I watched my kid roll her eyes at me and mimic me. She mouthed what I was saying. It made me aware that I have to be careful of what I say and do. They are watching. They are watching me talk on the phone. They are watching me deal with my husband.

They see what I do when I get upset. They are processing everything. We hear the expression, mini Me. I saw a mini Me staring back at me. I did not like it. How do I change this? I have to change.

I have to become someone who is happier more than I am upset. Sounds difficult. It is really a choice. Either I can get upset and show disgust by rolling my eyes and mimicking someone else or I can take it. I can then let it roll off my back and be happy. I don’t have to remain upset. We all get hit with some things we don’t understand. However, we can choose to be happy.

The kids have a half day off from school. They love to get half days. They get the best of both worlds. They get to see their friends in school. Then they get to come home early and do what they want. They are happy to only have some school.

They like it here. I am glad of that. I do what I can to make the home a better place. A place where they feel welcome and loved. Some days they don’t want to go to school. I remind them of the importance of going to school. I let them know my views on the educational system.

They know I appreciate what goes on. However, I don’t agree with everything. I don’t like common core. I can’t figure it out. Today they don’t have homework. That is good. I don’t want to rack my brain, with common core math. I am glad it is a half day, as well. I am excited to see my kids.

All kids know how to draw and paint. I recently had some kids over from my daughters class. They instinctively know how to paint. It was amazing watching the kids. They know how to mix colors. They know what they want to draw.

I did not influence them one bit on how to paint or what to paint and there were some nice paintings. They were not what you would call a masterpiece That takes time. Lots of time spent crafting the masterpiece.

Some enjoyed it more than others. They wanted to create more artwork. Event he autistic kids enjoyed making the artwork. They were able to focus long enough to complete the artwork. It was amazing to see the twin boys make art. They both created geometric shapes. One had a simple diagram and the other created a Tetris screen like image. They all made something according to their true hearts desire. They were free to make whatever they wanted. Some messed up what they thought they wanted to make and changed it. That is the beauty of creativity.

My daughter went to the dentist. She wanted to know if it would hurt. I told her that they give her something to prevent it from hurting. The worst part is the pressure from the needle. She teared up. She was brave. I don’t think she was numb all the way.

She said she could still feel the pain. She got scared. She wanted to put her hands over her mouth. When she was told not to do that anymore, she was sad, but she moved her hands.

She got home and it is as if she never had the procedure, she is back to watching videos and eating. I told her how brave she was. I told her how she was pushing through the procedures like a champion. Going to the dentist is not fun. Getting several procedures done at once, is no fun. As far as I am concerned she is braver than I.

It turns out that my kids don’t like to wait for a lot of things. I try to teach them to make the most of waiting. There are times when they ask for my phone. I cringe. I am not a huge fan of keeping them occupied with my phone.

However, I let them know that it is only for a short while. Today, I think God intervened. My daughter had to go to the bathroom. Then she forgot all about the phone. That was it. She knew there was time limit. Then we had a break in the time she was on it.

Then she went on to something else, just like that. I made it know that I don’t want them on the phone. I try to show them that I don’t have to be on the phone or computer all the time either, it is a slow process. I think they are getting it. Wait times don’t have to be occupied with electronics. There are plenty of other things we can do while waiting. We can read, talk to someone, or go for a walk.

I was touched when my daughter said that she wanted to do something with me. She wanted to play with me. She did not have any ideas.

I had paints and canvas on hand. The kids love to play . They love to have fun. What they really like to do is make art. She knew what she wanted to paint. She picked the colors. I did not tell her what to do. She needed help figuring out how to open the paint tubes. They are sealed and then you have to pop them open with the tab on the other side of the cap.

She just knew how to paint. When she was finished, she was happy to spend time with me and create a one of a kind piece. I knew that she would not take instruction from me. If she needed help from me she would ask. I know her personality. It was all bout what she wanted to do and how she wanted to make it.

I read Amy Cuddy’s book on Presence. Immediately, I thought of how I could apply it to my kids. The book even has snippets from various people who tried applied her lesson. The premise of her book and TED talk is that your body language does affect who you are.

I let my kids watch her TED talk, as the book suggests. I told them to remember the talk any time they are scared. Her suggestion is to have a person go into a power pose, that like Wonder Woman, for two minutes and practice effective breathing. The kids where you focus on breathing in quickly and then slowly exhaling.

My kids got it. I am glad to share something so powerful. I wish I would have had something like that when I was growing up. My son has a presentation coming up. I want to make sure that he is able to give a presentation with confidence. We all could use a positive stance in our lives.

The kids are enjoying the weather now. It is a beautiful day. They had an Easter Egg Hunt. We had a bike ride. They got to hunt for their baskets and the contents. they got two sets of baskets.

It was nice that the kids got to put on their swimsuits. It was a great day. You could not ask for a more perfect day. We had delicious food. More than enough. We are so grateful. The kids also rode ATV’s. They had a wide variety of experiences after going to church.

We are missing some family to spend some time with friends. We did not have a traditional meal. Sometimes, you have do some things differently. You have to step outside of your comfort zone. You have to push your boundaries. It is good to celebrate the day in different ways. We don’t have to do the traditional route. We are blessed because we had this day. It was beautiful because we are alive and have a purpose and that is beautiful.

The kids love to read. I could not be prouder of that fact. They love books. They love to get new books. They love to get library books. They are obsessed with books. I am grateful that they are. I hope they keep their enthusiasm for books.

I used to be one of those people who would not read a book after college. I was done with research papers for ever. No more book reports. No more text books. No more. Then I go involved in personal development. It changed my entire outlook.

I started reading just fifteen minutes a day. It makes a huge difference. I get lots of ideas from books. They help me figure out what to do. I can read as many as three to four books a month. The average American only reads one book a year. I am grateful that my parents taught me how to read. I love that my kids and I could start our own book fair at home here.

The kids have no school today. They are still sleeping. I don’t know what I am going to do with them today. They are good about doing their own thing. They like to be busy. The like to do a lot of activities.

I won’t be able to supervise them through all of their activities. I am grateful that they are able to do as much as they can. I want them to treasure the time they have off. They can make memories with each other during this time.

I want to capture it too. The photos will be priceless when they can look back on them. Those memories will be precious to them and me. We are going to make the most of today. A day of opportunity even if they don’t see it that way.