Perspective

I had planned to write about the not so glamorous side of parenting. I had planned to write about my weakness as a parent. I had planned to write about how much I dislike and how exhausting it is to be the bad guy all the time.
Well, while all that is still true ... difficult and exhausting, my perspective is a bit different at this point in time. I am blessed with kids that wear me down and wear me out. They are just "normal" kids. They are far from perfect but they are healthy.
I went back to work today and was greeted with a host of emails and phone calls that needed returning. In those emails were parent notes letting me know of job loss, impending divorces and hospitalized children...one of which has cancer.
I thought of these families and children for a long time this morning as guilt washed over me. Who am I to complain and stress about my own children's missteps? I am blessed to have my problems and not the problems these families face.
So as I look at a photo of my kids all I can think of is that they not perfect, nor am I, but we are healthy and my husband comes home safely from work every night. I am so blessed. I just needed to shift my perspective to see my blessings...
  Peace.