Last night at about 7:00 p.m. Jordan and Julia picked up Justin and I to head to the Landing for a Journey tribute concert followed by a fireworks display. We found a parking spot and walked to the event location. We found a pretty decent spot and claimed it with our four chairs. With this being Branson, we left them there while we took a walk before the show started with no fear of them not being there upon our return. We grabbed a treat at Starbucks and was it ever delicious! To limit my caffeine intake during pregnancy, I am currently only drinking one cup of java each day. Last night I ordered a grande decaf hazelnut iced latte. I wanted to guzzle it, but somehow exercised enough self control to make it last. We settled into our chairs a few minutes before the show started, and the people watching began! All kinds of people strolled by - short, tall, fat, skinny, clean, dirty, rude, friendly, etc; however, everyone was hot! Some time in all of this we had two middle-class families settle in nearby. Each family had three kids, but that is where the similarities stopped. The first family's children were well-behaved and respectful of their parents. Did they ever act out? A bit. But when Mom or Dad asked them to change their behavior there was no question about whether or not they would listen. The second family's children were terrible, and it stressed me out. The younger daughter was kicking the older daughter, so the older daughter grabbed at her leg. The younger daughter then fell down and conked her head on the concrete. The mom was "trying" to take control of her children, but it was a little difficult to juggle discipline in one hand and her adult beverage in the other. That's probably why she ended up spilling some of her drink on Justin. The younger daughter was probably about 7 years old and she was hitting and kicking and punching her mom and screaming at the top of her lungs. It was painful to witness and certainly reminiscent of the kind of temper tantrum a 2 year old would throw. I began to wonder where the dad was in all of this. Justin pointed out that he was there too, just not involved with family time. Rather he was manning the cooler and refilling the beverages. The whole scene just bummed me out. I started out feeling bad for the parents for their terrible children and I ended up feeling terrible for the children because of their bad parents.
Suffice it to say, this scene made me very grateful to have been brought up in a loving home where hitting and acting out was not tolerated and adult beverages never came before family time. I should point out that I'm not against alcohol. If I'm at a baseball game, nothing sounds better than a cold beer. When I'm having dinner, I love to enjoy a glass of wine. Of course, I've put these practices on hold while pregnant, but it's important to note that I am not judging this family due to the single fact that they happened to be drinking. I just wonder how often their children are left on the back burner while they keep the focus on their pleasures alone.
I have ranted enough. The point of all of this is that I'm very grateful for my upbringing and I want to create an atmosphere of love and respect in our home so that me and Justin's priorities are God, each other, our children, and then everything else.
Speaking of family we had a great visit from Mom and Dad and Rachel, Derek, and Lucy Petersen this week. It was such a blessing to enjoy good family time. Here are some pictures!
Morning coffee and play time.
Self portrait with Lucy.
Lucy and Grandma at the park and staying hydrated.
Happy Baby!
Hey Mommy!
Rock star sister.
Uncle Justin is ready to preach at New Beginnings Fellowship! Lucy approves of his bow tie, and her Uncle Justin did a great job speaking on Jesus as our Good Shepherd.
Daddy and Lucy in the foreground, and my Daddy in the background. Lots of love!
We had a really nice visit and it was tough to say goodbye since we likely won't see them until we visit Minnesota in September.
Now onto the gifts portion of this bloggedy blog. Via received a bunch of nice things this week, and we are so thankful for it all!
Sweet baby clothes from Ericka Arner.
Harvest hat for our harvest baby made by Jan Haley.
Nepalese elephant from Aunt Jasmine.
My dad thought that Lucy should have a place to sit and eat while they all visited, so he and mom purchased the high chair off our registry. So nice of them! Lucy seemed to approve.
There you have it. I ranted, I bragged, and I gave a brief synopsis of another full week. Stay tuned for details on the upcoming Mederich family reunion.
Comments
Post a Comment