A Sincere Thank YOU!

LaLa has completed her very first soccer season. The teams are having a celebration Friday evening. Each child will receive a soccer trophy from the church's recreation league. Then, they continue to have a team celebration with pizza and cupcakes. The parents all went in together to present the children with gifts and the coach a gift. Can you imagine coaching eight little 3-5 year old children on how to master the concept of soccer?! He did a marvelous job with his encouragement and patience. Each child enjoyed himself and felt an included part of the team.

I ordered little cinch sport style back packs and embroidered the kids' names on them. They were from Oriental Trading Company, and they turned out really cute and sturdy, especially for the price! Then, I added little soccer whistles...making the grand total for the kids' gifts 25 dollars-a little more than 3 dollars per child. Then, Charlotte and I went on a hunt to find wonderful little "movie" items to add to his soccer bucket and his movie theater gift card. A mother of one of the children on the team is also adding a certificate for a free house cleaning from her business! I hope this coach really enjoys his gifts, and he knows that he made a positive difference in our children's lives!

Have you ever heard the statement, "It takes a village to raise a child"? Well, I have found in my three and a half years of being a mama that it is definitely a true statement! So many individuals impact the lives of our children. It is a huge responsibility as mamas to ensure that these individuals are impacting them in a positive way, and when we are blessed to have someone take their time and love to impact our children, we definitely need to let them know how much we appreciate it!

Concentrate on making your village a place of security and individuals that love and cherish your children! It is easy to take on that "super" mama role and try to do it all on your own. It's a lonely route! When I first became a mama, I thought a mama was suppose to be able to do everything for her child. I slowly realized the hard way that God designed raising a child to be a group effort! Of course, you have the biggest impact and responsibility, but treasure and utilize all the others that are a part of that village! Many of them have something valuable to share with your child(ren)!

Mama Drama Rule # 21: Consider the teachers, the lunchroom workers, grandparents, friends, relatives, church workers, etc. that make up our VILLAGE. Thank God for them, and remember to tell them thank you! They are impacting the most important and impressionable people we have in our lives--our children!