I spent another weekend in Arkansas, but this time around, I was surrounded by family. My cousin MW, called me about three weeks ago and told me to mark my calendar because on November 4th, he was going to have a fish fry to celebrate his new job making big bucks. Okay, everyone knows I’m sucker for free food, so I was hooked immediately. On November 3rd, I packed up the kids and we headed for Arkansas. The kids watched movies and I listened to uninterrupted music on my MP3 player, life was grand.
The fish fry was fun, everyone in town stopped by to say hi, grab some food and just hang out. My cousin is bachelor and his house is a testament. There is a pool table in the living room and the den is consumed by a couch, chair and entertainment center with everything connected to the television, so imagine the women in the house trying to change the radio station and adjust the volume—we were totally screwed up. I had a good time, but once the card game started, I was out. Nothing worse than watching and listening to a card game, especially when they are playing for money and the beer is consumed like water.
My mom told me my dad was wondering why I came all the way to Montrose for a fish fry and she told him that I was coming for the food, but I also wanted to spend some time with my family, couldn’t have said it better myself. My dad lost his oldest sister in December 2004 and when I saw cousins at the funeral that I hadn’t seen in over twenty years, I realized that I need to keep in touch. I think most of the family members there felt the same because we revived our family reunions. I missed the 2005 reunion in Dallas, but we had a blast at the 2005 reunion in Peoria, IL. I love my family and as I’ve gotten older, I realized how important it is to keep the bonds tight.
So on my way home Sunday evening I began to think about family. I started thinking about my immediate family—my three precious children and how thankful I am that they are healthy, vibrant and active. I realized that I need to do all I can to help them be successful, productive citizens. As I lay in bed that night, I began to devise a plan and daily schedule to focus on my kids and their needs. This week is going to be our pilot week of turning off the television from 4:00-5:00 and focus on homework. Day 1 was pretty successful, we’ll see how it goes…
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If there is one thing in this world I want my children to learn is that family does matter. I wonder how my children will continue as they grow older. I pray that they will maintain a healthy, positive relationship all their lives.
One day down, 4,745 days to go! (Until LP turns 18).
We've established Tuesdays and Thursdays as "No TV" days. We read instead. It seems to work, although there was quite a bit of groaning for awhile.
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