My Awesome Kids

The other day I became overwhelmed with awe at my kids. The day started before I was awake with Evan, our early riser, getting up (probably at 6:00 or 6:30) and discovering that our one year old foster daughter was awake. My husband informed me that Evan got her out of her bed, closed the bedroom doors so as not to wake any other sleeping family members, and took her out to the living room. Then he got some toys out for her and played with her. This is not the first time he has done this. I have told the kids that for certain chores they do that I have not asked them to do they can earn money. I have offered Evan money for helping with the baby but he refuses it. Later that day I caught Nina changing the baby’s poopy diaper. I had previously showed her how so she does a good job at it, and enjoys the responsibility. Nina has begun taking pride in helping the girls decide on cute outfits, and changing them in the morning. She, unlike Evan, gladly accepts compensation. Then in the evening we went out to Golden Corral where Nina happily listed each family member to our waitress, including ages and parental first names. Then, she brought back a plate with pizza on it especially for our 2 year old foster daughter because Nina knew it was her favorite, and this was before Nina brought back a plate for herself. Arin fed the baby crackers and then gave her some of his drink. Then the kids went on a wild sharing frenzy, offering everyone at the table sips of their pop. Talk about a parent’s heart swelling with pride. Forget scoring a soccer goal, or getting a medal in a winter gymnastics show. I don’t care if any of my kids ever refer to anyone as Ma’am. It is these self-initiated acts of kindness and helping that tell me my kids are growing into the kind of people I want to infuse into society: the kind that will see a need and fill it.