Take a minute and be grateful

We recently took a trip to Tucson, Arizona to visit some different museums with my family. As we were driving along the road, we passed a neighborhood that was filled with tiny, run down houses. There were sheets on windows, cracks in the wood, and literally tape on the outside of some of these houses. I mentioned to my husband how sad this was. How could I ever be ungrateful for having the smallest house in my neighborhood or for not having nicer couches and decorations. Do those things really matter? Or is it my family that matters? I tend to get these things confused because there are times, I feel I show my love to my children by making them look fancy or buying them fancy things. But what my kids need is me. Now I may not stop buying those fancy looking things, especially since most of them come off clearance racks and the money spent is the same amount I would spend at Walmart, but I have neglected blogging more often because I spend time with those two cuties that are sleeping right now. When they are awake, I spend time with them.

My son loves being held and smiles constantly if he is in someones arms so why not hold him more often? I know he needs to be on the floor to learn to roll and crawl and eventually walk ("cringe!") but my son needs love.

And then there is that sassy pants little lady in the house. I have read more books to her in the past week than I can even count. We just sit and read, sit and play dress ups, sit and talk and it is lovely! She understands so much and has become such a huge helper in this house. Hitting is her new thing and yet, I feel like we kind of nipped it in the butt by trying time out (because really, spanking her is not going to teach her not to hit). What a life saver! If she hits someone, she KNOWS to go in time out and we sit and talk about what she did, she gets up and says sorry to the person and all is forgotten. If ever I felt like a good parent, it has been when she knows the routine and it has slowly worked and her hitting problem is dwindling. I feel like supermom! And rightfully so because we dont butt heads as often (because trust me, I am bound to butt heads with this girl. We are just too darn alike!).

I guess my point is that most people who read this blog are not at poverty level and we need to take the time to be grateful for the things we have and stop worrying about the things we dont have. Often times we get caught up in who has more, who's kid is smarter, etc but what is most important is that we have our families. Some people dont even have that.

And that's how Suze sees it.