Roots and wings...

The older my kids get, the more I refer back to this quote as a parent:

"There are two gifts we should give our children: one is ROOTS, the other is WINGS"

This seems like such a simple concept, except... it's not!  I look at my kids, and I am so proud of each one of them.  They are each different, unique, and special in their own way.  I have tried very hard to always accept them for what they are, and encourage them to follow their dreams.  My oldest son is a free spirit in every sense of the word.  He has a great passion for life, and lives every day and minute to the fullest.  I look at him, and admire everything he has figured out in life at such a young age.  He is truly an inspiration to me, and makes me realize that life is too short not to be happy and follow your dreams.   He is a friend to everyone he meets, and would give you the shirt off his back. He is an amazing son, grandson, cousin, nephew and big brother.

In the next 3 weeks, he will begin the adventure of a lifetime.  I am so excited for him and wish him all the happiness in the world. So...as he is preparing for his journey, I am preparing as well.  I know he has roots....now, he is spreading his wings. 

Advice from Mr. Rogers...

When I was little, I would watch Mr. Rogers Neighborhood - it truly was one of the best children's shows of all times.  I wish Mr. Rogers had been around when my kids were little.  Last night, a friend of mine posted a quote on Facebook from Mr. Rogers and I got to thinking...how many mistakes could be avoided in life, or how many bad decisions could have turned into good ones IF we had taken the advice of Mr. Rogers.  So... here are several things he taught us when we were little, that hold just as much (if not more) value today.

• Love and accept others for who they are. "Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now." ~ Fred Rogers
• Listen with our ears and our hearts. "In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” ~ Fred Rogers
• Forgive always. “Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life's important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives.”  ~ Fred Rogers
• Build caring relationships. “Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other's achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.”~ Fred Rogers
• Work out your differences and respect others views. “It's very dramatic when two people come together to work something out. It's easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect each other.”  ~ Fred Rogers
• Be kind to others. “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.” ~ Fred Rogers
• Always do your best. “Some days, doing "the best we can" may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect on any front-and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.”  ~ Fred Rogers
• Always be yourself. “As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has- or ever will have- something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.”  ~ Fred Rogers

Happy Sunday y'all!