Friends….

When Joe and I started having children, we never thought at the end of 4 years we would have 4 children!  Some people say we are “crazy” and there are days that I think quite possibly they are right, but I have found that once you get past two children and are officially outnumbered, it really doesn’t matter if you have 4 or 14.  The stress that we feel right now with the kids is strictly a physical stress and while that stress NEVER goes away, it does evolve into a different kind of stress as they get older and have different needs and demands.

Today, Katie and Owen were in the bath tub and I was keeping an eye on them while doing some things in the kitchen.  Owen was being a little stinker this morning and was quite grumpy.  While they were splashing around, Katie said to Owen “Owen? I am your best friend…why are you grumpy at me…. I am your ONLY friend so don’t be grumpy to me!”  I laughed at the last part but the first part made me realize that we did things perfectly for our family.  My kids are best friends and that is what I wanted as a parent.  I want my children to rely on each other for support and have great healthy relationships.  Isn’t that what it is all about?? 

At this point in their lives, they would rather be with each other than anyone else and that is priceless.  I know this won’t last forever, but maybe it will foster some good feelings and if I can get some of it on video, I can PROVE to them when they hate one another as teenagers, I can sit them down in front of the TV and PROVE that they used to LOVE each other!!!  That’s my plan.. and I am sticking to it!!!