Hanging With My Boy

On Monday, Shelly and I took Jared out of school at lunchtime.  We have done this every October 31st since Ashley was in elementary school. Why do we do this? Because we are not fond of the Halloween parties at school. Now relax everyone… There are many different understandings and thoughts on Halloween… Honestly, you do what you feel is right about it. This post has nothing to do with Halloween pros or cons, so keep your Halloween comments to yourself.

This post is to let you know how awesome it is to spend time with your kids.  Spending time with your kids is sometimes difficult. I understand this because we have 4 kids of our own. Our house is a sea of voices most of the time and it is awesome… unless Around the Horn is on ESPN… Our family loves to hangout together and share our day with one another. Many times we share our day with each other as we are running out the door to one of the kid’s events (Church, baseball, football, basketball, Cheerleading or the dreaded band concert).  Another time that is super special is the time that we are able to be one-on-one with our kids.  I had the opportunity to take Ashley back to college a couple of weeks ago. Five hours of conversation with my oldest is always awesome.  Shelly was able to take Lindsey on college visits a couple of weeks ago and had a great time with her.

Well, on Monday, I took Jared and we changed the church sign to cheer on our Bago Football team as they go into round 2 of State Playoffs and we also went to buy him new basketball shoes. Jared and I shopped five stores before we ended up finding the shoes he liked. It was a great time of talking and listening. Yes, listening.  I listened to him share his thoughts and stories. Then I was able to see the huge smile on his face when he found “THE SHOES” that he wanted. I added a Nike shoe bag just to see that smile again.  I don’t know if he enjoyed it half as much as I did, but for me it was wonderful!

So what is my point? Here it is… brace yourself.  It was the best Halloween I have ever had! My recommendation is to spend some time with your kids… Love them and listen to them… Jared is our baby. We will not experience 5th grade basketball again (until grandchildren – UGH!), and I want to make sure that we both enjoy every minute of it. That goes for more than just 5th grade basketball!

Enjoy the time with your kids!