2007 was a very exciting year for our family--our oldest, B, and her boyfriend, Big D, graduated from college. B is the first person in our family to do so (I'm working on it now, hubby went, but didn't finish). We have always raised our children on the assumption that they would go to, and finish college. It seems to be working; B is done, J1 is going next year, and the younger two talk about where they will go when their time comes.
I have always operated on the theory that your family is working well if each generation is able to do better than the one before. By better I don't mean just economically (although that's helpful), but more importantly in the realms of parenting and education. To be open and honest with your children, to provide them with educational and social opportunities and responsibilities, and most often to give them what you missed in your own childhood. In my case, the family of my childhood was crazy different. My parents were divorced when no one else's were, my mom worked while everyone else's stayed at home, we lived in apartments when everyone else had a house, my mom and stepdad "lived in sin" for several years before they married, my dad was a pot-smoking hippie, we were always late for everything. We were always just a little different.
So what have I given my children? A very stable marriage, the same house since birth, punctuality, normalcy. In the eyes of some people we may be boring, but I prefer the term comfortable. My hope for my children is that this base of stability will give them the option to choose the kind of people they want to be--nesters or adventurers or maybe a little bit of both. My husband and I consciously made for ourselves the life we wanted--I want my kids to do the same--not just let life happen to them, but to give themselves options through education, and then make the lives they choose.
I don't know where this saying comes from, but I take it to heart: Give them roots to keep them grounded through tough times. Give them wings to soar above everything, explore new worlds and fly farther than we ever did.
P.S. It's just a crummy cell phone pic, but I like it--these are our roots--kicking back, together, on the couch. We each have our own laptop, book, or iPod, but we choose to be in our own worlds together!
P.P.S. I figured out how to insert photos in my posts!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, BLOGOSPHERE!