Realities and Realizations from 2008

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with times to remember. Ours was far richer than I could have imagined. We had our moments, of course, and a few meltdowns along the way... but that is a post for another day.
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This year held some fairly important epiphanies for yours truly. It was the year I started blogging, for one, and I found that I really do love it.

But I made some other important discoveries along the way. I thought now would be the time to share.

I realized some quirky things about my family:

• Logic does not apply to three-year-old-girls. My daughter will not eat the outer crust of a slice of bread, under any circumstances. She will, however, eat the entire heel of the bread (which, of course, is all crust.) She now says it's her favorite part.
• My five year old changes his socks (three times a day) more often than he brushes his teeth (twice a day.) Apparently avoiding funky breath is less important than avoiding funky feet.
• My oldest son is incapable of letting someone else win – at anything – even rock/scissors/paper or eenie meenie miney moe. He is, however, generous to a fault. Yesterday, he saved his brother five french fries from Wendy's by stuffing them into his jacket pocket and producing them when we got home. (They were, in fact, gratefully consumed by the brother in question.)
• My husband will help someone else finish a home improvement project from start to finish but sometimes gets stuck in ‘start’ mode when it’s a project in our own home. When he does get a job done here on the homestead, it is better than anything I could have imagined.

And now for me… realizations from the year 2008 are as follows:

• When my house is dirty, I cannot function properly. Once it’s clean, my happy times are happier and my rest is more restful.
• I have far more patience with my own children than other people’s children. So, my suspicions about whether I would be unhappy as a schoolteacher have been confirmed. I absolutely would.
• Change is tough for me, especially in parenting. When my children grow into some new behavior, I am slow to adapt. It takes about two weeks of friction before I even figure out what is going on.
• I am so tired of making pie for special occasions. I’m ready for a new challenge. (Is 2009 the year of soufflé? Sounds good to me!)
• Reading is more relaxing than watching television in the evening. I’m actually happier without TV.
• I am relieved that the presidential election is over and am happy with the result, but I am now officially burnt out on politics.
• Becoming just like my mother isn’t as bad of a thing as I once thought it was. She’s really quite talented and smart, you know.
• I want to be fit, but you’re more likely to find me typing at this computer screen than in an aerobics class.
• Finally, I’ve realized that 2008 has been great, but 2009 has the potential to be even greater. I can’t wait to see what’s around the bend.

- Midwest Mom