Childhood Memories

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of times spent with my cousins.  I had lots of cousins and most of them were right around my same age.  Unfortunately, my children only have two cousins right now.  One is 18 months old so fairly close in age to my kids and she and Ryann will probably have fun playing together at family events when the 18-month-old is older.  The other is just barely considered a fetus, I think.  So that one will be about 4 and a half years younger than my youngest.  I loved hanging out with my cousins who were about that much older than me but the other sad part about the baby cousin is that it lives in another state and we likely won't see much of him/her :(

I'm lucky that my cousins and I have mostly stayed pretty close and I consider my cousin's children, my kids' cousins....if that makes any sense.  I was excited that on my day off this week, my cousin Matt's daughter, Sofia, came over to play for the afternoon.  I was happy for Ryann to get to play with a girl for a little while (she's been pining for a sister lately....little does she know, she's probably better off without that nuisance at this point in her life; seems like sisters come in much more handy once you're all grown up).  And I was pleased that my kids got to spend time with one of their cousins and hopefully made some very fond memories of their own.

I also hope that the memories depicted below get me off the hook for any of the times I've fallen down on the job as a mother - the times when I've yelled so loudly to get your attention, my throat hurt for the rest of the day, for example.  I'm pretty sure this level of childhood fun and abandonment makes up for a lot:

When I busted Ryann for the handprints on the side of the shed, she readily admitted it was her and that Sofia played no part in it.  I was proud of her for owning up to her actions.

P.S. - This is my 300th post!!!