Raising Rural Runges: We're not totally blowing this parenting job!!! ;)

Sooo..... when you have multiple kids you constantly are judging yourself for mistakes you made with your first kid. We held him too long...responded to every cry...rocked him to sleep for the first year... By the second and third you slap yourself on the forehead and sigh, "Oh, man, did I do that wrong..." For the past 11 1/2 years Scott and I have second guessed every move we have made as parents - was it the right move putting him in preschool for only one year? Was it a good decision putting him in public school vs. private school? Should we have held him back with a July 1st birthday? Your first kid starts to feel like an experiment. We spend a lot of time making sure that we give our 3 kids every tool that we can to make sure that they not only survive in school, but thrive in school.

We are currently trying to survive having 3 kids in 3 different schools. Yes, we chose that. But it does make it more difficult for a stay-at-home mom to remain on top of all 3 kids in all 3 schools and still continue to be as "hands-on" as I was with one child in one school.

Days like today make the years of parenting, sacrificing, teaching....pay off. When Jake came through the door this afternoon, glowing with pride - his enormous smile lighting up his face, and told me he had been chosen as student of the trimester in his section of the 6th grade class my mouth fell open. Not that I doubt his worth in receiving the award - it's just not often that "little" Jake gets recognized for anything! Academics are supposed to be an unbiased playing field and it is extremely rewarding as a parent to have your child recognized at any level of personal accomplishment. A quote from his award by his teacher, Mrs. Faber, " Jacob never failed. Jacob felt the pressures of the 6th grade early on but took this on as a challenge and has learned to manage his time to become an excellent student." This isn't an accident! As parents we watched his grades slide and we worked together to help Jake get back on top of them and come up with our new High School expectations. As a parent it is reassuring to know:

SOMETIMES WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING!!!! YES, WE REQUIRE HIM TO PRACTICE FOR HOURS BEFORE A TEST, BUT THAT'S PARENTING!!!! WE WILL DO THE SAME THING WITH OUR DAUGHTERS!

We are very involved parents (sometimes we question too involved) but that's who we are. We want to ensure that our children are performing in life to their full capacity. We are extremely involved in their lives and continuously pray we have raised them to make the right decisions.

So today we celebrate the HANDS ON PARENTS - We are right there with you - you are AWESOME!!! And if you live in rural Minnesota and your local Dairy Queen happened to open for the season on March 1st, that is an added celebration bonus! Cheers to you! CHEERS TO ALL OUR KIDS!!!