Dear Cool,

Seriously, we are so over you. You burrow yourself into the minds of many from a very young age and cause a variety of emotions. Sometimes feelings of greatness and accomplishment, but most times discouragement and despair. 

You can set the precedence for what's socially acceptable and what's not. You can create confidence and self-consciousness at the exact same time. You rob dreamers of dreams and getting lost in a world of imagination all because of your ridiculous standards. You become a fixation; taking away the little things that make life fun. You create unnecessary expectations that never need to exist for a child.

Really? Who are you anyway? I know you got to me as a kid and throughout my teenage and early adult years and I think I'm lucky that I made it out alive considering those days weren't very long ago. I see you messing around with my kids, causing doubt and fear and I've had just about enough. 

I know it's not going to be easy but I know I've had enough of being in your clutches. I'm going to be ME and my kids are going to be THEM and well if that's just not cool enough for ya, get over yourself.

I WILL NOT allow you to take away my kids ability to have fun and enjoy things that they love to do regardless of what age they are. I WILL NOT let you influence them to do things they aren't comfortable doing and I DEFINITELY WILL NOT let them feel like they need to change who they are in order to be accepted by YOU.

Signed, 

WE ARE SO OVER COOL FAMILY!!

why having kids is so cool.

in the midst of our totally awesome summer,

i can't help but gush to myself 

how awesome it is to be a parent.

sure, there can never be enough hours in the day

to squeeze in that 'me' time or that date night

but having the opportunity to teach, create

and well, just be a kid with your kids

is a time that can not be replaced.

here are my top 5 reasons why having kids is so cool:

1. they never judge. they don't care how you dress,

how you look, what you have or don't have, they just want you..

but they may make a comment on your horrendous morning

breath (who wouldn't?)

2. relatively easily pleased. whether it be watching you cook,

helping you garden, or actually engaging in imaginary time,

it doesn't take too much to get your kids out of that bored

state of being. 

3. always around. yep, they sure are! but they're also

your grocery store buddy, or change room pal or somebody

to talk to or croon songs with in the car. they can also be great

movie dates and sometimes dinner dates too. and they are always

waiting for you to come home from work so they can tell you about

their day or ask about yours.

4. incredibly affectionate. i don`t know about you, but affection

is one of the many things my girls crave from us. a simple snuggle,

kisses and tickle monster fights..you can guarantee that your kids

will always have their arms open to you.

5. they make every family outing awesome. after separating the kids

and putting at least one of them in time out there is something more magical

about experiencing outings with our girls. from puttering around our great city

or hopping on a plane to a far away place the memories we have from

doing those things as a family will never be forgotten.

when asking emma why she thought we were so cool, 

here are the things she came up with..verbatim:

you take us somewhere

you are nice to us

you help us

you give us treats

you play with us

you put movies on for us

you help put princess dresses on us

you help wash us

you love us

`nuff said.