This past Friday, I got a text from one of my son's friends from school (actually, his mom). My son was invited to a sleepover! This son, my 10 year old, is my most challenging kid. I LOVE his silliness, loud voice and constant joking but sometimes it is nice to have a break. The truth is, when he isn't home the house is SO quiet. I was excited at the chance of having a quieter Friday night and Saturday morning. However...
Before I had kids I had an idea. I wanted my house to be the fun house, the house where all the kids wanted to hang. I had a few reasons. I love kids and enjoy having them around. Also, I wanted my kids to have the same experience I had growing up. I cannot remember a time when my parents said NO, when I wanted to have friends over (thanks Mom and Dad). I also felt it was important to keep an eye on my kids! If they were home with friends, I would be better informed and have more influence in their lives. Finally, I wanted to teach them how to reach out and love others, especially those who were not like our family. So my goal was to be the fun house!
Over the years, I have worked hard to allow my kids to have friends over as often as possible. What I didn't realize was that the reality of being the fun house meant it would often be noisy, messy and I wouldn't get as much time to myself as I would like. However, I believe that the positives far outweigh the negatives.
Last Friday, when I told my son about the text, he immediately said, "Instead of going there, can my friend come over here for a sleepover?" I was surprised, slightly disappointed and yet pleased. My house is the FUN house!
We love our neighbors SO much! Our philosophy of Christian living is that we need to reach out to the people that God puts in our path, love them unconditionally and show them who Jesus is by our actions and words. We have intentionally reached out to kids in our neighorhood. They started out as kids but over the years they have grown. We have several teens who LOVE to hang out at our house, the FUN house! It cracks me up that they want to be here and I just love it!
It is neat to see an idea grow into a reality. In just a few years I will have 2 teenagers of my own! It is so hard to believe. I pray that I can continue to be the house where all their friends will want to hang out. I hope to bake lots of cookies, buy lots of pizza and have a constant mess to clean up!
Before I had kids I had an idea. I wanted my house to be the fun house, the house where all the kids wanted to hang. I had a few reasons. I love kids and enjoy having them around. Also, I wanted my kids to have the same experience I had growing up. I cannot remember a time when my parents said NO, when I wanted to have friends over (thanks Mom and Dad). I also felt it was important to keep an eye on my kids! If they were home with friends, I would be better informed and have more influence in their lives. Finally, I wanted to teach them how to reach out and love others, especially those who were not like our family. So my goal was to be the fun house!
Over the years, I have worked hard to allow my kids to have friends over as often as possible. What I didn't realize was that the reality of being the fun house meant it would often be noisy, messy and I wouldn't get as much time to myself as I would like. However, I believe that the positives far outweigh the negatives.
Last Friday, when I told my son about the text, he immediately said, "Instead of going there, can my friend come over here for a sleepover?" I was surprised, slightly disappointed and yet pleased. My house is the FUN house!
We love our neighbors SO much! Our philosophy of Christian living is that we need to reach out to the people that God puts in our path, love them unconditionally and show them who Jesus is by our actions and words. We have intentionally reached out to kids in our neighorhood. They started out as kids but over the years they have grown. We have several teens who LOVE to hang out at our house, the FUN house! It cracks me up that they want to be here and I just love it!
It is neat to see an idea grow into a reality. In just a few years I will have 2 teenagers of my own! It is so hard to believe. I pray that I can continue to be the house where all their friends will want to hang out. I hope to bake lots of cookies, buy lots of pizza and have a constant mess to clean up!
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That is awesome! You are a great mom!
ReplyDeletei feel the same way. I want my kids near me... and i am sure you will be buying lots of pizza's and food and doing a lot of clean up... but soon, they will be all grown up too and out of the house, and you are really going to miss those mess-makers.
ReplyDeleteOh Janelle! I love when you pop in on my blog. I need to head over to yours. Miss you!
ReplyDelete