Admiration

Something we as adults don't usually show outwardly is admiration. It's difficult to show without being ooey gooey or just juvenille about it. (Juvenille: what you would witness me doing if I ran into Brett Favre anywhere.)
As children I think it's easier to look up to someone or see qualities you admire and express it. Although you don't' know that's the right word for it then. You find things you want to imitate in others or things you don't.

As I get older I realize there are fewer people I care to imitate or look up to. I find as an adult there is more openess to our view of life. And let me define openess. I mean that you have the blinders off & the accessibility to see the things we couldn't as children. We see more of who people REALLY are. We know clothes and good looks aren't always all there is in life. We can see sometimes the people that act the happiest, aren't all that happy. We can identify the frauds more easily & just who is genuine & who's not.
Most of this comes not just with age but with life's lessons. By the time we've reached adulthood, we've experienced many things & been through a fair share of life lessons. Some of those we all go through on the road to adulthood, others are more unique to our own circumstances.

It's not often I experience moments of admiration as an adult. That's rather sad, but considering the state of our society today & what goes on in the world, it's not too suprising-just sad. And because they are few & far between, I think it's important to recognize them. To yourself and to
others. So I had one of these moments Friday night. I was out & about with my friend & her daughters (4th grade, 2nd grade, twin 1-1/2 yr olds) & my baby boy. (7 weeks old)
We were out eating Subway & then off to Hobby Lobby & the scrapbook store. Now think about what I just said. Two adult women, took 2 little girls & 3 babies out to ALLLLLL those places-on a Friday night in the RAIN. Brave huh?
The girls were excellent & well behaved as any teenager if not better. They helped take care of their babies & mine. They held doors to help us moms carrying stuff. They didn't complain about how long we were in a store or if they could have this or that. That was my moment of admiration. How often can that behavior happen you ask? Well, over the many years I've known my friend, her kids have 99% of the time, acted in this same well behaved way.

When I met my friend, her oldest daughter was in my 3's class at our church preschool & her youngest was in my son's class. I was in love with her daughter & her long blonde hair & big blue eyes. She had the best lunches with black olives & dill pickles, all my favorites. And I was pregnant & always teasing her about trying to eat her lunch. I really noticed how well behaved she was in class & afterwards. Most kids would go crazy when their parents showed up after school, but not hers. They knew better. Then later in the school year my friend's husband, a sheriff's deputy, started dropping her girls off early so they could both get to their college classes downtown. I would run across the street at lunch & pick up their son from kindergarten & bring him over for the afternoon to the preschool. I was in total admiration for this woman who went back to school, raised three children & was married to a police officer. Her children were ALWAYS polite & just incredibly well behaved. They just have good old fashioned manners! Something MOST children today are dearly lacking.

So over the years I've still kept my admiration for her. No bubble was burst getting to know her family & spending lots of time with them. If anything my reasons to admire her have grown over the years. The fact she has 5 children is just a small one. But mostly I marvel at her ability to raise these children. She had twin girls at the age of 35 & still has more energy than me most days. She'll deny it, but she does. She'll take her kids out & not even blink an eye about how many there are or how many places they'll be getting out at. (I wait until my husband is home so I don't have to take TWO out with me! I'm LAZY!)

Getting back to Friday night, after I got home I had that realization again of how much I love her family & kids. She manuevers them in a way that they aren't throwing fits to be in a stroller for 2 hrs. She has strangers approach her & comment on how well behaved the babies are! I mean WHO has kids like this!? Her older girls are always helpful & are holding doors for people, turn in lost items, say "excuse me". I mean how many kids do you know that DO those things? They are special people & I really truly am in awe at how she is doing such a good job, I might even want to be around them when they are teenagers. And that's saying A LOT since I'm not sure I'll want to be at my own house when my kids hit puberty.