Where I Pat Myself on the Back

The girls and I headed to Battle Creek, MI for the 4th. My aunt lives on a lake up there.

We were there with my mom, several cousins, some aunts and uncles and even a great grandma.

It was a nice time to visit. And the residents around the lake put on one of the best fireworks shows we've ever seen.

But it was hot, so, so hot outside. The lake is a small one and as such, it was warm enough to actually not be refreshing, rather, it felt like a luke warm bath. Not hot enough to relax sore muscles but not cool enough to actually make you feel better after swimming.

I know, wah, wah, wah.

But wait, there's more complaining to come. See, the lake is also mucky and weedy and ewwww!!

We swam the first night anyway. The girls didn't mind the muck and the weeds.

The next day, though, the 5th, was hotter still. Too hot for the beach in the middle of the day.

So instead, my cousin plunked her 6 year old in front of the television with an xbox. Alyssa watched it for a bit and Olivia...she was bored out of her little mind. She hates video games. So she followed me from room to room. We went outside to the deck that overlooks the lake a few times but it was too hot to be out there for long. The lake usually offers a cooling breeze but not this time.

Finally, Olivia lured me to the landing on my aunt's stairs. There we played 'Apartment'. Olivia described where every room was and we pretended she was cooking me food.

Every so often, we'd leave the apartment and visit areas of the house that Olivia designated the restaurant (the kitchen, duh,) the zoo (the front porch) and the grocery store (the room where the kids were playing the video games.)

We colored several pages in her Barbie coloring book and finally, at 5ish that afternoon, we escaped to the beach again, where Olivia made mudpies and I walked along the shallow water.

Alyssa eventually got bored with the video games and found us and she and Olivia played a little longer in the water.

But see, this is where I get all full of myself. I could have shoved O into the room with the other kids and made her watch the video games. I know she needs more, though. She needs interaction, she needs conversation, she needs to go outside every so often and she needs me.

My cousin is a good mother. But she lets that television babysit her daughter an awful lot. I realize that her daughter is very different from my two. My girls can both be very demanding of my time. They let me know what they need and how they want me to meet those needs.

And I try. I try to keep them active (though, yes, Alyssa did play about an hour's worth of video games yesterday, probably too much) and I try to interact with them.

After the boredom of yesterday, I promised to take them to the pool today. We're going to spend the day there, swimming, slathering on sunscreen and just being together, outside, away from electronics.

The best gift I can ever give to my children is my time, my attention, my love. I try so hard to give all of that freely to them as much as I can while maintaining just enough of myself to retain my sanity. It's a tough balance.