Feeling needed even when you're not

After a few days out of town and way too much to catch up on, I wasn't feeling well. I decided to lay down in my dark bedroom and hope my dull headache would subside. About an hour later, I woke up with the headache almost gone and feeling a little more refreshed. I looked at the clock. It was past lunch time. I couldn't believe it had been quiet enough for me to sleep a little bit and that no one woke me up asking for something to eat.

I was still feeling groggy and tossed around in bed a little longer. Then my stomach was grumbling, too, and I figured I better get out of bed. I came down the stairs and there was my just-turned-10-year-old in front of the television with a plate. He'd made himself a salad and a quesadilla while I was napping. I felt better that he had eaten something and at the same time I felt guilty that I hadn't done it for him and even a little bad that he was able to pull off a good meal on his own without my help.

As moms, our ultimate goal is to raise children to be independent and self-sufficient who don't have to depend on us for every little thing. But, as moms, we also like to take care of our children and we like to do things for them. That transition period when they are moving into doing things on their own can be a hard one for moms. It makes us feel good when we see they can make a meal on their own, but it's still nice to get a request for a peanut butter and jelly with the crust cut off.

Granderson's book has a great message

I was at a book sale at the library today and spotted a copy of this, which I grabbed. It is honestly one of my favorite children's books. Most of my favorites are traditional bedtime stories with colorful artwork that involve animals and hugs and words that rhyme.

This book, All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It by Curtis Granderson offers great advice to young kids and teens about being successful, handling peer pressure, hard work and priorities. Granderson is a professional athlete, who currently plays in the major leagues as an outfielder for the New York Yankees. He also happens to be a graduate of the high school here in my town. I've seen first hand how much he does to give back and he is quite an inspiration to young and old.

When I first got a copy of the book a couple years ago, I wanted the boys to all read it. Since I admit I have slacked on reading together since my youngest one learned to read, I decided we could read it at dinner time when everyone is at the table. Each night one of the boys would read a chapter out loud and we'd all listen. When it was finished, they liked the routine so much that we went through it a second time.

It's a short book that older kids can get through quickly, but I really enjoyed having all the kids read it together and reading it over several days. The book also contains drawings done by fourth-graders that the kids enjoyed looking at.

The hardcover book is available on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/All-You-Can-Be-Become/dp/1600782477.