Every morning Logan and I walk with Alex to the back of the school where the gym is located. Alex's class sits in a row (as does every other class in the school sans Pre-K) and looks at books they bring from home until their teacher comes and walks them to their classroom. We always stop in the entryway area and tell Alex goodbye then we watch him walk and join his class. He sits down, waves, and blows me kisses -- which I return and then Logan and I walk back to the front of the school where his class is sitting. This is our routine every single morning. A couple of times children I don't know (older than Alex) have come up to me as I'm hugging Alex and said, "Can I have a hug, too?" So far I have had two little girls do this. It caught me off guard at first, but now my heart goes out to them. The older of the two told me yesterday that her mother is still asleep when she leaves for school and she doesn't get to tell her mother goodbye -- or get a hug from her before she leaves for school. She turned to Alex and said, "Hugs are important, don't you think?" Alex looked shy and Logan loudly agreed, "Yeah!" The little girl looked at Alex and said, "I like your mom. You're lucky--she's really nice." She smiled, thanked me, and walked to join her class. I hugged Alex once more and watched as he walked across the gym floor -- his backpack almost as big as he is, carrying his lunch bag and I realized how lucky I am. Alex made it to his class, turned and sat down, and looked at me and smiled, then blew me a kiss. With Logan hugging my leg I blew Alex a kiss and we slowly turned to leave. By this point the halls were full of parents, teachers, and children. I felt Logan's little hand in mine as we walked down the hall. His huge backpack scraped against the wall from time to time as we walked. Occasionally, he would look up at me and smile. We turned a corner and could see Logan's class sitting against the wall. One of his classmates was being dropped off by his grandmother. Logan said, "He lives with his grandma. He said he likes living with his grandma better because she is nicer to him, but they don't have money to buy snacks and things." I said, "Who told you this?" Logan shrugged his shoulders and said, "His grandma talks to the teacher a lot and we can hear them sometimes." Logan told me he didn't understand what they were talking about but the boy is good at playing tag and sliding on the slide. The school bell rang so I hugged Logan and told him to have a good day. We went through the usual routine of him sadly telling me he'll miss me and I excitedly telling him he will have a lot of fun and I'll pick him up later. I watched him join his class. Several little voices filled the hall greeting him with high pitched, "Logan!" or "Hi, Logan! Sit by me!" The teacher said, "Good morning, Logan," and rubbed his hair and smiled as he walked by. Logan sat down between two children with a big smile on his face and waved at me.
On the drive home I realized that I have a lot to be thankful for. Things aren't always perfect, sometimes money is tighter than we'd like it to be, the kids get sick, something breaks, days are stressful, the list goes on and on, but our children always have food to eat, and they are loved and happy. I don't have to wonder if my children know that their father and I love them -- it's evident that they know. I am thankful that I get to take them to school and still get hugs, kisses, and smiles. I'm thankful that I get to drive Alex to all of his appointments and help them with their homework. I'm thankful that even in the worst of things we still have it better than some people in the world. I'm thankful for a husband who works very, very, VERY hard to give us all that we need -- and even things we don't need but think we do. :) I'm thankful for a beautiful 5-year-old boy who is the hardest worker I know and who has taught me so much about overcoming obstacles. I'm thankful for a cute, sweet, 4-year-old who always makes me laugh and still thinks I'm awesome!
Here are a few more pictures of these awesome people in my life!!
Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed reading the entry. Kids don't remember what they don't have, but they do remember what they do have -- parents who love them. Thanks again for posting. I know time is a premium.
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