It hit me the other day, many of my blog posts are from my childhood and none have been from the experiences of our own children.  I think there are three reasons.  One, I’m old so my memory skips from back to way back.  Two, I’m still traumatized by their teenage and college years.  Three, when we have young kids we’re just too busy to enjoy the moments.

So here are some random reflections:
– I remember my son trying to pull an ice cube out of a glass.  When he grabbed it his fist made it too big to remove his hand.
– We spent countless hours playing hide and go seek.
– The boys loved to build forts out of sofa cushions and blankets.  The most interesting was a fort under the table where I told a ghost story and when I scared my son, he jerked up and it led to stitches above his eye.  I also remember repeated questioning from emergency room personnel verifying my story.
– You have to be available on their time schedule.
– We had quite an array of pets – dogs, turtle, tortoise, assorted fish, and a lizard (that we had to feed live crickets and they are disgusting).
– I loved playing catch and shooting hoops with my boys.  It was the time we really talked and not sure they knew it.  I have no daughters, but I’m convinced the best way to connect with boys is DO something.
– We had some awesome camping trips even though it rained every time.  In fact drought areas of the world have solicited our services to simply camp in their country.
– One winter we had such a big snow they brought their sleds and slid off the garage roof.
– We paid for a number of broken windows. The rear window of the van and a church stained glass window that “required” a repair person from Omaha were among the most expensive.
– The difference between a 3 year old and a 19 year old is height.
– Knee football in the living room is awesome.
– If you bring teenage boys on a cruise, the cruise line loses money on food alone.
– Each stage of life has its blessings and challenges. Who they are and who they become has some to do with parenting and some to do with others and some to do with luck.