Perspective

Our happiness in life has a lot to do with perspective, I believe. My Dad tried to drill this principle into my head from a young age. "Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it," he'd quote. Well, our family has been sick this week, and from my perspective I would have to say that four sick kids plus one sick mom isn't the greatest combination...

I couldn't help but notice the contrast of having my older two kids stay home sick from school:

Child #1 spent one day at home and complained about being bored (or hungry, or thirsty) for the majority of the time. There was "nothing to do" even though I offered up what seemed like 20-some good suggestions. I love this child dearly so I don't want to be misunderstood, but let's just say that both of us were very happy when he was able to return to school the next day.

By contrast, child #2 spent two days sick at home. This one just naturally fills his time on his own with little instruction from me. A little reading, a lot of book making, a little playing in the toy room with little brother, back to a little reading, etc. He wasn't very happy when bedtime rolled around last night. I overheard him tell his dad the following, "But we just have the greatest house ever and it makes me want to keep playing!" Ha, ha. Talk about perspective!

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I've made the decision to retire this blog. When I started "pete pages" a couple years ago, I did it with the hopes that I would have something witty to share with a public (and often anonymous) audience. My perspective has changed, and I find that in reality I don't have many witty thoughts to share, and I've become more interested in keeping a personal history of sorts in a more private setting.

Feel free to ask for an invite to my private blog "sweet petes" if you are interested (and haven't already been invited). This has really been a great outlet for me; thanks for reading!