I've been reading!

Although it is an incredibly busy time of the semester and I have lots of grading to do - I've snuck in some reading time over the last week and read a handful of great books.  That is one advantage to sitting at soccer practice 3 nights a week!

• Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew Quick) - other than I knew there was a movie with Bradley Cooper, I didn't know much else about this book.  I really enjoyed this book and read it quite quickly.  It talked about a man's transition out of a neural health facility.  
• To Have and To Kill (Mary Jane Clark) - a fun mystery.  Quick read, totally enjoyable. 
• Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand) - this one has been on my list for a while, but I have a hard time buying full price books for my Nook since I read so fast.  This one has stayed full price for years.  I finally figured out how to check out library books onto my Nook (happy day!)  It was one of the first books I put on hold.  I finally got to check it out and am so glad I finally got to read it.  What an amazing story of a WWII veteran and the unbelievable challenges he faced.  I highly recommend this book as well.  

Next up (though, probably after a significant amount of grading) are:

• As Always, Jack (Emma Sweeney) - sticking with the WWII theme.
• The Best Man (Kristan Higgins) - she is one of my favorites for fun, romantic, comedic books.
• Daddy's Girl (Lisa Scottoline) - she writes a great series about female attorneys.  This one isn't part of the series, but involves a prison, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it!
• Alan & Naomi (Myron Levoy) - this book was one of my favorites as a child and I still remember how touched I was by it.  It is about a young boy who befriends a girl who was in a Jewish concentration camp.  

I'm so looking forward to summer break and already have planned how the kids and I are going to have reading time EVERY SINGLE DAY! 

Moms of boys ...

Last night at about 12:30 I turned off the light and climbed into bed. Minutes later I heard the pitter-patter of little feet, and then a little body in fleece footie jammies climbed into bed with me. "Blake, you need to sleep in your own bed." I said, though both of us knew I was lacking conviction. "But Momma, I want to snuggle with you." He nestled his head right into my neck and threw his arms around my neck and within seconds his slow and steady breathing let me know he was sound asleep. I hugged him tightly to me and momentarily my heart started aching.

As I whispered "I love you" and kissed the top of his head, I couldn't help but think about the children's book "I Love You Forever." As I thought about it, a silent tear slid down my face as I remembered the sweet story of a mother rocking her son to sleep at night. And how when he grew up she would go to his house and go into his room and pick up his grown up body and hold him and tell him, " I love you forever, I love you for always. As long as you're living my baby you'll be." And as I thought more about the story, my silent tears turned to heart wrenching sobs.

See I know that Mylie will need me her whole life. Girls always need their mothers - for relationship advice, parenting advice, household advice, advice about everything. But someday Blake will grow up and he will meet and marry a wonderful girl and it will become her job to take care of my baby. And this caused my heart wrenching sobs to shake my whole body.

I wanted to wake Jeff up right then in the middle if the night and insist he drive to Melba, wake up his mom, hug her and tell her how much he loves her. I wanted to call my brother and insist that he drive to our parents' house, wake up my mom, and hug her tightly, tell her how much he loves her, and that he still needs her.  I wanted to tell every grown man, who was once a little boy, how much their mothers miss the little boy they once were.  How much they miss being the one that they came to when they were hurt, when they needed a hug, when they needed anything.

By now my sobs woke Blake from his sleep, he sat up, looked at me, and said "You have a bad dream, Mom?" I told him I was fine, and within seconds, he was sound asleep again, snuggled up to me as close as he could be.  I kissed the top of his head again and thought that being the mom to a little boy is a beautiful blessing.

On Marriage ...

I've been thinking a lot about marriage lately.  Perhaps because I feel blessed to be in such a wonderful marriage.  And though it will be years before I give advice on this topic to my own children, I feel like I want to remember some very important thoughts about marriage that I have had recently.  

1. BE KIND.  The world is not always a kind place.  Jeff works with the public everyday and I know that many of those days are not fun.  Our home and our marriage should be a safe place for him.  I truly believe that of all the people in the world, the person we should always be the nicest to is our spouse.  My mom once said, "it is better to be kind than right," and I wholeheartedly believe that.   
2. FRONT & CENTER.  Our family is busy (just like many others).  Our kids are in school and in sports.  In addition to work, Jeff is in grad school, coaches Blake's soccer team, and takes Brazilian Jui-Jitzu classes.  I work full-time, volunteer at the kids' schools, and try to keep up on my hobbies.  When life gets crazy, it is very easy for me to put Jeff on the back burner.  Do you know why?  Because I  know he'll still be there.  Of course that isn't fair.  Although it is easiest to  take for granted the people we love the most, it isn't fair.  Our spouses need to be kept front and center. 
3. LAUGH.  Oh how I love laughing with Jeff.  Everyday we find something to laugh about.  Sometimes it is a Seinfeld or Arrested Development reference.  Oftentimes it is one of our kids.  And I'll admit that we aren't above 7th-grade-boy fart jokes.  But I love laughing with him.  I love that we have about 7219 inside jokes.  I love that sometimes we can tell an entire joke just by making eye contact.  
4. BE A TEAM.  One of my friends recently told me how she loves that Jeff and I are a team.  I thought about it and she is right.  We are a team - a team raising our kids, a team in reaching our goals, a team of us against the world.  There is nothing like having a teammate.  I am glad that I get to be Jeff's teammate.  
5. BE A CHEERLEADER.  I feel so lucky that I have wonderful parents, spectacular siblings, and AMAZ-ing girlfriends.  I know I can talk to them about anything.  And we do.  However, one thing I don't do, and won't do, is talk negatively about my husband to my friends or my family.  My job is to be his biggest cheerleader.  When a football team is struggling on the field, the cheerleaders don't yell insults to the team or start talking to the crowd about how poorly the team is doing.  No, in fact, if the team is struggling, the cheerleaders cheer louder.  So it is with our marriages.  My job is to support Jeff, to build him up, to believe in him.  Just as he does for me.  Being a good spouse is being a cheerleader. 

I feel very lucky that I had a great example of marriage in my parents.  I want Jeff and I to be an example for our kids.