laughter + love = community

Oh my sweet boys...how I love being their mommy!

Dan and I were blessed to have two baby boys within 14 months of each other.  Like all parents we find ourselves exhausted and yet every day is filled with lots of laughter and a perfect love that only children can bring into a home.  One of the most recent joys of raising these little guys is watching them build friendships and establish their innocent sense of community.  Beyond being each others best friend, they are both blessed to have many buddies.  These 'best buddies' fill our days at church, story time and several playgroups.  Almost daily the boys ask who they will get to play with and when the plan for the day is revealed, their eyes light up.  Last week, on a typical day at story time, the boys were playing and talking with their friends when a huddle started to form.  I was proudly watching our oldest gather his friends into a tight circle, eager to share a secret.  How adorable!  It was a sweet moment as I watched him engage in his community of peers.  Then in a blink he pulled something out of his pocket.  I continued to watch still proud, but also curious to find out what treasure he was about to reveal.  And then it happened... from about 10 feet away I began to recognize his treasure and my eyesight confirmed my fear.  He was showing his friends a crisp piece of paper titled "How to use a tampon."  Luckily, all the children gathered are unable to read and even luckier the fact the diagram on the back was still folded and out of sight.  At this point I invaded the circle of little boys and asked if I could hold the treasure until Daddy got home from work, which at that point my son could show off his new treasure once again.  Embarrassment mixed with awe left me speechless for a bit, only until I looked over my shoulder and made eye contact with another mom who had watched the whole thing go down.  To my total relief we exchanged smiles that turned into laughter and a hug that seemed to say "its ok, weird stuff happens at our house too".  So now a week later, I continue to laugh at the scene that may forever be in my mind -my sons proud treasure, the regular surprises of parenting and the gift of having really great friends!  So the lasting lesson is this: friendships are crucial.  They make life sweeter and offer the companionship that God Himself desired when He created us.  We are designed to be in community and without it our very life lacks joy that can only come from laughter and love.  I am thankful that my children have their own community of first friends and even more so for my beautiful girlfriends that can embrace the twists and turns of my crazy life with a smile, a hug and a good laugh!