The most rewarding part of being a mom is watching my kids turn into good people. I see it a lot caring for each other, other children, elderly, or animals. I almost lost my oldest once because he stopped to hold the door… for everyone. Even when welcoming the next sibling, just pure love and never jealousy. They give me a hard time here and there, as kids should, but they’re all genuinely good people which makes me so proud.

I’ve had 6 kids and 18+ years of parenting so it’s hard to choose just one memory. My favorites are probably the most chaotic. When my oldests were about 2&3 I took a shower thinking they were asleep. I came out to find them covered in flour. All of the strawberries were eaten. The eggs were cracked down the trash can. At the time I was so angry. I took a picture to remember. Later I showed them, they told me they wanted to bake me a cake. Perspective and intentions learned.

I would love to say take the kids on some vacation that they deserve. But the truth is money has been tight lately and it would end up going to household repairs (flooring, water heater, etc.) or a car for the teenagers to share since we are juggling one car with all these schedules and the one I have keeps nickel and diming me.