Kids: The reflections of life...

I admit it. I do not always appeciate life. Lately, I have been worse than usual. My iron is extremely low. I am always fighting my anemia. When it becomes very low, I become very irritable. It is hard for me to breathe, which makes it hard for me to run or work out. It is hard for me to be energetic. I fantasize about sleep. In fact, I really do not recognize myself at this stage. My hunger pangs become unbearable. Normal background noises are pounding. All I want to do is sleep, but can't. There is too much to do and I really do not want to do it. Any of it. Even if it appears simple. Yes, life is not beautiful when I can not get my iron to absorb and stabilize.

Then, I wake up one morning and I feel better. I can breathe. I am not as tired. I can think. I can smile. I can see through the fog that my kids are living life, perhaps at its most beautiful, effortlessly.  I realize, my efforts must be winning and I have gotten my iron to absorb.

This morning my boys were so excited because I made them their favorite special breakfast, The One-Eyed monster. I found the idea from an old post from Cooking Dad.  I make mine a little differently. For example, I toast the bread beforehand. Then, cut out the hole.  I also leave out the stuff the boys do not like on their eggs; mayo ( for me, the most disgusting stuff on earth and fattening!), sliced tomatoes, and ketchup.

From one-eyed monster

Now, my kids always like the breakfasts I make them, especially the constantly-starving teenage daughter, but this breakfast always gets  a "Christmas morning" reaction from the boys.  That always makes me feel good.

From Meandgabbybike

Then, there is Gabby. My baby daughter finds a fascination with life that I find particularly amazing. Every morning we follow the boys to school on our bike. Well, at least far enough to see them close to the school. My eldest son finds it a little embarrassing if we go all the way to the campus, so we just linger a ways back.  Then, Gabby and I head off to explore the subdivision. Pretty much our route is the same everyday and we see the same things everyday, but you would never know it by looking at her. She squeals every time we see the same birds. She  goes nuts when we see the same dogs with the same owners. She goes crazy when we see squirrels, which like dogs of any size, are puppies. Every furry creature is a puppy to her, except cats (which are gats) and birds (which are something I can not quite make out). When she watches Animal Planet with her brothers, elephants and tigers are also puppies. 

She makes it hard to not want to keep biking, even when I am exhausted and out of breath, because her delight over simple things is wonderful, just like with her brothers and even her teen-aged sister.

Don't even get me started on how much Gabby loves Baby Einstein and applauds them like she is seeing  every episode for the first time, even when it has been millions.

Lesson for today and everyday: Appreciate life like a child.