Today I was not...

Today, I was not: Battling back to school traffic. 

I was driving out on the back-roads in Colorado...

I was not wondering if my kids were getting answers as they competed with many others for one teacher's attention:

I was hanging out with them discovering new learning opportunities like when we ran across the Budweiser Clydesdale's in the parking lot of a truck stop (the handler talked a lot to use about the horses, their history, and their care):

I was not worried about if my child was being picked on, being left out, or making friends:

I was delighting in my children interacting and building their relationship (a relationship that is going to matter in 20 years...which is more than I can say for school relationships):

I was not filling out stacks of paper with redundant information...I was not watching the clock to make sure I was in the right place to get my kids at the right time, nervously waiting to make sure they found me....I was not worried that someone would pull a gun on my child...I was not worried that a child that was being exposed to ugliness at home would share that ugliness with my cild.

I was taking time with my children, enjoying their presence. I was guiding them as we went to a visitors center and learned about the area. I watched as they interacted with two elderly women who told them stories that sparked interest we had to explore when we got home (about the Ludlow massacre and Kit Carson). I marveled with them as we discovered three species of animals we didn't know existed. I watched them help one another. I watched them work out their problems. I knew what food they ate and basically what was in it, AND I let them have more if they were still hungry. 

Yes, we are blessed. :)