Visibly Happy

A couple of summers ago my sweet sis-in-law Melissa invited us to her family's cabin in the beautiful mountains of Northern Arizona.

uhh, yeah, only hotter

If you've ever suffered through a summer in the Arizona desert, you'll know how much this offer meant to us!

The second morning we were there, I woke up and began preparing breakfast in the kitchen, singing as I went. And why not? I was in a GREAT mood - the weather was beautiful and so was the scenery, the kids were all sleeping in...life was good.

About a year later, my teenage son T told me that coming down the stairs that morning and hearing me singing in the kitchen and making breakfast is one of his all time favorite memories. That about floored me.

From that conversation with him, I took away two tips that matter:

#1 - Kids want and need happy moms. It is important for us to demonstrate happiness in visible ways.

#2 - We don't need to go on expensive trips or buy cool gadgets in order to create good memories with our children.

Case in Point: I went on one big vacation with my family, from Michigan to Washington D.C. It was awesome, but when I think back on my childhood that trip almost never comes to mind. I remember playing ball out in the yard with my dad, I remember my mom reading Heidi to me when I had the chicken pox....

        

 I think I'm going to try singing a little more often :)

Gonna Need Grace