Dancing with Daffodils

Today is my birthday. The past few days I've been feeling sad and like a birthday these days is less exciting than as a kid or young adult. The magic and wonder of what could happen on your birthday or what surprise might happen or what friend might remember you is kind of over. I just wanted my kids not to fight or cry today and if they had cleaned their rooms up I might have considered it a birthday miracle! But why set yourself up for disappointment just because it is the day you were born? These expectations that everyone is going to be nice to you and make you feel loved and special can easily lead to disappointment so I was having a hard time getting excited about today. The day, however, started off that I woke up when my body wanted to, which was 8:40 a.m. Woot woot! I love that! Then a note was slid under my door saying that I could sleep for 20 more minutes (which meant my kids were up to something!). I took a shower and then went to get my kids, who covered me with hug...

This past week my daughter was officially invited to her first sleepover. As parents, we had decided years ago that our kids just weren't going to do sleepovers. The only exception has been when we go away for a night and they all stay at a friend's house while we are gone, or when we watch kids for friends for the same reason. So this was the first time we had to say no thank you to an invitation and it was a learning experience. Years ago a church leader was speaking in our general church conference and said that a lot of kids are introduced to things such as drugs, alcohol and pornography at sleepovers. He warned parents to be courageous in protecting our children by being prayerful and willing to say no when we are uneasy about activities, especially overnight ones. This was a true experience for my husband who went to a sleepover and found that his friends had changed from 8th grade to 9th and decided to drink alcohol. He spent the entire night afraid to go to sleep, sit...