a little lonely without my children at home, but it reminded me that they really are just like other kids. Colin loves to tell jokes and make me laugh, and Ryan is the Luigi to my Mario. We buy season tickets to Six Flags every year and the opening day is this coming Saturday. I admit, I am the roller coaster junkie in the family, but I think I have passed this on to my children. They love to go so much and have already started asking me when we are going (shh... it's a secret, but we are going on Sunday!). I will try to update this blog more often with what is going on with us and what is working well (and what hasn't worked at all). Until then... gone, but not forgotten.