Feeling Sappy

.....and sad to see different phases of my kids' lives pass. They are growing up so quickly. Their awake hours are not 100% ours so they come home with all these things to tell us, show us, and make us laugh. Tonight both kids were showing us how they can do cartwheels, splits while in a handstand, and walk on their hands!!!!! After years of "My Gym" they are moving quickly through the ranks of Flying High Gym. Sylvie is in the kinder-stars class already, and Logan is moving up to the next level as well.

Miss Sylvie had her ballet recital that was just adorable and Logan is getting so good at golf. A huge piece of all these extracurriculars is my in-laws doing. They are doing the legwork, the signing-up, the paying and keeping the kids' spirits up about attending all of these lessons. It feels like the world is in front of them, they are being exposed to all these amazing things. In school they are just learning so much, given so many opportunities to better themselves, and push themselves. Even religion is coming into their vocabulary. And we are getting all the million "how does the world work" type questions from our free-thinkers.

They are real little people with real personalities and real goals. Things like "do I push for them to go to college or be happy with them following their dreams" and "Do I help them with their homework" are entering my mind. Today we were talking amongst the moms about when they get married and that person entering our families as "daughter- and son- inlaws." Not that these things are anytime soon, we have a virtual lifetime ahead of us. And so many experiences.

I was reading an article about the experiences of 2 French High School exchange students. They were saying in America we are pushed to think, to have ideas, to have an opinion. We have clubs, teams and so many ways to form the hours of our lives. I got Logan's yearbook and there are so many clubs to be joined as early as this upcoming year! The French students also spoke of America not having as strong of an educational base. I know it's not as important for life or all jobs, but I think having a general knowledge of life, culture, other places, other people, and current events, is important. I was at lunch with co-workers and some new interns and felt like I was discussing things others had never even considered experiencing. And they were all right here in Chicago. Maybe it's the fact that I lived elsewhere before, I appreciate what Chicago has, just as I voraciously ingested what Seattle had to offer, I want to soak it all in here as well. We got a list from the art department on what there is to do in the area and I plan to bring the kids to many of the places.

I feel our kids are lucky and blessed to have so many people, places, experiences and so much love in their lives daily.