Three Good Reasons

I have the absolute BEST kids. A couple of weeks ago, Hannah, Nathan, and I were driving home from a church activity. I was tired. It was Friday night, and it had been a long week. I told the kids that I wasn’t going to attend my water aerobics class the next morning. And because they are such blessings to me, they stepped into “coach” mode.

Nathan said, “Mama, if you can give us three good reasons NOT to go, we’ll let you stay home.”

REALLY?!?! This kid expected me to give HIM a reason for my decision?? I’m the parent! I’ll make my own decisions!!

But the reasonable voice inside me realized that Nathan’s statement was coming from a place of love and concern. Both he and Hannah want me to be healthy and successful, and they want to contribute to the process. You can’t ask for better motives than that.

So I started offering up reasons:

“I’m tired and I want to sleep in.” “Nope, you can take a nap when you get home.”

“I want to spend extra time with you kids in the morning.” “We’ll be here when you get home.”

“I don’t feel like it.” “You’ll feel better after the class.”

This banter went on the entire ride home. I don’t think I got credit for one single reason for staying home.

So, to honor my kids, I got up early and went to class. And just as expected, class was awesome. I felt really good after the hour-long workout. I was proud of me, and my kids were proud of me.

They were part of the process, and I love them for it. I am REALLY, REALLY blessed.