A 24 hour tale…

It is every parents dream to raise children they can be proud of. Proper men and women, good people, hard-workers of strong character and beliefs who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in… Well, at lease that’s my dream.

I can’t take full credit for my children. It really does take a village and while for many people, the village sucks, mine is very awesome. I truly have an incredibly support system, husband, mom, sister, brother in law, aunts and friends. Everyone pours a little bit of their awesomeness into these kids and it shows in them every single day.

We teach the kids that you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. You help where you can, and you don’t do it for praise or recognition. God is watching and that truly is all you need. However, I am allowed to be a proud mom, aren’t I?

Yesterday,  June 29th 2014, as I was running errands with the kids, we stumbled upon a mother of two begging for money. I had to turn her away, because my son had just made me donate all my change for the homeless pets at PetSmart not 20 minutes earlier.
I know, people have a problem with giving money away to homeless and beggars, I have heard all your reasons for this, but God knows I’m giving them the money to help, what they choose to do with it, is up to them, but I digress.

Kaleb, who turned 10 in February, told me as we walked away that he had a $5 bill he wanted to give to them. I asked him repeatedly if he was sure he wanted to give the money away, he is taking a trip with my mom in just a few short weeks and has been saving some money for it and multiple times he said that, yes, he really did want her to have it and so we turned around and called out to her and he opened up his wallet and gave her the money. She wouldn’t take it at first. The look of shock was clear on her face and she looked at me for confirmation, I said “it’s OK. He wants you to have it.” And she took it, with tears in her eyes. I really wished I could have done more, and I’m hindsight, I guess I really could have but at the moment I was wrapped up in the errands and totally forgot that Walmart was full of opportunities to help.

Today, just less than 24 hrs after Kaleb’s act of love upon a stranger, I am sitting at Illusions Beauty Salon in Grand Prairie, anxiously awaiting Anika’s turn…

About 3 months ago, my 6 yr old daughter (who turns 7 in November) approached us with the wish to donate her long hair to the Children with Hair Loss. I did the research and while they do welcome all hair donations, the hair they use for the pieces for the children has to be at lease 10″ from tip to tip. I explained this to her and she was willing to wait because she wanted her hair to go a child who needed it more than she did, those were her exact words.

So here we are, finally taking the plunge. Her hair grew roughly 6″ in 3 months… And now it’s {mostly} gone.

As her mom, it was one of the most mixed feeling moments of my life with her thus far. Proud of her and yet really wishing she would choose to keep it and yet knowing how selfish and petty I was being. It is just hair after all, it will grow and this provides her with a much needed change.

As a parent, it is very difficult to let go, to sit back and allow your child to make his or her own decision {age appropriate decisions} and trust that they have been listening to all that you have been teaching them. In this particular instance, both of my children’s heart were in the right place and I was right in allowing them to make their decisions all on their own.

We are very proud of them both!