Family

Well, I felt like I write a lot about bthe barefoot things, but are any of you wondering about the mama part? As a mama I recently went through a guilty phase. I don't like to leave my family for the day or the weekend to go off and race. Sometimes my girls will go with me, other times I will be running so long that they will just be bored waiting at the finish line for me and then waitin for awards and driving in the car, etc. But, my husband said the kids are fine...don't worrry and in the long run you are setting a great example for them. You are showing them that you are a strong, athletic, independent woman. I guess to a point he is right, but I still worry.

I have a teen-age daughter who has a car and a job and a boyfriend. I never see her anymore. She'll graduate from high school next year and then be off on her own adventures. I miss her already! Our relationship lately has been about connecting when she is home. Trying to figure out work schedules and college visits and summer field hockey schedules and still have some time to fit in some family fun. I always said there is no manual on how to raise a teen-age daughter. I wouldn't follow it anyway, that's just how I roll. Making it up as we go has worked so far. :) I have had to apologize to my daughter on a number of occasions because she is our training model. We will have already gone through things with her first so we have a working model to follow with the next two girls.

The younger two girls, well, they still like to hang out with mom. One will be in the 5th grade and turn 11 this summer. The other one is 8 and will be in the 4th grade. People ask me all the time if they are twins. If you know them they are soooo different it is scary. My husband and I often say to each other as we watch them play, who do those kids belong to anyway? How do you raise three children all with the same rules and under the same roof and get 3 totally different people?

Love my kids...