September 30

Two of the kiddos had theme days at school today. In honor of the illustrious letter O, Brady channeled his inner traffic cone for Orange Day. And after a last-second reminder, I rifled through my stuff to find my Cal Ripken, Jr. shirt so Abby could take part in Jersey Day. One of these kids was thrilled to be participating. The other didn't respond with quite as much glee.

This image reminds me to treasure every single parenting moment; even --or maybe even especially-- the ones that make me crazy. Sure, I was annoyed that Abby copped an attitude with me (hence the weird expression on her face) right after she'd all but insisted that I find the jersey so she could wear it. But it's the ebb and flow of human life at work; things go wrong and we deal with complications and frustrations. But at its core, life is still good! And the bad moments can even be funny after time passes and I'm able to see them with refreshed perspective.

So yep, as strange as it seems, I'm thankful for those surly pre-teen moments that teach me so much about patience and hope and --down the line a little-- humor.